What equipment do you need for the smith machine incline bench press?

You need smith machine and incline bench to do the smith machine incline bench press.

What is a good smith machine incline bench press?

For men, a good smith machine incline bench press is about a 210 lb estimated one-rep max, the Gold (intermediate) standard in Kovo. Beginners start near 107.5 lb and elite lifters pass 330 lb. For women, the standards run from about 35 lb to 205 lb. The tier table above lists every rank from Bronze to Champion.

Chest · Smith Machine

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

How to do the smith machine incline bench press, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.

Equipment: Smith Machine
Difficulty: Intermediate
Logged as: Weighted reps
Movement: Horizontal Press
Mechanic: Compound

Find more:Chest exercises Machine exercises

How to do it

Set the bench at an incline under a Smith machine. Lower the bar to your chest, then press it back up to the start.

1Feel your upper chest and shoulders pressing the bar up along the fixed path
2Keep your shoulder blades together and down on the bench
3Lower the bar to upper chest and press up without locking out excessively

Common mistakes

Avoid letting the bar drift too far forward
Don't bounce off your chest
Avoid flaring elbows too wide

Muscles worked

The smith machine incline bench press mainly works the upper chest and mid chest, with the triceps, lower chest, and front delts assisting.

Upper ChestPrimary
Mid ChestPrimary
TricepsSupport
Lower ChestSupport
Front DeltsSupport
ForearmsMinor
Upper AbsMinor

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press strength standards

See how your smith machine incline bench press ranks, from Bronze to Champion. These are the same standards the Kovo app uses to rank your lifts.

Bronzee1RM107.5 lb
Silvere1RM155 lb
Golde1RM210 lb
Platinume1RM267.5 lb
Diamonde1RM300 lb
Champione1RM330 lb

Find your rank

Enter your best set. We estimate your 1RM and match it to a tier.

Weight (lb)Reps

Kovo tracks this rank automatically as you train, across every lift, and levels you up as you get stronger.

Kovo programs the smith machine incline bench press for you and tracks it every session.

We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.

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More chest exercises

See all chest exercises →

Last reviewed April 2026.