Chest exercise
Chest Press (Machine)How to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Chest Press?
- Set the seat so the handles line up with your mid-chest.
- Sit back with shoulder blades against the pad, feet flat.
- Press the handles forward until your arms are nearly straight.
- Pause, then return slowly without letting the weights touch.
Cues
- Handles at nipple height
- Back stays on the pad
- Elbows about 45° down
Common mistakes
- Seat set wrong; line the handles up with mid-chest first.
- Rounding shoulders off the pad at the end; keep blades back.
- Letting the stack crash down; control the return for two seconds.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Selectorised seated chest press. Handle start (depth) set so the handles sit no deeper than the front of the chest: in the rest position they are level with, or a few centimetres in front of, the chest (ACE). Back, shoulder blades and buttocks against the pads; head neutral against or just off the head pad. Feet flat on the floor (or foot rests), about hip to shoulder width. Shoulder blades back and down; natural low-back curve. Neutral grip (palms facing each other) on the vertical handles, hands about 1.5 × biacromial width apart (Muyor 2023); full grip, wrists straight.
The movement
The handles move straight forward and back on the machine's arc. Only the arms move: shoulder horizontal flexion plus elbow extension. Torso, head and feet stay still; the back stays on the pad.
End position
(turnaround point): Arms extended forward at mid-chest height, elbows about 170–175°, "fully extended, but not locked" (ACE). Hands still about 1.5 × biacromial apart (the handles may converge slightly on some machines). Shoulder blades still on the backrest; they do not round forward.
Tempo
Press 2 s, pause 0.3 s at extension, return 2 s under control, without letting the stack touch down. Muyor 2023 used 2 s / 2 s by metronome.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handle height | nipple line | mid-chest ±3 cm | |
| Grip | neutral | neutral or pronated | |
| Hand spacing | 1.5 × biacromial | 1.4–1.7 × | |
| Upper arm to torso at start | 45° | 40–60° | |
| Elbow angle at end (included) | 172° | 165–178° | |
| Tempo press / return | 2 s / 2 s | 1.5–2 s / 2–2.5 s |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Chest Press is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
