A Smith machine bar's weight depends on the machine. Makers that print a figure give 20 to 40 lb in the pages here: 20 lb for a Life Fitness Signature Series, 30 lb starting resistance for a Hammer Strength, 33 lb for a REP. Many makers print nothing. RIGOR logs the plates you load and takes the machine's weight only if you enter it.
How much does a Smith machine bar weigh?
There is no one weight. The makers that print a figure give between 20 and 40 lb for the machines on this page, and they use three different words for it: "bar weight", "starting weight" and "starting resistance". Wikipedia says some Smith machines have the bar counterbalanced and that manufacturers do not usually indicate the bar's weight. This page holds only what a maker's own page or manual says, for the models named.
| Machine | Figure | In kg | The maker's word |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life Fitness Signature Series Smith Machine | 20 lb | 9 kg | Bar weight |
| Hammer Strength Smith Machine (angled) | 30 lb | 13.6 kg | Starting resistance |
| Hammer Strength Plate-Loaded Vertical Smith Machine | 30 lb | 13.6 kg | Starting resistance |
| Legend Fitness Smith Machine | 25 lb | - | Starting weight, counterbalanced |
| REP Smith Machine Rack Attachment | 33 lb | 15 kg | Barbell starting weight, no counterbalance |
| Titan Series Smith Machine Power Rack Attachment | 40 lb | - | Barbell weight |
Read it as six machines, not as six answers to one question. Life Fitness, Titan and REP print a bar weight. REP, Legend and Hammer Strength print what you start with, which is the figure that matters when you load plates; REP prints both. Titan's full Smith machine lists a "counterbalance system" and "fixed knurled barbell" without a figure, so it has no row.
Does a Smith machine bar weigh anything?
Yes, and three of the pages above say in their own words whether a counterbalance changes it. Legend writes that "a counterbalanced Olympic Bar puts the starting weight at 25 pounds". REP says its Smith bar has no counterbalance, and that it lightened the bar enough that one was not needed; its starting weight is 33 lb on a 35 mm bar. Titan lists a "counterbalance system" on its full Smith machine.
So "how much does the bar weigh" and "how much do I lift with nothing on it" can be two numbers on a counterbalanced machine. Legend prints the second. None of the pages says how much of a figure is counterweight.
RIGOR is a strength training app for iPhone that builds your plan and sets every weight by rules you can read.
YOUR IPHONE
How much does a Life Fitness Smith machine bar weigh?
20 lb, or 9 kg, for the Signature Series Smith Machine. It is the "Bar Weight" line in the specs on Life Fitness's page, which also gives a 7-degree bar angle and room for 7 plates of 45 lb on each side of the bar. The page does not say whether the bar is counterbalanced.
How much does a Hammer Strength Smith machine bar weigh?
The pages print a starting resistance, not a bar weight: 30 lb, or 13.6 kg, for both the angled Smith Machine (a seven-degree bar path) and the Plate-Loaded Vertical Smith Machine (zero-degree travel). Both are on Life Fitness's site, which sells Hammer Strength. The 30 lb is the load before any plate goes on. The pages do not say what share of it is the bar.
The two Hammer Strength rows show something about angles. The angled and the vertical machine print the same 30 lb. The pages here say nothing about how a bar's angle changes the load you feel, so this page does not either.
Why do Smith machine bars differ?
Makers choose a different bar, and some add a counterbalance to lower the start. From the pages above: REP lightened a 35 mm bar to reach 33 lb without a counterbalance; Legend counterbalances its bar to start at 25 lb; Titan prints 40 lb for its rack attachment. Rail angle varies too: seven degrees on Life Fitness and Hammer Strength, zero on the vertical Hammer Strength, five on Legend's page.
Those are the design choices the pages name. They are why one maker's figure says little about another's, and the same maker can print different numbers for two models.
How do you find your machine's bar weight?
Look for it where the maker would have put it, then ask.
- On the machine. Look for a label or plate with the model name or a figure. If one gives the weight, trust it first.
- The maker's page or manual for the model. Match the model name on the frame to the maker's site. Look for any of the words in the table's last column.
- The gym. Staff may have the manual or the spec sheet for what they bought.
If none of these gives a number, leave it blank. A blank is better than a guess you cannot check.
What does RIGOR do with the Smith machine's weight?
It logs the plates you load, and it takes the machine's own weight only if you give it. In RIGOR the Smith machine is a plate-loaded machine: it has no bar, and it loads from the plates in your gym setup. The exercise says the bar's own weight is not part of the number. The gym setup has an optional field, "Machine's own weight", described in the app as there so that "totals and history stay comparable".
When the weight is known, the training rules add it to the logged load for each step of the Epley estimate and subtract it again from the result. Left blank it counts as 0. The rules name "plate-loaded machines and sleds" for this, and the Smith machine is filed with the plate-loaded machines in RIGOR's equipment list. Whether the bar is part of the number you type is covered in does the bar count as weight, and what studies found about Smith and free-weight loads is in Smith machine weight versus free weight. A leg press sled works the same way.
The sum shows what the field changes. Ignoring a 20 lb machine here moves the prediction by a rep, and you type 115 either way. The field is optional because a blank counts as 0, not as a wrong number. How the next target is chosen from such a prediction is in progressive overload.
Add the machine's weight in gym setup
When does this not apply?
This page is a list of what makers printed and a rule from RIGOR's own training rules, so there is no training study to cite.
Questions
Are all Smith machine bars 25 pounds?
No. Of the makers' pages here, Legend prints a 25 lb starting weight, but Life Fitness prints 20 lb, Hammer Strength 30 lb, REP 33 lb and Titan 40 lb for a rack attachment.
Are Smith machine bars 45 lbs?
Not on any page here. The highest figure a maker prints in this guide is Titan's 40 lb for its rack attachment. A 45 lb bar is the usual Olympic barbell, which is a different thing.
How much is a Smith machine bar with no weight?
The empty bar is the machine's bar weight or starting weight, where the maker states one. Legend says a counterbalance puts its starting weight at 25 lb; REP says its bar is lightened and has no counterbalance.
Do you count bar weight on a Smith machine?
In RIGOR the number you log is the plates alone. If you enter the machine's own weight in gym setup, the engine uses it for its sums but not in the number you type.
Does the Smith machine bar weigh anything in kg?
Yes, where a maker gives kilograms: 9 kg for the Life Fitness Signature Series bar, 13.6 kg for Hammer Strength's starting resistance and 15 kg for the REP.
