Plate-Loaded Chest Press

Also known as: Iso-Lateral Chest Press, Hammer Strength Chest Press, Lever Chest Press

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Body Part: Chest

Description

Sit in a plate-loaded lever machine and press two independent handles forward from mid-chest to train your chest and triceps without a bar or spotter. Most of the work goes to the chest, across its whole width and hardest in the middle; your triceps finish each rep and the front delts help. Each lever carries its own plates, so a weaker arm can't hide behind the stronger one. A missed rep simply lands on the stops, which lets beginners and anyone training alone push close to failure. For quick weight changes and drop sets, the pin-loaded stack machine is the better pick.

How to Perform

Load the same plates on both horns. The levers move independently, so mismatched plates mean one arm pushes more than the other.
Set the seat so the handles rest level with your mid-chest, roughly at nipple height.
Sit with your hips all the way back and your back and head on the backrest. Plant your feet flat, about hip width, knees near 90°.
Take the horizontal handles overhand, knuckles up, hands a little wider than your shoulders and wrists straight over your forearms.
Pull your shoulder blades back and down into the pad before the first rep, and leave them pinned there until the set is over.
Press both handles along the machine's arc, which rises slightly and brings your hands closer, until your arms are almost straight. Your shoulders stay on the pad.
Take about 2 seconds to bring the handles back beside your chest, elbows just behind your torso, until you feel the stretch. Touch the bottom lightly and go again.
When the set is done, guide both handles back onto the rest stops. Don't let go of either handle until both levers are resting there.

What Muscles Work

Primary Muscle:

Secondary Muscles:

Tips

Put it first or second on chest day: 3–4 sets of 8–12 reps, or 5–8 for strength.
Build reps before weight. Once you get 12 on all sets at full depth with your shoulders on the pad, add the smallest plate to each lever (2 × 1.25 kg or 2 × 2.5 kg) and work the reps back up.
Log the plates per side. The lever changes the real resistance, so your numbers only compare with this same machine, not with your barbell bench.
The burn belongs across your chest, armpit to breastbone, with a clear stretch at the bottom and the triceps kicking in near the top. Feeling it mainly in the front delts? Check the seat height and whether your shoulders stay on the pad. If the front of the shoulder pinches in the stretch, raise the seat a notch or stop the handles a fist's width short of your chest.
Easier: lighter plates, or the pin-loaded machine with its smaller jumps. Harder: one-arm sets on a single lever, or 3 seconds down with a 1-second pause in the stretch. The free-weight step up is the Dumbbell Bench Press.
Substitutes: Machine Chest Press (the pin-loaded stack version, handy for drop sets), Dumbbell Bench Press for each arm moving freely, Barbell Bench Press for heavy low-rep work, and Seated Cable Chest Press when every press machine is taken.

Common Mistakes

Handles starting at shoulder height because the seat is too low. Your front delts take over and the shoulder pinches at the bottom; raise the seat until the handles line up with your mid-chest.
Reaching for the last few inches at the top until your shoulders peel off the backrest. Stop where your arms are nearly straight, with your shoulder blades still on the pad.
One handle reaching the top before the other. Match the plates, press both at the same pace, and call the set when your weaker arm starts to lag.
Dropping into the bottom and bouncing the plates off the stops. Lower for about 2 seconds, touch lightly and press without a rebound.
Wrists bent back on the horizontal handles. Set the handle in the base of your palm, knuckles up, so the wrist sits right over the forearm.
Hips sliding forward and the lower back arching off the pad as the reps get hard. Sit all the way back with your feet flat and press with your arms, not by shoving through your legs.