Smith Machine Decline Bench Press

A bench press on a decline bench under the Smith machine, where the head-down angle and the guided bar path put the work on the lower chest.

How to do it

1. Set a decline bench in the machine so the bar lines up with your lower chest when you lie down, and hook your legs under the pads.
2. Lie back with your head at the low end, take an overhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders and unrack the bar.
3. Lower the bar under control until it touches your lower chest, keeping your elbows at roughly forty-five degrees from your torso.
4. Press the bar back up until your arms are extended, without locking the elbows out hard.
5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, then rack the bar before releasing your legs.

Tips

• Line the bench up before you load it. The bar only moves in one plane, so if the bench is a few centimetres out the bar will meet your throat or your stomach instead of your lower chest.
• Secure your legs under the pads first. Head-down and unsecured, you slide toward the low end of the bench on the first hard rep.
• Come down and sit up slowly between sets. Long sets with the head below the heart make people light-headed, and this variation is where it happens.

Muscles

Primary: Chest

Secondary: Front deltoid, Triceps