Smith machine bar weight by brand: what the empty bar really weighs

The short answer

There is no standard Smith machine bar. The bar runs in a carriage on two guide rails, and on most commercial machines that carriage is tied to a counterweight hidden in the frame. What you lift with no plate on is the bar and carriage minus the counterweight: manufacturers call it the starting resistance, the starting weight or simply the bar weight, and it differs from one model to the next, sometimes by a lot within the same company.

So do not assume the bar of a Smith machine weighs the same as an Olympic barbell, and do not assume two Smith machines start at the same load. Read the figure for your exact model below, or the sticker most commercial machines carry on the frame near the bar catches.

How to read the figures below

• Each manufacturer uses its own word: starting resistance, starting weight of the unloaded bar assembly, bar weight or a counter-balanced bar. We show each one on the starting resistance line with the manufacturer's own label and quote under it, so you can see exactly what was stated.
• Counterbalanced or not: when the page says so, the note on the machine page tells you. Some pages print the steel bar's weight and the counterbalanced start side by side; we show the start, because that is what you lift with no plate on.
• Units are shown as the manufacturer prints them, in pounds, kilograms or both; we never convert, add or round anything.
• The maximum load is the most weight the manufacturer says the machine takes, not a weight you should lift.
• Where two pages from the same manufacturer disagree, the machine page says so in its note. The rail angle and the friction of the bearings also change how the same load feels, so treat every figure as indicative.

gym80 Smith machine bar weight

gym80 sells its Smith machine as the Basic Multi Press Station. Its product page and its data sheet state the maximum load, but neither states the weight of the bar or the starting resistance, so we show no data yet for it rather than a guess. If you train on one, the sticker on the frame or a luggage scale under the bar gives you the real figure, and you can send it to us.

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gym80 machines

Smith machine bar weight, brand by brand

Starting resistance or bar weight and maximum load for every Smith machine in the catalog, as each manufacturer states them, with the badge, the quote, the link and the date we read the page.

Atlantis Strength

gym80

Hammer Strength

Life Fitness

Matrix Fitness

Panatta

Precor

Technogym

Watson Gym Equipment

Atlantis Strength machinesgym80 machinesHammer Strength machinesLife Fitness machinesMatrix Fitness machinesPanatta machinesPrecor machinesTechnogym machinesWatson Gym Equipment machines

Comparing two Smith machines

The same plates on two Smith machines do not make the same total: add each machine's own starting resistance, and remember the rail angle and the bearings differ. Switching from a machine with a light counterbalanced start to one with a heavier start can look like a jump or a drop in your log when nothing about your strength changed.

No Smith machine in the catalog has a measured force curve yet, so the comparator answers "No data yet" for every Smith machine pair. The figures here are what each manufacturer states, not a conversion.

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Open the comparatorAll brands

How every figure is labelled

MachineConvert never invents a number. Each figure carries one of three levels, with its source link and the date it was read:

Measured

Read on the machine itself with a force gauge, following the measurement protocol, with a proof (continuous video or photos) and the date.

Manufacturer

Quoted word for word from the manufacturer's official page or document, in the units printed there, with the link and the date it was read. A stack weight says what the plates weigh, not what you feel at the handle.

Estimated

Computed from a mechanical model of the machine (lever, cam or pulley) built from sourced inputs. Each estimate shows its method, its error band and a derivation page, and is marked as not verified by measurement.

MethodologyData rules

Help fill the gaps

If you train on a Smith machine whose bar weight is missing here, a photo of the sticker on the frame or a reading from a luggage scale hooked under the empty bar turns "No data yet" into a figure. Every submission is reviewed before it is published.

Share a measurementOpen the comparatorAll brandsCoverage by machine group

Smith machines in the catalog

Atlantis Strength Smith Machinegym80 Basic Multi Press StationHammer Strength Plate-Loaded Vertical Smith MachineHammer Strength Smith MachineLife Fitness Smith MachineMatrix Fitness Magnum Smith MachinePanatta Olympic Smith Machine CounterbalancedPanatta Smith Machine Linear BearingsPrecor Discovery Smith MachinePrecor Vitality Smith MachineTechnogym MultipowerWatson Gym Equipment Counter-Balanced Smith Machine

Related guides

Technogym weight stacks: Selection, Artis, Pure Strength and moreLife Fitness weight stacks: Insignia, Axiom and plate-loaded machinesHammer Strength starting weight and weight stacks: every catalogued machinePlate-loaded machine starting weight by brand: what the empty machine weighsgym80 vs Technogym: how to convert cable and pec deck weightPanatta starting weight: what every catalogued machine weighs emptyWatson Gym Equipment weight stacks: chest press, leg press, lat pulldown and morePlate-loaded vs selectorized machines: why the numbers differHow to convert machine weight between gyms and brands