Upper chest exercise
Smith Machine Incline Bench PressHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Upper chest
- Also works
- Front delts, Triceps
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press?
- Set the bench to 30° so the bar meets your upper chest.
- Grip the bar a little wider than shoulders and unhook it.
- Lower the bar slowly to just above your upper chest.
- Press straight up until your arms are straight, without locking hard.
Cues
- Shoulder blades down and back
- Elbows about 45° from your sides
- Touch lightly, never bounce
Common mistakes
- Bench too steep: keep it at 30–45° to target the chest.
- Bar reaching your neck: move the bench so it meets your upper chest.
- Hips lifting to push heavier: keep buttocks and feet planted.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
An adjustable bench sits inside the Smith machine, back pad at 30° above horizontal (accept 30–45°). Slide the bench so that the bar, travelling straight down its fixed vertical track, lands on the upper chest, just below the collarbones. Head, upper back and buttocks stay on the pads; feet flat on the floor, about hip-width or a little wider, knees bent about 90°. Shoulder blades pulled down and back; natural low-back curve, no big arch. Overhand (pronated) closed grip, thumbs round the bar, hands at about 1.5× biacromial (shoulder) width. Wrists straight over the forearms.
The movement
Only the arms move. The bar runs straight down and up its fixed track; the bench position, not the lifter, decides where it lands. Elbows travel down and slightly out at the 45° angle, then back up. Head, shoulders, buttocks and feet stay in contact throughout; the torso does not slide up or down the bench.
End position
(turnaround point): Bar about 1 cm above the upper chest (a light touch is acceptable, never a bounce). Upper arm about 45° out from the torso (accept 45–60°), elbows just below the level of the bench pad. Forearms roughly vertical under the bar from the front and the side.
Tempo
2 s lowering, about 0.3 s still at the bottom (no bounce), 1.5–2 s pressing, about 0.2 s at the top.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bench back angle | 30° | 30–45° | |
| Grip width | 1.5× biacromial width | 1.3–1.7× | |
| Bar landing point | upper chest, just below collarbones | upper third of sternum | |
| Bar-to-chest gap at bottom | 1 cm | 0–3 cm | |
| Upper arm from torso at bottom | 45° | 45–60° | |
| Elbow at top | 175° | 170–180° | |
| Bar path | vertical track | no drift (fixed) | |
| Knee angle (feet on floor) | 90° | 80–110° | |
| Lowering / pressing time | 2 s / 1.5–2 s | 1–3 s each |
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 Smith Machine Incline Bench 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
