The seated bench press with seated pectoral machine is an interesting guided exercise. Why? Because it allows to work heavier without risk and in full safety. It is a good alternative to the bench press with the bar or the dumbbells less traumatic for the articulations.
The limitations of this type of machine, like all guided machines, are that the stabilizing muscles are used much less than with free loads.
By varying the height of the seat, you can solicit different parts of the pectoral muscles. An adjustment of the seat lower will allow a more important solicitation of the top of the pectoral muscles. A higher adjustment, it will be the bottom of the pectorals which will be more targeted.
How do I do this exercise?
Adjust the height of the seat and sit with your back against the backrest of the machine. Push your wrists together, keeping a pronation grip. Without taking off your back, stretch your arms while blowing and return to the starting position.
CAUTION: Do not over-stretch the pectoral muscles by pulling back the handles if you have long arms to avoid the risk of injury. Despite the fact that the sit-up bench press is a very safe exercise, it could be that your morphology is not suitable for the machine. If you feel pain in your joints, use dumbbells instead.
Tips
- The shoulders must remain behind, the shoulder blades tightened to solicit the pectoral muscles to the maximum and not the front deltoids.
- Don't hesitate to work heavy or to fail on this kind of secured guided machine.
Variants
- According to the machines with seated developed, there are various catches which make it possible to work for example on the external of the pectoral thanks to a broad catch. The average catch, or a tight catch would rather solicit the interior of the pectoral muscles.
- But also other machines like the Hammer or Technogym machines with different grip heights that would allow to target the different high, medium or low portions of the pectorals.
- The exercises can also be performed unilaterally in order to concentrate even more intensely on each pectoral.
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Supplementary article :
All you need to know about continuous tension in weight training
