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How to do the Smith Squat

Glutes & HamstringsGlutes & HamsSmith MachineBeginner

The Smith Machine squat gives you a fixed bar path that lets beginners focus entirely on lower-body mechanics without worrying about balance, making it one of the most effective tools for building the glutes and hamstrings from the ground up. Place your feet slightly forward of the bar to shift the load away from your quads and drive serious posterior chain development with every rep.

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Muscles worked

Primary
GlutesHamstrings
Secondary
Lower backCalves

Step-by-step

  1. Set the bar across your upper traps, position your feet 6 to 12 inches in front of the bar, and unhook with a slight wrist rotation
  2. Brace your core, push your hips back first, and descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor
  3. Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes hard as you press the floor away to return to standing
  4. Re-rack only after your hips are fully locked out at the top of every set

Common mistakes

  • Feet placed directly under the bar shifts load to the knees and quads, so move your stance forward to keep tension on the glutes and hamstrings throughout the movement
  • Rising onto your toes at the bottom dumps the load forward and reduces glute recruitment, so actively press your heels into the floor from start to finish
  • Cutting depth short keeps your hamstrings out of the stretch position where growth is triggered, so commit to hitting parallel or below on every working rep

Pro tip — At the bottom of each rep, pause for a full one-second count before driving up. This eliminates the elastic bounce, kills momentum, and forces your glutes and hamstrings to generate force from a dead stop, dramatically increasing muscle recruitment and long-term strength gains.

Sets & reps by goal

Build muscle3–4 sets × 6–10 reps
Get stronger4–5 sets × 3–6 reps
Lose fat / tone3 sets × 10–12 reps

Rest: 2–3 min between sets (60–90s on lighter days).

More Glutes & Hamstrings exercises

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