Training guide
A chest press machine is a seated press: you sit with your back against the pad and push two handles forward from beside your chest on a fixed path. Set the seat so the handles line up with the middle of your chest, keep your shoulder blades on the pad, press until your arms are straight but not locked, and let the handles come back to a comfortable stretch. Do 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12.
Machines get called "not real strength", but the trials disagree: across 13 studies, machines and free weights built strength alike, with no difference in muscle growth, though you get strongest at whatever you train on.
This guide covers the set-up step by step on the 3D figure, handles and elbows, what it works against the bench press and push-ups, your shoulders, how much weight and how many, and a machine chest workout to follow.
Seat height so the handles are level with the middle of your chest, about nipple level, and start no further back than your chest. Feet flat, back and shoulder blades on the pad, a full grip with straight wrists. No study has tested seat or handle height: this is coaching practice.
In 20 trained adults the machine and the bench press drew similar chest and front-shoulder activity; in 10 bodybuilders the machine matched the middle of the chest but drew less from the upper chest, the triceps and the side of the shoulder. The two studies disagree on the upper chest.
Across 13 studies of 1,016 adults, machines and free weights raised strength alike head to head, and muscle growth didn't differ in the 5 that measured it. Across 137 reviews, the type of equipment didn't consistently change results.
Machine bench strength rose 13.9% with machine training against 8.6% with free weights in 46 young adults. If you want a bigger barbell bench, bench too. And the numbers differ: the same trained adults pressed 79 kg on the machine and 85 kg on the bar.
It needs little technique, no spotter and small weight steps. The National Strength and Conditioning Association's (NSCA's) statement on older adults names the chest press among its priority exercises, and the American Heart Association calls machines likely safer than free weights for people with joint or muscle limitations, advanced arthritis, severe osteoporosis, nerve damage or a past stroke.
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, with about 90 seconds to 2 minutes' rest, 2 or 3 times a week for your chest: our editorial starting point, inside the American Heart Association's 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 and the National Academy of Sports Medicine's (NASM's) 3 sets of 8 to 12.
From our move page, the American Council on Exercise's (ACE's) seated chest press and NASM's chest press machine guide; no study has tested seat height. The breathing follows our breathing guide.
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The movement on the figure: Chest press machine
A seated press with your back against a pad and handles beside your chest, pressed forward on a fixed path. Weight-stack machines use a pin; plate-loaded lever machines take plates on each side, and some have arms that move separately. Some have a foot lever that brings the handles forward so you can start without reaching back, and a range limiter (our move pages). There are horizontal and neutral handles, incline machines, converging machines whose handles move together, and the seated cable press, where the cables set the line but your hands move freely.
Your chest (pectoralis major), the front of your shoulders and your triceps, as the bench press does. The steadying muscles work less on a fixed path than with free weights or cables.
Seated, back-supported pressing asks little of your trunk: in a related study, sitting cut abdominal activity in a dumbbell shoulder press by about 81% against standing. A standing cable press is different: balance limited it to about 41% of body weight in one study.
It moves your shoulders and elbows together and works the chest, shoulders and triceps, unlike the pec deck, which moves only the shoulder, as our pec deck guide explains.
Very short or very tall people may not get the handles to mid-chest on every machine: write down the setting that works. Machine and barbell maximums differ, and the same person may press more on one and less on another.
ACE: adjust the seat so the handles are level with your mid-chest, around nipple level, and positioned no deeper than chest level. NASM says mid-chest too, and research set-ups in older adults used the same. We found no study that varied seat or handle height, so this is coaching practice. If your shoulder pinches, try a notch lower or higher and note what works.
ACE's rule that the handles start no deeper than chest level protects your shoulder where it's most stretched. Use the foot lever or range setting so the handles start beside or slightly in front of your chest, not behind it, as our move page says.
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In 20 trained adults, both grips worked the chest about equally, and people lifted about 12% less with the neutral grip (69.75 against 79.25 kg). The machine fixed the grip width, so grip type and width are mixed together. Neutral handles often feel easier on the shoulders (our view).
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NASM teaches your elbows at about 45 degrees from your body: between tucked and flared. No study has tested elbow angle on the machine, so use the angle your shoulders like within that range.
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Until your elbows are straight but not locked, and before your shoulder blades roll forward off the pad: ACE names that roll as a common fault.
In 20 trained adults at 60% of maximum, the machine and the bench press drew similar chest and front-shoulder activity, and the neutral-grip machine drew slightly more upper-chest activity than the wide-grip bench press (about 30% against 25% of maximum). In 10 competitive bodybuilders at 80%, the machine matched the middle of the chest but drew less from the upper chest, triceps and side of the shoulder; we read that study's summary only. In an ACE-funded study of 14 men, the machine drew 79% of the bench press's chest activity. An older study found more activity with the free-weight bench, with big differences between people. Muscle activity in one session shows effort, not growth.
A free-path chest press machine built more strength than a fixed-path one over 8 weeks in 20 women; a cable press worked the biceps, front shoulder and obliques more than a weight-stack machine; and dumbbells worked the biceps more than a Smith machine, with chest activity unchanged.
A 2023 meta-analysis pooled 13 studies of 1,016 adults training for 6 to 12 weeks. Head to head, machines and free weights raised strength by the same amount. A second meta-analysis agreed, and across 137 reviews the type of equipment didn't consistently change results.
Only 5 studies in the meta-analysis measured growth, and they found no difference. In 46 young adults over 8 weeks, and in 38 trained men whose chests were measured by ultrasound, machines and free weights built muscle alike, without more joint discomfort.
Free-weight tests favoured free-weight training, and machine tests tended to favour machines. In the meta-analysis's upper-body tests, mostly a bench press against a chest press with each group tested on its own equipment, machine training raised strength a little more (a small effect, a standardised difference of 0.245). In one trial, machine bench strength rose 13.9% with machines and 8.6% with free weights, while free-weight bench and squat strength rose 11 to 19% in both groups. Across 43 studies, strength in the trained exercise rose about twice as much as untrained still (isometric) strength.
In 49 men over 10 weeks, machine, barbell and log bench press training carried over equally to all four tests, and 36 novice men who switched from machines to free weights halfway through lost nothing. In 166 college women who chose their own equipment, general strength gains didn't differ, but gains were bigger on what they trained.
Push-ups matched to a bench press built similar strength in 30 students over 5 weeks and similar muscle in 18 men over 8 weeks. We found no trial of push-ups against a chest press machine.
No bar to balance, no spotter and small weight steps. The meta-analysis authors said machines could be recommended for people without experience, and novice men lost nothing when they later switched to free weights.
The NSCA's statement calls resistance training safe for healthy older adults, names the chest press among its priority exercises, and advises special care with the shoulder. On machines, adults aged 60 to 83 raised chest press endurance by 68 to 76% over 24 weeks, and adults aged 65 to 78 gained with 1 or 3 sets twice a week.
In 32 fit adults aged 60 to 86, free weights gave bigger leg and triceps strength gains, though the authors didn't find free weights better overall. In adults over 65, seated machines beat standing cables for chest press strength in one trial (a correction exists, which we haven't read, so we give only the direction). In nursing home residents there was no difference.
The American Heart Association calls machines likely safer than free weights for people with joint or muscle limitations, advanced arthritis, severe osteoporosis, nerve damage or a past stroke. In US emergency departments, 90% of weight-training injuries involved free weights, but older lifters had a larger share of their injuries on machines (18% against 9%), and nobody counted how often each was used, so these aren't injury rates. Get shown how to set the machine up, and start light.
Keep shoulder pain to about 5 out of 10 or less during the exercise, back to its usual level by your next session, as our shoulder guides advise. A sharp pinch means lower, lighter or stop.
Draw your shoulder blades back and down, start from a comfortable stretch, keep your elbows at about 45 degrees from your body (NASM's cue; untested on the machine), and stop pressing before your shoulders roll forward off the pad.
Bring the handles forward with the foot lever or range setting, use the neutral handles, shorten the range and lighten the weight, as our bench press guide suggests for a sore shoulder. See our shoulder pain when bench pressing guide if it lingers.
About half of published chest muscle tears happened in weight training, and in a surgical series of 104 men, 54% came from the bench press or a similar arm-out lift. A machine sets the path, not the range or the load: a pop at the front of the armpit or chest needs checking the same day.
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short: our editorial starting point. It sits inside the American Heart Association's 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, NASM's 3 sets of 8 to 12 and the American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM's) 8 to 12 reps for beginners. Our workouts use 2 sets of 8 to 12 in the first gym and seniors workouts, and 3 sets of 12 to 15 on the full-body machine workout's light day.
Pick a weight you think you could lift 10 to 12 times, do 8, and keep 3 or 4 in the tank, as our first gym workout advises. 2 sets is plenty.
About 90 seconds to 2 minutes, as our plans suggest for sets of 8 to 12. Resting longer gave at most a small growth advantage.
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The machine lets you go close to failure without a spotter, but you don't need to: failure added at most a trivial amount of growth across 15 studies. People misjudge the reps they have left by about one.
2 or 3 times a week for your chest. Count it with your other chest work: about 10 or more hard sets a week built more muscle across reviews.
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When every set reaches 12, add the smallest weight step, about 2 to 10%, and go back to 8.
Work towards 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 12, not to failure, with about 2 minutes' rest, as the NSCA advises. The NHS asks older adults for strength activities on at least 2 days a week, at home or in a gym.
Stack numbers depend on each machine's levers and cams, as our pec deck guide says, and machine and barbell maximums differ. Compare yourself on the same machine.
The plate-loaded flat, incline and decline presses at their move pages' dose, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 stopping 2 or 3 reps short; the seated cable press at the same dose (our editorial starting point); the standing cable press, 3 sets of 8 to 12 (our cable chest workout); the Smith machine bench press, 3 sets of 8 to 10 (our Smith machine workout); the pec deck, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 after your presses (our pec deck guide); the dip machine, 3 sets of 8 to 12 (our dip progression). One-arm, converging and vertical-handle machines have no 3D demo; the set-up rules are the same.
3D demoPlate-loaded lever chest pressBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoPlate-loaded lever incline pressBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoPlate-loaded lever decline pressBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoSeated cable chest pressBeginner · A cable machine
3D demoStanding cable chest pressIntermediate · A cable machine
3D demoSmith machine bench pressBeginner · Strength machine + A bench or box
3D demoMachine chest fly (pec deck)Beginner · Strength machine
3D demoDip machineBeginner · Strength machineWall, incline and knee push-ups, then the push-up, at 3 sets of 8 to 15 at your step (our push-up progression), if you're starting from nothing; the chest press machine; then, if you want them, the dumbbell bench press, 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 12 stopping about 2 reps short, and the barbell bench press, as our bench press guide teaches.
3D demoWall push-upBeginner · A wall
3D demoIncline push-upBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoKnee push-upBeginner · No equipment
3D demoPush-upIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoChest press machineBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoDumbbell bench pressIntermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoBarbell bench pressIntermediate · A barbell + A bench or boxThe handles start at your neck or your belly. Set them to mid-chest before you load the machine.
Reaching back for the handles without the foot lever wrenches your shoulders, as our move page warns.
Stop pressing before your shoulder blades leave the pad.
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Keep your bottom on the seat, as research set-ups do; if you can't, the weight is too heavy.
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Straight but not locked at the front, under control at the back.
Breathe out as you press, as our breathing guide advises, especially with high blood pressure.
Between machines, or with a barbell. Compare yourself on the same machine.
Band pull-aparts, 15 reps, and scapular push-ups, 10 reps, as a warm-up (our chest workout); a seated cable row, 2 sets of 8 to 12 (our first gym workout), or the machine row, 3 sets of 12 to 15 (our full-body machine workout), to balance the pushing; face pulls, 3 sets of 12 to 20, and band external rotations, 2 sets of 12 to 15 at the end of a pressing session, as our pec deck and bench press guides suggest; the doorway chest opener for 30 seconds if it feels good afterwards (our first gym workout).
3D demoBand pull-apartIntermediate · A band
3D demoScapular push-up (push-up plus)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSeated cable rowBeginner · A cable machine
3D demoMachine rowBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoFace pullIntermediate · A band
3D demoStanding band external rotationBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoDoorway chest openerBeginner · A wallThe machine chest workout builds a whole chest session on machines: the chest press, an incline press, the pec deck and the dip machine. The first gym, full-body machine and seniors workouts use the chest press inside full-body sessions, and the reps-in-reserve practice workout uses it to learn how hard a set is.
A 35-minute chest session on gym machines: the chest press, a plate-loaded incline press, the pec deck and the dip machine, with a row to balance it.
35 minBeginner9 movesCardio machine, A bandA gentle first gym workout: a bike warm-up, five machines for 2 easy sets each, a short core move and 10 minutes on the cross-trainer.
45 minBeginner11 movesCardio machine, Strength machineA 45-minute full-body gym workout on machines: leg press, chest press, machine row, leg curl, shoulder press and arms, with sets, reps and rest.
45 minBeginner14 movesCardio machine, A bandA 50-minute gym session for older adults and sarcopenia: 7 machines for the legs, chest and back from the UK prescription, then a short balance finish.
50 minBeginner12 movesCardio machine, A bench or boxLearn how many reps you really have left: machine sets where you call out your reps in reserve, then keep going to check, in about 30 minutes.
30 minBeginner7 movesCardio machine, A bandA first gym plan for beginners: 3 days a week, starting on the machines, adding free weights and cardio, with what changes by week 12 and what comes next.
3 training days50 minBeginner3 days a weekFor after about 8 weeks of a beginner plan: three full-body sessions a week, one heavy, one moderate and one light, in a gym or at home, for 12 weeks.
3 training days50 minIntermediate3 days a weekA 12-week exercise plan for over-65s: strength and balance three times a week, short balance sessions and daily walks, based on falls-prevention trials.
3 training days40 minBeginnerIf you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; arm pain that comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest; severe difficulty breathing, or a chest that feels tight or heavy; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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A pop or tearing feeling at the front of the armpit or chest during a set, then bruising into the chest or upper arm, a change in the shape of the chest or armpit, or weakness pushing. Go to NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre the same day, as our pec strain guide says: don't wait for it to settle.
A pop or snap with sudden pain at the front of the elbow, especially with bruising, a gap at the front of the elbow or a bulge in the upper arm, can be a torn biceps tendon. Go to an urgent treatment centre or A&E (in the US, urgent care) the same day, and don't wait for it to settle, as our biceps guides say.
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A snap at the back of the elbow with sudden pain and weakness straightening the arm needs an urgent treatment centre or A&E.
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Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain, an arm you can't move, a shoulder that has changed shape or is badly swollen, pins and needles that don't go away, no feeling in your arm or shoulder, an arm or shoulder that's hot or cold to touch, pain after an injury or a fall, severe pain in both shoulders, or feeling feverish or unwell. Go to A&E if, after an injury, you can't move your arm or your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape. See a GP if shoulder pain is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
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If you feel faint on a heavy set, let the handles back and sit still. See a GP after any faint, and for dizziness that won't go away or keeps coming back.
Get help from NHS 111, or go to an urgent treatment centre (in the US, urgent care), if it's very painful or the pain is getting worse, there's a large amount of swelling or bruising or it's getting worse, it feels very stiff or is difficult to move, it's not feeling any better after treating it yourself, or you also have a very high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery.
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See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
The NHS lists lifting heavy weights among the causes of a femoral hernia. After an inguinal hernia repair, avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activity for at least 4 to 6 weeks.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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After heart surgery through the breastbone, a heart or lung transplant, or breast cancer surgery or reconstruction, follow your surgical team's advice before pushing with your arms, as our move page says.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe. Breathe out as you lift, as our breathing guide advises.
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
Head to head, machines and free weights built strength alike across 13 studies, with no difference in muscle growth, and equipment type didn't consistently change results across 137 reviews. Strength is specific: you get best at what you train.
Trained men gained strength and chest muscle alike on machines and free weights over 8 weeks.
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Free weights and free-path machines do work the steadying muscles more, but that didn't produce more strength or muscle head to head.
The same people pressed different maximums on a machine and a barbell, in both directions.
The machine sets the path, not the range: chest tears happen under heavy pressing loads, and older lifters' emergency injuries were more often on machines than younger lifters'.
Training to failure added little across 15 studies, and didn't consistently change results across reviews, as our pec deck guide says.
Set the seat so the handles line up with the middle of your chest, sit with your back and shoulder blades on the pad and your feet flat, and press the handles forward until your arms are straight but not locked. Let them come back under control to a comfortable stretch.
So the handles are level with the middle of your chest, about nipple level, and start no further back than your chest. No study has tested seat height, so if your shoulder pinches, try a notch lower or higher and note what works.
Somewhere between tucked and out to the side: NASM teaches about 45 degrees from your body. No study has tested elbow angle on the machine.
Either. In one study they worked the chest about equally, and people lifted about 12% less with the neutral grip. Neutral handles often feel easier on the shoulders.
Your chest, the front of your shoulders and your triceps, much as the bench press does, with less work for the steadying muscles. Studies disagree on whether it works the upper chest as much as a bench press.
For building strength and muscle, yes: machines and free weights matched head to head across 13 studies. But strength is specific, so if you want a bigger barbell bench, bench too.
One you could lift 10 to 12 times: do 8 and keep 3 or 4 in the tank for your first two weeks. There are no standards, because stack numbers vary between machines and machine and barbell maximums differ.
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, with about 90 seconds to 2 minutes' rest, 2 or 3 times a week. Add the smallest weight step when every set reaches 12.
Usually the handles start too far back, the seat is off, or your shoulders roll forward off the pad as you press. Bring the handles forward, shorten the range and lighten the weight; a pop at the front of the armpit or chest needs checking the same day.
Yes. The NSCA names the chest press among the priority exercises for older adults, machine programmes raised chest press strength and endurance in people aged 60 to 83, and beginners lost nothing when they later switched to free weights.
Both build the chest when they're hard enough: push-ups matched a bench press in small trials, though no trial has compared them with the machine. The machine makes it easier to add small amounts of weight.
Yes. It moves your shoulders and elbows together and works the chest, shoulders and triceps, unlike the pec deck, which moves only the shoulder.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
