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Decline Chest Press Machine

beginner · push_horizontal

Setup

Adjust the seat height until the handles sit level with your lower chest. The seat reclines about 15-20 degrees below horizontal, so your head ends up a little lower than your hips. On a plate-loaded machine, slide the plates onto the pressing arms and lock them with collars; on a stack machine, put the pin in at the weight you want. Sit down, pull your shoulder blades back into the pad, then take the handles.

Execution

  1. Keep your shoulder blades pinned to the pad and your feet planted on the floor or foot bar.
  2. Exhale and press the handles forward and slightly downward, following the seat's decline angle, until your arms are nearly straight.
  3. Don't lock the elbows out hard at the end; hold for a beat before lowering.
  4. Inhale and lower the handles back to the start under control, keeping the shoulder blades pinned to the pad through the descent.
  5. If you run out of strength mid-set, stop with your arms nearly straight, ease the handles back slowly and come out of the machine instead of forcing the last rep.

Breathing

Exhale as you press out, inhale as you bring the handles back in. Do not hold your breath to move a heavier weight; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or you are pregnant, never hold it at all, lighten the load and exhale on the press.

Quick cues

  • Pin your shoulder blades to the pad.
  • Press along the seat's decline line.
  • Don't lock the elbows out hard.
  • Lower slowly, keep tension in the lower chest.

Common faults

  • Fault: The shoulder blades lifting off the pad on a heavy press

    Fix: Drop one plate increment and actively retract the shoulders before each press.

  • Fault: Locking the elbows out hard and loading the joint at the top

    Fix: Stop just short of a hard lockout, then start lowering.

  • Fault: Pressing straight forward instead of following the seat's decline angle

    Fix: Watch the path of the handles and press slightly downward, matching the machine's fixed arc.

  • Fault: Letting the stack or plates drop hard at the bottom of the lowering phase

    Fix: Lower over 2-3 seconds and ease into the bottom instead of letting go.

Equipment

machine

Muscle groups

chest, arms, shoulders