# Chest Press (Machine): how to do it

- Main muscles: chest
- Also works: front delts, triceps
- Equipment: machine
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/chest_press_machine/5da15d3796/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Set the seat so the handles line up with your mid-chest.
2. Sit back with shoulder blades against the pad, feet flat.
3. Press the handles forward until your arms are nearly straight.
4. 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.

## 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

| 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 |  |

## Sources

1. [[ACE: Seated Chest Press (machine)](](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/188/seated-chest-press/)
2. [[NASM: Chest Press Machine](](https://www.nasm.org/resource-center/exercise-library/chest-press-machine)
3. [[Muyor et al. 2023, J Hum Kinet (Europe PMC full text)](](https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC10203828/fullTextXML)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/chest-press-machine