Your friends all have weak shoulders. Some simple shoulder exercises will eliminate strains on shoulders. Look up shoulder integrity.

how is smith machine worse for your joints, it takes away needing stabilizer muscles putting LESS pressure and stress on your joints...

instead of connecting mind with body, you connect with mr smith as he inserts his 20 lb barbell inside you

i got a friend i workout with, he is stronger than me on some chest exercises but weaker than me on other chest exercises. it's weird. maybe his shoulders are stronger but his chest is weaker than me?

A friend of mine boasts about the kgs he uses for dumbell flies, I've been calling him out on it that the intensity achieved and safety of the exercise is so much better with lower kgs and a better MIND BODY connection (thanks for that one, Qwaze)

go heavy or go home.

lol

nah i agree, sometimes medium weight, slow reps and focusing on the muscles are good too.

I missed you... More than you will ever know.

that could be based on what he starts with.

If you start with incline everyday, your incline is going to be stronger than someone who starts with bench everyday, your muscles get used to doing more weight due to being fatigued and doing lower weight on later sets.

It doesn't account for the mechanical differences of each individual as the bar path only moves on 1 linear plane. A regular free weight allows you to move the bar to accommodate for that.

Secondly, your chest isn't recruited as well as a bb bench allows you to bring the bar back when you drive up which is optimal for the contraction of both the upper and lower pecs.

Third, the movement of the bar going in a linear pattern on a y axis is forcing you to place more tension on your elbows. Instead of shifting the load from your elbows to your upper chest as you drive the bar back, you're pushing straight up over your elbows. It's much harder on your elbow ligaments and is more of a Tricep dominant exercise.

Fourth, if you flair your elbows to contract your upper chest, your shifting the load to your front delts much more than your upper chest. Also, bringing the bar down high on your upper chest doesn't engage the lower portion of your chest as if you were able to tuck your elbows making it an insufficient exercise in comparison to something like dB incline.

I'm sorry for tweaking out but seriously man, you're only making these noob lifters more prone to bad techniques. Nobody here has a physique that can compare to yours as you're enhanced. Noobs are going to be more prone to listen to you. You need to take that responsibility seriously as you'll be naturally put on a pedestool for your physique. They should research things for themselves, but the truth is that they won't. Hope this helps.

Understandable on the last line, but keeping your elbows in more would eliminate or alleviate the last 2 points, also for the first two I still don't see how that would not HELP keeping pressure off your shoulders and joints, as they are recruited more heavily on freeweights to stabilize the weight. I still get the best chest pump and most chest pain from smith machine bench than freeweight and using correct form on freeweight kills my shoulder that I had torn out of socket.