Chest · Smith Machine
Incline Push-up on a Smith Bar
How to do the incline push-up on a smith bar, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Smith Machine
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- HorizontalPush
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Set the Smith machine bar to a fixed waist-to-chest height and grip it slightly wider than shoulder-width. With your body in a straight line and feet back, lower your chest to the bar, then press back up to full extension.
- 1Upper chest and triceps pressing your body away from the bar
- 2Shoulder blades pulled together and down
- 3Core tight to hold a straight line head to heels
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips sag or pike up
- Flaring the elbows out wide
- Bouncing the chest off the bar
Muscles worked
The incline push-up on a smith bar mainly works the upper chest and mid chest, with the triceps, lower chest, upper abs, and front delts assisting.
- Upper ChestPrimary
- Mid ChestPrimary
- TricepsSupport
- Lower ChestSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
Kovo programs the incline push-up on a smith bar 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.
More chest exercises
- How to do the archer push-up
- How to do the assisted dip
- How to do the resistance band chest flyes
- How to do the resistance band push-up
- How to do the barbell bench press
- How to do the paused bench press
Last reviewed June 2026.