Preparation
Place an incline bench under the smith machine and set the barbell at a height that you can reach with almost fully extended hands. Lie back on the bench so that your upper chest to be on one level with the bar. Put your feet firm on the floor and grasp the bar with pronated grip (palms facing your feet) with your hands at the widest grip you can safely manage(the angle in the middle portion of the movement between your arms and forearms must be bigger than 90-degree). Unlock the bar from the rack and hold it above your chest. This will be your starting position.
Execution
As you breathe in start lower the bar in controlled manner until you reach the upper chest. When you touch the chest carefully change the direction of the movement and bring the bar back to the starting position as you exhale. Contract the pecs at the top, hold for a second and repeat the movement for desire reps.
Recommendations
- For best results and maximum upper chest development use a bench with angle between 20 and 30 degrees. If you perform the exercise with higher inclination you will use your shoulder muscles too much and the chest will execute a smaller amount of work.
- Before you draw near to execution of exercise make sure you’ve positioned the bench so that the bar is exactly above your upper chest.
- Grip the bar with your thumbs around the front, to prevent it from slipping.
- Keep the elbows pointed outward in order to fully involve the chest.
- Don’t lock your arms at the top of the movement, this would help you to keep the tension in the chest muscles.
- Keep your legs firm on the floor and don’t lift your head and glutes from the bench.
- Don’t bounce the weight of your chest, to perform the exercise safe and correct the negative phase of the movement should be twice longer than the positive.