Chest Press (Freemotion)

The Freemotion Chest Press is a seated cable machine exercise that targets the chest, shoulders, and triceps using independent arms for a converging range of motion. It combines the stability of a machine with the freedom of movement found in free weights.

How Iridium Helps

Because the Freemotion machine uses independent cables, it demands more stabilization than fixed-path machines; the AI analyzes your RPE and rep performance to detect if one side is fatiguing faster than the other, identifying potential strength imbalances. By integrating your daily recovery data (HRV and sleep), the app can adjust volume intensity to protect your shoulder joints if your recovery is low. Additionally, if you have a history of shoulder impingement, the AI remembers this and can recommend this specific exercise over fixed barbells due to its joint-friendly, adjustable pressing angle.

Form Cues

Do
  • Plant your feet firmly on the floor to establish a stable base.
  • Retract your shoulder blades and pin them against the back pad.
  • Press the handles forward in a converging arc so they meet in the center.
  • Control the weight slowly on the return without letting the stack slam.
  • Keep your elbows slightly below shoulder height throughout the press.
Don't
  • Don't shrug your shoulders up toward your ears.
  • Don't let your head jut forward off the pad.
  • Don't locking your elbows aggressively at the top of the movement.
  • Don't allow your wrists to bend backward excessively.

Common Mistakes

  • Shrugging shoulders during the press
  • Uneven pressing speed between arms
  • Using momentum to start the rep
  • Rounding the back off the seat
  • Stopping short of full extension

Muscles Worked

This exercise primarily targets the pectoralis major (middle chest) by allowing a natural converging path of motion that maximizes chest contraction. It heavily recruits the anterior deltoids and triceps to assist with the pressing action, while the independent handles engage stabilizer muscles in the shoulder girdle.

Primary

Middle Chest

Secondary

Anterior DeltoidTriceps Lateral HeadTriceps Medial Head

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