Incline Press (Smith Machine)
The Smith Machine Incline Press is a compound upper-body exercise that targets the upper chest, shoulders, and triceps using a fixed, guided bar path. This variation provides increased stability compared to free weights, allowing you to focus safely on muscle contraction and lifting heavier loads without a spotter.
Because the Smith machine removes the need for lateral stabilization, the limiting factor here is almost purely muscular force from the chest and triceps. The AI analyzes your drop-off in rep speed and RPE to ensure you are reaching true hypertrophy-inducing proximity to failure. Furthermore, if your recovery data (HRV, sleep) indicates high systemic fatigue or shoulder sensitivity, the app may recommend this exercise over the barbell variation to reduce the demand on your stabilizer muscles while still allowing for high-intensity loading.
Form Cues
- Set the bench angle between 30 and 45 degrees.
- Align the bar directly over your upper chest or collarbone.
- Keep your wrists straight and stacked directly over your elbows.
- Lower the bar under control until it gently touches your upper chest.
- Drive your feet into the floor and press the bar back up explosively.
- Don't flare your elbows out 90 degrees to your sides.
- Don't bounce the bar off your chest to generate momentum.
- Don't lift your hips or glutes off the bench while pressing.
- Don't lock your elbows aggressively at the top of the movement.
- Don't set the bench too steep, or you'll shift tension to the shoulders.
Common Mistakes
- Setting the bench angle too steep (over 45 degrees)
- Misaligning the body so the bar lands too low on the chest
- Bouncing the weight off the ribcage
- Flaring elbows excessively wide
- Unracking the bar with bent wrists
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily isolates the clavicular head of the pectoralis major (upper chest), helping to build a fuller, shelf-like chest appearance. It heavily recruits the anterior deltoids and triceps as secondary movers to assist with the lockout. The fixed path of the machine allows for constant tension on these muscles by removing the stability requirements of free weights.
Primary
Secondary
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