MACHINE TIP: It’s not about speed; it’s about going at a pace at which you can feel the muscle fibers contracting. You don’t want to think about lifting the weight, but guiding it along a path that works your upper chest. This isn’t about just pushing the weight; it’s about squeezing.
MACHINATION: When I get to the top of the movement, I hold for a second or two and really squeeze my pecs.
PEC-DECK FLYE
TARGET: Inner chest
MACHINE TIP: The pec deck is totally about isolation. Hold at the top of the movement and contract the chest as hard as you can. You can actually see the lines in your chest come out as you’re squeezing.
MACHINATION: After doing two pressing movements, these help stretch out the pecs nicely. Remember, this exercise is not for building mass and you shouldn’t go too heavy on it.
STAR TRAC BENCH PRESS
TARGET: Upper, outer chest
MACHINE TIP: Sit low on the seat and keep your elbows high. Take a wide grip, adjust the handles and get a good stretch at the start of the movement.
MACHINATION: I start off light, but end up heavy enough that I can only do eight reps.
LYING HAMMER STRENGTH BENCH PRESS
TARGET: Overall chest
MACHINE TIP: This exercise is great, because it’s like a cross between a machine press and a pec-deck flye. It’s important to keep your muscles tensed at all times, because it’s such a different movement that the weight can get away from you if you’re not careful.
MACHINATION: This is an around-the-world-exercise — it hits the entire area of the chest, from inside to outside, top to bottom. It really helps give your chest a full appearance in the front double-biceps shot.
DECLINE SMITH MACHINE BENCH PRESS
TARGET: Lower chest
MACHINE TIP: A lot of people do the flat bench, but I like this even more for building chest mass. It builds the muscles under the chest and gives fullness to the pecs.
MACHINATION: Actually, you can go pretty heavy with the decline, but, of course, you don’t want to go so heavy that you are not feeling the muscles working.
MACHINE TIP: Sit facing the pad for the first two sets.
MACHINATION: My front delts grow much more easily than the rears, so when I turn around, it moves the stress further back on my shoulders. After a few sets facing backward, I turn around and do a few more sets the traditional way.
SEATED MACHINE PRESS
TARGET: Middle delts
MACHINE TIP: One of the main things I am trying to do is build width, so I like to take a very wide grip when I am doing machine presses. I’m not actually holding the handles, I’m holding the outside supports of the lever arm.
MACHINATION: This really works the middle head of my deltoids the best. I do some sets with a normal grip, too.
REVERSE PEC-DECK FLYE
TARGET: Rear delts
MACHINE TIP: I make sure not to let my elbows go too high. They never go above my shoulders. I want to hit the lower part of the rear delts, and this is the best way to do it.
MACHINATION: It’s important to remember to control the weight on this exercise. It’s easy to go fast, but that’s not what you want to do.
SEATED LATERAL ( REVERSE)
TARGET: Middle, rear delts
MACHINE TIP: If I face forward, the way it is normally done, I find that it hits my front delts too much. So I turn around and face the pad. This position puts more stress on my rear delts and also the sides.
MACHINATION: This exercise makes the shoulders rounder and fuller looking. Also, you don’t have to go very heavy with these. It is more important that your form is good.
