The Barbell flat bench press is widely considered the king of chest exercises. But you don't have to bench with a barbell all the time.
There has always been controversy surrounding machine training, but the Smith Machine bench press can be a great variation for a lot of people, including for safety reasons.
Smith Machine Bench Press Muscles Involved
The primary mover in the Smith bench press is the pectoralis major, also known as the pecs, or simply, the chest muscles.
The flat bench press is an overall chest builder. If you want more upper or lower chest focus, you can vary your bench pressing angles from one program to the next, including the incline and decline bench as well.
The front deltoids, medial deltoids and triceps are also strongly activated as secondary movers in all versions of the bench press. (The closer the grip, the more the triceps are involved).
Equipment Needed
This exercise requires a Smith machine, which is found in almost every well-equipped commercial gym.
A Smith machine is essentially a barbell on guide rods. Hooks are attached to the bar, and to begin a set, you simply rotate the bar enough to unhook it and then you perform your reps the same way you would with free weights.
Advantages/Benefits
The bench press is one of the most popular exercises of all time. Lifters of all kinds enjoy the bench press, because a personal record lift or even simply a good bench press workout can be very satisfying.
Bodybuilders, physique athletes and anyone else training for aesthetics agree that the bench press is one of the best chest builders. Athletes consider the flat bench press the best upper body strength exercise for the horizontal pushing movement.
The Smith machine bench press gives you nearly all the same benefits of the barbell version. The difference is, it's slightly easier because the bar slides up and down in a fixed path on the guide rods. This means you don't have to worry about balance and form (bar path) as much.
Many people consider safety a huge advantage of bench pressing in a Smith machine compared to using a barbell on an Olympic bench. Serious accidents occur when people bench press with free weights without taking safety precautions.
In the Smith Machine, you can set the stops at the bottom so if you fail at the bottom, you can simply wiggle right out without getting squashed. If you get stuck anywhere in the range of motion, you can spin the hooks back on the rack with the flick of a wrist. This eliminates the need for a spotter, which is important to a lot of people who train alone.
You get a similar type of safety by bench pressing in power rack, but the Smith machine's hook and pin system is easier and quicker to use.
Disadvantages
There are continuous debates about whether free weights are superior to machines. Some people say the Smith machine is "non functional," it doesn't activate as much muscle, or even, "real men use free weights - machines are for wimps."
It's generally agreed that free weights have some advantages, especially when it comes to sports and functional training. But for any cons, machines have their pros as well.
One argument against Smith machines is that because the guide rods do in fact balance the bar for you, this removes some of the work that small stabilizing muscles would usually have to do.
However, if your program doesn't depend on machines exclusively and if you also do other exercises that involve your stabilizing muscles, this isn't a big concern. It's usually athletes training for sports who stick with free weights most of the time for this reason.
In 2010 at California State University at Fullerton, exercise scientists performed a experiment to measure differences in muscle activation between a free weight and Smith machine bench press.
Surprising to many who thought Smith machines were inferior for chest activation, the pectoral muscle activity was the same in both versions of the bench press.
On the other hand, consistent with the hypothesis that machines don't activate stabilizers as much, the deltoid muscles showed lower muscle activity in the Smith machine.
This confirms the idea that free weight exercises activate more total muscle mass, including stabilizers, and it's one of the reasons free weights are often given the edge as the number one choice.
However, if your goal is building your pecs, this study gives evidence that the Smith machine bench press is just as effective as free weights.
Another concern is whether there are downsides to using a machine where the bar is forced to stay in a fixed paths.
Opponents of machines say the straight up and down guide rods are not a natural bar path and suggest it might lead to future joint pain. It's possible there is a small risk, but again, it's probably a non-issue unless you use machines exclusively and never use free weights at all. In fact, I have never seen a case study of injuries or joint problems that could be directly tied to Smith machine use.
When you consider the ease of use of Smith machines, the accident prevention benefit, and equal chest activation, any pros and cons seem to balance out. In fact, some people say they have a hard time feeling their chest on the free weight bench press and after trying the Smith bench press, they said they could finally feel that "squeeze" and contraction they wanted.
Execution / Proper Form
Place a flat bench inside the Smith machine. Make sure your bench is properly positioned and perfectly centered inside the rack.
Do some warm up reps with the empty bar to make sure it drops down to the right spot on the mid pec line. Adjust the bench position if necessary.
For extra safety, don't rely on the hooks alone, also set the safety stops at the bottom range of motion.
Lie down on the bench on your back and firmly place your feet flat on the floor to create a stable base of support.
Grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder width. Wrap your thumb around the bar (do not use a thumbless grip) and hold the bar tightly.
Unrack the barbell by spinning the hooks off the rack, into the starting position with your arms full extended over your chest.
Keep your chest up, with a slight arch in your back and your upper body tight.
Slowly lower the barbell to your mid chest, near the nipple line. Do not lower to the neck or upper chest.
Press the barbell back up to arms length.
Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Re-rack the weight, being careful to make sure you spin the hooks all the way around the pins.
SMITH MACHINE FLAT BENCH PRESS WITH STANDARD GRIP (SLIGHTLY WIDER THAN SHOULDER WIDTH)
Variations
The Smith machine bench press can also be done on an incline bench to emphasize the upper chest more, or a decline bench, to emphasize the lower chest more. Some benches are set fixed in the flat position, while others are adjustable from flat to incline or at various angles of decline.
Of course, the barbell free weight version of the bench press is another option and is actually considered the standard, primary way to bench and the Smith machine is one of the variations.
Dumbbell bench presses are an excellent variation of the bench press, and it's a good idea to put the dumbbell variations into your exercise rotation periodically.
This not only helps develop the pectoral muscles more completely, it can also reduce stress on the shoulder joints that builds up if the only thing you do is flat bench all the time.
Safety and Precautions
The Smith machine removes most worries about accidents, but you should still respect the bench press even when you're doing it in a Smith machine.
It's not unheard of to see someone so tired on the last rep that they don't spin the bar onto the hooks completely, and it comes crashing down, like it can with free weights. For this reason, always re-rack the bar carefully and use safety stops at the bottom (too many people blow that off).
If you have a history of shoulder problems and you want to avoid future pain, it's not considered bad form to cut the range of motion slightly short at the bottom. If you stop an inch or two above the chest, you will still get the benefit of the exercise with potentially lowered risk.
A lot of bodybuilders recommend flaring the elbows out to the sides to activate the pectorals more on a bench press exercise, whether flat or incline. This "bodybuilding-style" bench press may put more stress on the pecs and you will feel more stretch.
However, this may also place more strain on the shoulder joint, in addition to reducing how much weight you can lift. The same thing goes for bench pressing to the neck or uppermost chest - it can activate the pecs more, but the price is higher risk of shoulder pain or pec tendon injury.
Progressions (make it harder or add intensity)
When training on the Smith machine, many people are more comfortable pushing closer to failure because there is little chance of getting stuck. Therefore, increasing intensity of effort (training closer to failure) is a more viable option with Smith machines.
Drop sets are very popular for Smith machine bench presses, especially if you have a training partner who helps strip the plates off each side so you can do your next set sooner. Adding an extra "pump set" with higher reps and less weight is also a popular way to finish.
This will progress your workouts by adding volume and give you a great pump.
The bench press also makes a great combination movement to superset with a rowing exercise and these supersets work in a Smith machine too (simply straddle the bench or stand on the bench for the rows).
Perform a set of bench presses (the horizontal push movement), then with little or no rest, go right to the rowing exercise (a horizontal pull movement).
This increases intensity and improves time efficiency (Antagonist supersets are a great trick for busy people).
Last but not least, you can train the bench press with a pause at the bottom (two or three seconds at the chest), which makes the exercise substantially harder and adds something different if you're getting bored with regular bench press reps. Be prepared to reduce the weight, but see the intensity (of effort) go sky-high and your strength will soon catch back up.
