Chest Machine

Chest Machines for Home and Commercial Gyms

Chest machines put the pressing and fly movements on a fixed path, so a member can load the chest heavily without a spotter and a trainer can run a full chest session on three pieces of equipment. For most gyms the chest line is the busiest strength zone on the floor after the squat racks.

Types of Chest Machines

The seated chest press works the mid-chest with the arms moving straight forward; the incline press angles the handles upward for the upper chest, and the decline press angles them down for the lower chest. The pec fly, also sold as the pec deck, brings the arms together in an arc and isolates the chest without the triceps. Converging-arm presses move the handles inward as they extend, which keeps tension on the chest through the whole rep. A chest line that covers press, incline and fly handles every chest exercise a member will ask for.

Selectorized or Plate-Loaded

Selectorized chest machines run off a weight stack and suit high-traffic floors, where members change the pin and go. Plate-loaded presses, often called iso-lateral or Hammer-style, let each arm move independently and load heavier than a stack allows, which is why strength-focused gyms keep both. Home gyms usually start with a single plate-loaded press because it takes the plates already on the floor.

How to Use a Chest Machine

Set the seat so the handles sit level with the mid-chest on a press, or level with the shoulders on a fly. Keep the shoulder blades pulled back and down against the pad, press to just short of lockout, and return under control. Three sets of 8 to 12 reps with a weight that makes the last two reps slow is the standard prescription.