Incline Press (Hammerstrength)
The Incline Hammer Strength Press is a plate-loaded machine exercise designed to isolate the upper chest and shoulders with a safe, fixed range of motion. It provides the stability of a machine while allowing for heavy loading to build upper body pushing strength.
Since the Hammer Strength machine offers a fixed path, our AI focuses heavily on optimizing your load and volume management based on your daily recovery status and Heart Rate Variability (HRV). If your anterior deltoids show signs of fatigue from previous workouts, the system adjusts your target RPE to prevent shoulder strain while still stimulating the upper chest. Additionally, by analyzing your historical performance data, the AI can precisely prescribe micro-load increments to ensure consistent progressive overload without compromising safety.
Form Cues
- Adjust the seat so the handles align with your upper chest/collarbone
- Retract your shoulder blades firmly against the back pad
- Keep your elbows tucked at roughly a 45-degree angle
- Exhale forcefully as you press the handles upward
- Control the weight slowly on the way down for a 2-second count
- Don't let your elbows flare out wide past your shoulders
- Don't arch your lower back excessively to lift the weight
- Don't allow your shoulders to roll forward at the top of the movement
- Don't lock your elbows aggressively at full extension
- Don't let the weight stack slam down between repetitions
Common Mistakes
- Setting the seat too low or high
- Shortening the range of motion
- Excessive elbow flaring
- Lifting head off the bench
- Using momentum to bounce the weight
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily targets the clavicular head of the pectoralis major (upper chest), helping to build fullness in the upper torso. It heavily recruits the anterior deltoids and triceps as secondary movers to assist in the pressing motion, while the fixed path minimizes the need for stabilizer muscles compared to free weights.
Primary
Secondary
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