5 Best Chest Machine Exercises For Size, Strength & Definition

Beginner Chest Machine Workout

Our beginner chest machine workout starts with the chest press machine. This works all three heads of the pectoralis major.

The incline machine press is one of the best machine exercises for upper chest development. We’ve included this as our second exercise to target the clavicular heads of the pectoralis major. 

The middle of the workout focuses on smaller isolation movements, such as the chest fly machine and the cable chest fly. The cable exercise can be used with the current program or with other cable chest workouts.

At the end, we’ve programmed a fun bodyweight push-up test that requires you to perform as many repetitions as possible. This helps to ensure proper chest training volume and provides a measurable exercise challenge. 

Each exercise uses your rating of perceived exertion, or RPE, to gauge your training intensity. This is a measure of how hard you’re working using a scale of 1–10. Aim to work at an RPE of eight, meaning you have two repetitions left in reserve.

If you don’t have access to some of the required equipment, here are some of the best chest workouts at home. Feel free to switch these out, providing they use the same movement pattern.

*AMRAP = As many repetitions as possible.

Advanced Chest Machine Workout 

Our advanced chest machine workout plan utilizes the same exercises with some advanced training techniques. This ensures a higher training intensity and training volume for high-level adaptations.

Our session begins with the incline machine press, one of the primary compound chest movements. Following this, we’ve put the chest press machine and chest fly machine exercises together as a superset. This means that you’ll be performing them with no rest in between. 

The middle of the workout requires you to perform the Smith machine bench press with normal programming. The cable chest fly drop sets are designed to overload the chest muscles with a high training volume. Complete these alongside other outer chest cable movements. 

The end of the session finishes with a high-intensity weighted push-up challenge. In this, you need to perform as many weighted push-ups as possible. 

All exercises are programmed as a percentage of your one-repetition maximum, or 1RM, to work out your training intensity. This is the maximum amount of weight you can lift for one repetition with good form. Use our 1RM calculator or work with a qualified professional to figure this out.

*AMRAP = As many repetitions as possible.

Anatomy Of The Chest

Clavicular Head of Pectoralis Major

Muscles located at the top of your chest, running from your armpit to collar bone. Smaller portion of your chest muscle.

Sternal Head of Pectoralis Major

Large muscles located underneath your clavicle head. Makes up most of your chest area

Abdominal Head of Pectoralis Major

Muscles located at the bottom of your pectoral region, just above your abdominal muscles.

Serratus Anterior

Small, fan shaped muscle that lies deep under your chest and scapula.

The chest is made up of several muscle groups that play key roles in movement, posture, breathing, and strength generation.

Pectoralis Major 

The pectoralis major is a large, fan-shaped muscle that spans most of the chest. While it’s referred to as a single muscle, it’s commonly split into three heads or regions.

• Clavicular Head (Upper Chest) — Originates from the collarbone and inserts into the upper arm. It raises the arms forward, brings them across the midline of the body, and rotates them inwards. Strong clavicular heads help with pushing movements and stabilize the shoulders.  
• Sternal Head (Middle Chest) — Originates from the breastbone and inserts into the upper arm. It brings the arms across the body, rotates them inwards, and brings the arms down when raised. This is the largest and most dominant head of the pectoralis major. 
• Abdominal Head (Lower Chest) — Originates from the ribs and inserts into the upper arm. It brings the arms down when they’re flexed (above the body). It also assists with rotating them inwards and bringing them across the body. This is often the most underdeveloped chest head in most lifters, requiring decline pressing and dip movements. 

Pectoralis Minor 

The pectoralis minor is a smaller muscle group beneath the larger pectoralis major. It originates from the ribs and inserts into the shoulder blades (scapula). Because of this, it’s a key scapula stabilizer during movement and exercise. It brings the shoulder blades down, forward, and keeps them in place when the arms move. 

While it doesn’t directly contribute to your chest size or shape, it’s a crucial smaller muscle group for shoulder function. An overactive or tight pectoralis major can cause shoulder impingement, rounded shoulders, and poor upper-body mobility.  

Serratus Anterior 

The serratus anterior muscle sits on the sides of your ribcage. It brings your arms and shoulders forward.

It’s commonly referred to as the boxer’s muscle due to its key role in stabilizing the shoulders during pressing movements. The serratus anterior is heavily used for reaching and punching, with weak or underdeveloped muscles causing a winged scapula. 

Benefits Of Chest Machine Exercises

These are the three main benefits to consider when using the best chest machines at the gym.

Improved Upper-Body Appearance 

Building a well-defined chest is the main goal for bodybuilders and recreational gymgoers. Muscular hypertrophy requires a suitable resistance training stimulus performed with enough training volume. Chest hypertrophy machines need to work the chest and do it often enough to stimulate muscle growth. 

Using gym machines for chest workouts ensures precise targeting of the chest muscles. The fixed movement patterns reduce the reliance on supporting muscles like the shoulders and triceps. This allows you to isolate specific chest areas, ensuring efficient growth and well-rounded development. 

The chest press machine’s fixed pressing motion allows you to fully contract your chest as your hands come forward. This improves your mind-muscle connection, or the way you think about a working muscle. As a key factor for muscle growth, this improves your upper-body appearance. 

Better Functional Pressing Strength 

Functional pressing strength is the ability to push or press weighted objects in daily activities, exercise, and performance. Examples include pushing a heavy door and fending off an opponent in rugby.

A strong and functional chest ensures efficient pressing movement and power generation. Building this requires a suitable resistance training stimulus performed at the correct intensity. 

Inner chest machine exercises utilize functional pressing motions using a controlled movement. The reduced stability requirement allows much heavier loads, ensuring a higher training intensity at a reduced difficulty. 

With this, you can successfully implement the progressive overload training principle. Small and consistent adjustments in intensity allow you to build better functional pressing strength. Use them as part of a chest and shoulder workout to develop functional pressing power.

Increased Safety And Injury Rehabilitation Applications 

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced athlete, safety and injury prevention are key aspects of long-term health and performance. An important part of this is using proper form through the full range of motion while limiting excess joint strain. 

Chest machine exercises use controlled resistance through a fixed range of motion. This helps to minimize potential joint stress and improper form, both major contributors to injury. The estimated prevalence of weightlifting injuries is 2.4–3.3 per 1000 training hours.

The better safety aspect makes them well-suited to beginners looking to learn the proper pressing movement patterns. Furthermore, individuals recovering from injury have a safe way to improve strength and function while limiting injury risk.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

Small technical mistakes can reduce muscle engagement and halt your progress. Here’s what to look out for when performing a chest and arm workout or the exercises presented above:

• Incorrect Seat Positioning — Your seat height determines the degree of chest activation. The handles should be in line with your mid-chest to ensure proper muscle engagement. Place them too high or too low, and you’ll use your shoulders and triceps instead. 
• Flaring Your Elbows Out — Maintain a slight elbow angle when pressing to keep tension on your chest. Flaring your elbows shifts the stress to the shoulder joints, decreasing pressing efficiency. 
• Locking Your Elbows — Straightening your elbows at the top of each repetition shifts the tension from your chest to the elbow joints. This increases injury risk and reduces time under tension. Maintain a slight elbow bend as you perform each repetition. 
• Rushing The Repetitions — Each repetition should be performed in a controlled and safe manner. Use a slow eccentric (lowering phase) with a faster concentric (lifting phase). This ensures enough time under tension and promotes better chest activation. 
• Using Too Much Weight — While machine exercises may be easier than free weights, you still need to lift using proper form. Follow the technique cues for each exercise, ensuring you maintain control. 

Tips For Maximizing Machine Chest Training

With the common mistakes in mind, here are some handy tips to maximize your chest training:

• Prioritize Progressive Overload — Implementing the progressive overload training principle should be your main focus. Gradually increase your lifting volume for muscle growth and training intensity for pressing strength. This ensures the correct adaptive responses take place. 
• Ensure The Correct Machine Set-Up — Practice your setup position before performing your working sets. Your feet should be firmly on the floor, with your back against the backrest, and handles in line with your chest. 
• Experiment With Your Grip Position — A medium-width grip should provide direct chest targeting. A wide grip will stress your shoulders, while a narrow grip moves the emphasis onto your triceps. Experiment with the different grip positions on each exercise to find the best chest activation. 
• Drive Your Chest Into The Pad — Imagine driving your chest into the back pad as you press forward. This helps to increase chest muscle activation and reduce potential shoulder strain. 
• Experiment With Different Training Methods — Advanced techniques such as drop sets and super sets can be used to increase your training volume and intensity. These require you to drop the weight and keep lifting, or combine two exercises with no rest.

Conclusion

Chest machine exercises offer a versatile way to build a strong and functional chest. The controlled movement and lower stability requirements improve muscle activation and safety. They’re well-suited to all ability levels and individuals returning from injury. 

Combine our best chest machine exercises with your fundamental free-weight training and enjoy some of the many benefits they offer. Try our example chest machine workouts and you’ll be well on the way to the chest of your dreams!