Plate Loaded Gyms

Plate Loaded Weight Lifting Equipment-The Lowdown

What are plate loaded machines?

Plate loaded machines are one of the best home gyms option on the market. They combine the benefit of free weights and home workout machines. Unlike traditional machines, where you can change the weight by adjusting the pin on the weight stack, with plate loaded weight lifting equipment, you’ll have to manually add or remove a weight plate to change the resistance.

The Smith Machine

One of the most common plate loaded machines is the smith machine. The smith machine is a barbell secured by two vertical guide rods. The barbell only travels a vertical path, so the barbell will never fall to the side or move forward or backwards (which can be a risk of injury with free weights). Also, there are hooks that lock the barbell in place, making this machine very safe.

If you’ve been to a health club, you have probably noticed that the smith machine is one of the most popular machines. One of the reasons why is it provides the benefits of exercising with free weights along with the safety of working out with machines. Additionally, you can perform a total body workout on one machine.

Exercises That Can Be Done With A Smith Machine

Here are some of the exercises that can be done at home with a smith machine:

• Legs-Squats and lunges
• Calves-Calf raises
• Shoulders-Shoulder presses
• Chest-Bench press (if you have an adjustable bench, then you can perform decline, flat, and incline bench presses)
• Back-Bent over rows
• Triceps-Close grip bench press

As you can see you can get a total body workout with just one machine.