TITAN smith machine vs TITAN lying prone leg curl
This is a comparison between the TITAN smith machine and the TITAN lying prone leg curl including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.
Overview and review of the TITAN Lying prone leg curl $499
This is an overview of the TITAN lying prone leg curl including pros, cons and alternatives. This article was originally posted in Which gym machine to get from TITAN. Follow the links for additional information.
Related articles
Overview of the TITAN lying prone leg curl
The
TITAN lying prone leg curl is a 2 in 1 machine for leg extensions and
lying prone leg curls. These exercises target and isolate the muscles in your upper leg for more growth. This is a great machine for accessory work on your legs after you finished a big set of
barbell squats or leg presses. The machine is
plate loaded and therefore a good option in a gym that prefers to use free weights compared to weight stacks. The
plate loaded design makes it a little more suited to private gyms or home gyms . In commercial gyms it can be a little cumber some to have a
plate loaded design, as too many people might using up
plates if all of your machines are configured this way. Your clients won't appreciate if they haveto constantly load machines themselves and wait for
plates to make it happen. The full specifications of this machine are:
- (4) Handle Grips
- (1) Weight Sleeve
- (4) Adjustable foot rollers
- (4) bolt-down holes for anchoring
- Builds size and strength in the hamstrings
- Also works the glutes and calves
- Leather padding for comfort
- Perform leg curls and leg extensions from the same seated position.
- High quality steel construction for a solid, long lasting design.
- Foot Print: 30-in. x 60-in.
- Dimensions: 34-in. H x 36-in. W x 60-in. L.
- Leg/Foot Roller Diameter: 5-in.
- Leg/Foot Roller Width: 18-in.
- Sleeve Diameter: 2-in.
- Sleeve Length: 10-in.
- Loadable Weight Capacity: 300 lb.
- Frame: 2-in. x 2-in. 11-ga steel tubing.
- Material: Leather.
- Finish: Welded. Powder Coated.
- User Weight Capacity: 300 lb.
This is a great machine to take care of accessory work in a home gym or private gym.
Pros of the TITAN lying prone leg curl
-
2 in 1 design
-
Plate loaded
-
Price
The 2 in 1 design makes this a great machine to be placed in a home gym. You will save space if you like leg extension and
prone curl to build your legs even further. It will also save you the cost and space of getting two machines for the purposes of building bigger upper legs after covering the basics with the
barbell squat or
leg press.
A
plate loaded solution is great whenever there is only one or a few users for the gym. This means you are not paying double or triple for weight stacks in machines that are not in use when you are not on them. If you want to be economic about building your own home gym,
plate loaded machines are the way to go.
For what you are getting the price is very low. This machine comes from a vendor that ships from the US and has customer service included. Even though the shipping and service might not be the best in the business (for that you probably have to run to Rogue or Eleiko), it is still better than getting a similar machine shipped for a lower price from a random Chinese or Inidian vendor via amazon.
Cons of the TITAN lying prone leg curl
While a
plate loaded machine is great in an environment with low footfall it can turn into problem in a highly frequented commercial gym. If you buy for a busy gym, make sure that you get machines with the weights included.
Plate loaded machines eat up the time of your customers and create tripping hazards. They also create more of a mess that staff needs to clean up, in case there are enough
plates to go around for everyone.
At $500 the
TITAN lying prone curl has a great price for what it is, the question is what else you can get for that budget. If you stretch yourself a little you can get a
rack and a
barbell and
rack from TITAN in that budget range ($600 should do the trick). If i am building a home gym or expanding an existing gym that is definitely the better investment.
While the
TITAN lying prone curl is a great machine it might be little small for massive athletes. If you have to provide a facility for very big athletes or customers which have problems with their balance due to rehab, you might ant to get something a little beefier like the Rogue Prone curl.
Alternatives to TITAN the lying prone leg curl
Alternatives to the TITAN lying prone curl are:
The
TITAN seated leg curl machine is a cheaper version of the leg curl from TITAN. It will take up less space in the gym and you will perform the same exercises as with the
lying prone curl in a seated position. If you do not have the space in your gym to be stretching out fully this might be the better option for leg curls to save money and space.
Conclusion for the TITAN lying prone curl
The
TITAN lying prone curl is a great machine for anyone who want to do all kings of leg curl variations in their home gym. You will have a 2 in 1 design for your machine and it will not take $1000 out of your pocket. For a commercial setting you would have to think hard about whether
plate loaded is really the way you want to go. If you expect very high traffic of average fit citizens in your gym, a
prone leg curl with an integrated weight stack might be the better idea.
Overview and review of the TITAN Smith machine $1069
This is an overview of the TITAN smith machine including pros, cons and alternatives. This article was originally posted in Which gym machine to get from TITAN. Follow the links for additional information.
Related articles
Overview of the TITAN Smith machine
A
smith machine can be used to train your entire body with
barbell presses, squats, bench presses and other movements. The main distinguishing feature of a
smith machine is that the
bar path is fixed as the
barbell is attached to the frame. This makes a
smith machine less intimidating for beginners than a
rack with free weights. The
TITAN smith machine is competitively priced and has some extra features that many other
Smith machines do not have. The full feature list includes:
- Knurled barbell with 13.25-in of loadable space on the sleeves.
- (6) 8-in Olympic Weight Storage Posts.
- Band pegs on either side allow for added resistance.
- Two J-hooks attached to the bar takes a quick flick of the wrist to lock into 8 safe positions when finished with the exercise.
- Two safety catches can be adjusted to set before a lift to prevent injuries in the case of failed reps.
- Counter-balance function included!
- Four rubber pads on the feet of the Smith Machine protect flooring from unwanted scuffing and provide stability.
- Overall Height: 86-in.
- Overall Width: 66.5-in.
- Overall Depth: 54-in.
- Weight Capacity: 600 lb.
- Weight: 261 lb.
This is a solid machine for any commercial gym that wants to add a smith machine in their line up. Home gym owners will be better off getting a rack with a barbell instead.
Pros of the TITAN Smith machine
-
Plate storage on rack
-
Pins for band work
-
Price
Compared to other
Smith machines in the market TITAN has done a good job to maximize the use of the frame of the
rack for this
Smith machine. You will have multiple pins to store
plates on included in your shipment. This makes storing
plates easy. Some other
Smith machines in the market have massive frames and only eat up space without providing storage options.
Another great addition to this particular
Smith machine are the pins for bands. Taken from the west side method approach of training you can attach bands to the
TITAN smith machine which are provided at the bottom of the structure. Just make sure to bolt the machine to the ground of you do this as band work is one of the top reasons to topple
racks that have it been bolted to the ground.
Keeping the price of this massive
Smith machine around $1000 ja TITAN written all over it. It is their specialty to offer big fitness equipment at roughly half of the price of the competition and this
Smith machine is no exception.
Cons of the TITAN Smith machine
The mechanism to lock or unlock a
barbell on a
smith machine is in my opinion one of the biggest design flaws you can find in a commercial gym. Why
smith machines have gotten so popular is beyond me. The mechanism provides a false sense of security to the user. If you fail a rep you still have to twist your wrists under strain to lock the
bar back into position. While this is ok but not great for the bench press, for the squat it is near impossible. Combined with the fact that the
bar is attached to the frame this can lead to some nasty accidents where you are folded like lawn chair under the weight. With a free weight you can at least just dump it off your back as a last resort. In my opinion
smith machines provide little advantage for the risks they pose, especially to inexperienced trainees.
Everything you can do with a
smith machine you can do with a
rack and a
barbell. Probably even better. This is why this machine eats up to much space for any home gym. Unless you are the Rock and have a whole crew of people carrying an entire commercial gym around for you. There is something to be said for quad development out of high rep
smith machine squats. You do get a different pump out of the
smith machine as there is less room to work with the supporting muscles from the back. Still, this is only interesting for full time bodybuilders and does not justify to give up valuable home gym space where you could place a rack instead.
The fact that the
barbell is attached makes it less versatile than a
rack. The
barbell an get in the way of exercises, especially if you need to use the space inside the
smith machine because you are short on space. Again a
barbell and
rack is the better choice and you can get this for the same budget from TITAN.
TITAN needs to cut some corners to offer you consistent competitive pricing on all of their product range. This is why across the board their customer service and manuals or not as good as the ones of their competitors Rogue and Eleiko. You are also more likely to have parts missing on your shipment or that they do not fit smoothly. This can happen with other, higher priced products, too, but the likelihood is lower. Quality management and consistency in production are good ways to cut cost. These processes are expensive is they are Labour intensive and also assume that some of the production gets discarded due to lack of quality. You can not do that of your strategy is to be the cheapest in the narbet which is exactly what TITAN prides themselves one. Got for your wallet, but expect some minor issues, especially with products that have a lot of moving parts like a
smith machine.
Alternatives to the TITAN smith machine
If you want to get a machine for training your legs it think the
TITAN leg press is the better option than the
smith machine. It comes in at roughly the same price. This machine can be heavily loaded, provides security to people who do not want to use a
barbell, and you can work the ranges of motion that are hard to stay in for long in a
barbell squat. If I wanted to blow up my legs and had space and key to add to my gym above and beyond a
rack, a
leg press would be high up my list.
The
Titan belt squat machine is another way of getting more squat volume in your training without trashing your wer back.
Belt squat machines are popular for quad development with powerlifters and weightlifters. The big advantage is here that the movement pattern is not predefined and you have less compression on your spine.
Conclusion for the TITAN Smith machine
The
TITAN smith machine has a great price and some little extra features which make it an excellent
Smith machine to get. The only problem for me is that I think that all
Smith machines are a waste of space and should be replaced with a belt squat, extra
rack or
leg press, depending on what you already have. If you have the space and money to collect all different types of machines, do it. Still, a
smith machine would only enter my gym to complete a collection for the sale of it, rather than because I think it is a good idea for my clients.