StrengthIn review

Chest Press Machine

A seated horizontal press performed on a selectorized or plate-loaded machine.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Horizontal push
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym
At home: No

How to do it

Set up

Adjust the seat so the handles align near mid-chest.
Place your feet firmly and set your upper back against the pad.

Do the rep

Press the handles forward until the elbows are extended.
Return the handles under control without letting the load stack slam.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the arms extend and the handles return to the seat-set start position at chest height.

One rep starts with the handles at the seat-set start position at chest height, reaches arms extended, and ends when the handles return to that start position.

Breathing

Breathe in as the handles return; exhale as you press.

Cues

Keep the back on the pad.
Press both handles evenly.
Control the return.

Common mistakes

Shoulders move forward
What you seeThe shoulders lift from the pad at the end of the press.
FixKeep the upper back against the pad and shorten the reach.
Supported shoulders keep the press aligned with the machine path.
Load returns quickly
What you seeThe handles snap back toward the start.
FixReduce the load and control the full return.
A controlled return keeps tension on the press and prevents the stack from slamming.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if your shoulders leave the pad or the handles return without control.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated range under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Chest · moderate confidence
Triceps · moderate confidence

Assisting

Front deltoids · moderate confidence

Equipment

Selectorized machine or Plate loaded machine

Adjust the seat so the handles start near mid-chest height.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Technique, cues, rep standards, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections are original draft text. Independent technique sources and coach review remain required.
Anatomy, classification, and equipment use unapproved blueprint planning hints. The assigned review tier must confirm them.
Allowed metrics, side counting, and environment values are draft interpretations of the planning metadata.
This pass treats load-and-reps as the legal modes supported by the CSV logging model; reviewer approval remains required.
The rewritten summary, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and common errors are editorial judgements pending the assigned review tier.
Legacy relations are movement-pattern and equipment judgements; engine edges remain empty pending S2-CAT-005 approval.
Pass 2 rewrites the finish standard as a counting-only criterion and replaces the web title, summary, and meta description with exercise-specific copy; these editorial choices require review.
Pass 2 defines a visible movement endpoint where the earlier draft relied on a vague range or control phrase; the endpoint requires coach review.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-1 blueprint and exercise brief.

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