Machine Chest Press  

  • Life Fitness - Chest Seated Press
  • Life Fitness - Incline Chest Press. 
  • Nautilus Chest Press​

The chest press machines all work the chest (incline press trains the upper chest more than the seated), triceps, and the anterior deltoid. The benefits of these machines are the stability they provide to allow the targeted muscles to be the muscles that fail at the end of a set. They're technically easy exercises that allow you to push the sets hard. 


How to set up the machines

Set Seat Height
  • For most people, you want the seat set so that the handles are around your lower chest. 
  • With the incline press, it will be slightly higher. 

You can then adjust from here and see what feels best. Personally, I find that the handle starting around the lower part of the chest feels best and allows me to lift pain-free.

Adjust the Range of Motion
  • Life Fitness - Seated Press. With this machine, you have a footpad to get the handle in position. You can always go deep on this exercise.
  • Life Fitness - Incline Press. You can adjust the height at which the handles start (from the back of the machine). Set it so you can get the best range of motion at the bottom without any shoulder discomfort
  • Nautilus Chest Press. The back pad can be adjusted back and forth. As with the incline press, adjust it so you can get as much range of motion without causing any pain. This can vary from person to person

Grip Width
Wider tends to be more chest and closer a bit more triceps, but the main thing is to find a width that you can train hard and remain pain-free.

Your elbow position when performing the exercise
  • Seated chest press variations start with the slightly below the handles. On the eccentric part of the rep, start by tucking your elbows so your upper arm is at a 45-degree angle to your body. You can then adjust from there to find out what feels best for you
  • Incline machine: Have your elbows under the handles.


All the things I’ve mentioned above involving the setup involve a bit of trial and error to find out what works best for you. It can vary person to person.

Keep points to remember when 
  • Chest up and keep it there for the set. 
  • Control the eccentric and be aggressive when pushing. Don’t rush reps!
  • Keep your shoulders down and don’t shrug. 
  • Make sure you don’t overreach and lift your shoulders off the bench, as this puts pressure on the shoulders.
  • Keep the body still during the set. Don’t move your feet or legs, and keep your chest in place for the whole set

The exercise is very simple once you’ve got the setup right. The mistakes people make are not being in control during the set. They will rush the reps, start wiggling their body and make movements to try and make the exercises easier. 

The closer to failure you go, the reps should slow down, but form-wise, they should be the same.
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