Several exercises can help create a bigger, stronger, and more defined chest. If one were to ask every well-known fitness personality what their favorites are, they would hear or read several cases of support for different movements.
TNF‘s Joel Twinem has five favorite machine movements and recently shared his preferences at Planet Fitness. While Twinem described what the video would cover, he also stated his exercises — all machine movements — and why he chose them.
[Machine exercises] are [mostly] better than barbell and dumbbell exercises.
—Joel Twinem
Old-school lifters who prefer free weights or home gym owners with limited options can rest easy. Research on that matter shows that machines can offer similar levels of hypertrophy benefits as free weights. (1)
Twinem’s Top 5 Chest Exercises
- Incline Smith Machine Bench Press
- Flat Smith Machine Bench Press
- Pec Deck
- Incline Bench Low-to-High Cable Flye
- Reverse Grip Smith Machine Bench Press
Incline Smith Machine Bench Press
Twinem started with incline Smith machine bench presses. Most standard incline barbell benches have 45-degree angles, and it’s been shown that the sweet spot is 30 to 45 degrees to increase muscle activation of the pecs. (2) Twinem suggested each lifter find the angle that serves them best.
Regarding where the bar should be lowered, many lifters advise descending to the upper chest area. Twinem suggests a setup where the bar contacts lower on the pecs instead while using a slightly narrower grip.
This will work the upper chest much better than if we had (the bar) touch high.
—Joel Twinem
Flat Smith Machine Bench Press
Twinem adjusted a bench to flat and performed a chest press, suggesting a wider grip to get adduction to train the chest more effectively. He said that while touching the chest with the bar is fine, it’s not totally necessary.
“You don’t necessarily need to drive it through your chest to get some crazy deep stretch,” Twinem said. ”You can feel where your pecs have that sticking point.”
Twinem suggested stopping short of lockout to keep tension on the pecs, though there is nothing wrong with locking out if desired. Just be aware that the triceps would harbor more of that workload.
Pec-Deck
Twinem followed his first two pressing exercises with a flye. Pec-deck machines are standard in most gyms, and some lifters may be strong enough to use the entire weight stack provided. Twinem had a solution for that: “If you need to, just take it to higher reps,” explaining that gains could still be seen if the reps were as high as 20.
Incline Bench Low-to-High Cable Flye
The fourth exercise Twinem featured was a low-to-high cable flye sitting on an incline bench. The stretch at the bottom of the movement is the important section of the rep. Place the bench farther out in front of the machine and use cuffs instead of handles to eliminate grip as a limiting factor.
Single-arm variations can be substituted if the specific machine Twinem used is not available.
Reverse Grip Smith Machine Bench Press
The final movement, which ranked Twinem best, was a Smith Machine reverse grip bench press. He referenced the movement as an upper chest exercise but acknowledged its critics, which Twinem considered due to improper positioning.
Twinem performed a set by lowering the bar below the pecs while maintaining a short range of motion to maintain tension on the pecs. He focused on the range of motion and intentional movement. “It seems like a super short range of motion, but the range of motion is needed to achieve the intended purpose,” Twinem explained.
Twinem advised lifters not to force their way through an exercise if they were not feeling the proper connection to it.
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References
- Effects of Training With Free Weights Versus Machines on Muscle Mass, Strength, Free Testosterone, and Free Cortisol Levels. Shane R Schwanbeck 1, Stephen M Cornish 2, Trevor Barss 3 4 5, Philip D Chilibeck 1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32358310/
- Lauver, J. D., Cayot, T. E., & Scheuermann, B. W. (2016). Influence of bench angle on upper extremity muscular activation during bench press exercise. European journal of sport science, 16(3), 309–316. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2015.1022605
Featured Image via Shutterstock/Jasminko Ibrakovic
