# Smith Machine Incline Bench Press: how to do it

- Main muscles: upper chest
- Also works: front delts, triceps
- Equipment: smith, bench
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/smith_machine_incline_bench_press/5542dfc9b9/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Set the bench to 30° so the bar meets your upper chest.
2. Grip the bar a little wider than shoulders and unhook it.
3. Lower the bar slowly to just above your upper chest.
4. 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.

## 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

| 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 |  |

## Sources

1. [[ExRx.net: Smith Incline Bench Press (Wayback copy)](](https://web.archive.org/web/2025/https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralClavicular/SMInclineBenchPress)
2. [[ACE: Incline Chest Press](](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/25/incline-chest-press/)
3. [[NASM: Two-Arm Incline Dumbbell Chest Press](](https://www.nasm.org/resource-center/exercise-library/two-arm-incline-dumbbell-chest-press)
4. [[Rodríguez-Ridao et al. 2020, Int J Environ Res Public Health, five bench inclinations (Europe PMC full text)](](https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC7579505/fullTextXML)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/smith-machine-incline-bench-press