10 Best Leverage Incline Chest Press Alternatives for Home Gyms

The Leverage Incline Chest Press is done lying on your back with a machine. Ranked closest by our scoring: the Lever Incline Chest Press, the Leverage Decline Chest Press and the Lever Decline Chest Press.

Leverage Incline Chest Press

Each substitute is scored on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. Read how we rank alternatives

How to Do the Leverage Incline Chest Press

The steps for the Leverage Incline Chest Press itself, so you can judge how close each substitute below really is.

Pectorals, with shoulders, triceps · Machine · Intermediate · Compound

  1. Load an appropriate weight onto the pins and adjust the seat for your height. The handles should be near the top of the pectorals at the beginning of the motion. Your chest and head should be up and your shoulder blades retracted. This will be your starting position.
  2. Press the handles forward by extending through the elbow.
  3. After a brief pause at the top, return the weight just above the start position, keeping tension on the muscles by not returning the weight to the stops until the set is complete.

The 10 Best Leverage Incline Chest Press Alternatives

10 substitutes, ranked by how closely each one matches the Leverage Incline Chest Press on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. The higher the score, the less you change. Cards with a "How to perform it" link open to show the steps; every card title links to that exercise's own alternatives page.

Each link re-ranks the list below for the kit it names. Pick one to hide the substitutes you cannot set up.

  1. Lever Incline Chest PressPlay demonstration

    1. Lever Incline Chest Press

    99% match

    Pectorals · Intermediate · Compound

    A good swap when you have a lever machine to work with, and it still works the pectorals.

    • Lever
    How to perform it
    1. Adjust the seat height and backrest angle on the leverage machine to a comfortable position.
    2. Sit on the machine with your back against the backrest and your feet flat on the floor.
    3. Grasp the handles with an overhand grip and position your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
    4. Push the handles forward and away from your body until your arms are fully extended, but without locking your elbows.
    5. Pause for a moment at the fully extended position, then slowly bend your elbows and lower the handles back towards your chest.
    6. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

    Sets and reps: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: incline press, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Primary muscle: pectorals, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Equipment: a machine, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
  2. Leverage Decline Chest Press

    2. Leverage Decline Chest Press

    90% match

    Pectorals · Beginner · Compound

    Pick this when you want an easier version that still works the pectorals.

    • Machine
    How to perform it
    1. Load an appropriate weight onto the pins and adjust the seat for your height. The handles should be near the bottom of the pectorals at the beginning of the motion. Your chest and head should be up and your shoulder blades retracted. This will be your starting position.
    2. Press the handles forward by extending through the elbow.
    3. After a brief pause at the top, return the weight just above the start position, keeping tension on the muscles by not returning the weight to the stops until the set is complete.

    Sets and reps: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Primary muscle: pectorals, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Equipment: a machine, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
  4. Smith Machine Decline Press

    4. Smith Machine Decline Press

    89% match

    Pectorals · Intermediate · Compound

    A good swap when you have a Smith machine to work with, and it still works the pectorals.

    • Smith-machine
    How to perform it
    1. Position a decline bench in the rack so that the bar will be above your chest. Load an appropriate weight and take your place on the bench.
    2. Rotate the bar to unhook it from the rack and fully extend your arms. Your back should be slightly arched and your shoulder blades retracted. This will be your starting position.
    3. Begin the movement by flexing your arms, lowering the bar to your chest.
    4. Pause briefly, and then extend your arms to push the weight back to the starting position.
    5. After completing the desired number of repetitions, rotate the bar to rack the weight.

    Sets and reps: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Primary muscle: pectorals, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Equipment: a machine, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
  5. Incline Dumbbell Press

    5. Incline Dumbbell Press

    85% match

    Pectorals · Intermediate · Compound

    A good swap when you have dumbbells to work with, and it still works the pectorals.

    • Dumbbell
    How to perform it
    1. Lie back on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand atop your thighs. The palms of your hands will be facing each other.
    2. Then, using your thighs to help push the dumbbells up, lift the dumbbells one at a time so that you can hold them at shoulder width.
    3. Once you have the dumbbells raised to shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. This will be your starting position.
    4. Be sure to keep full control of the dumbbells at all times. Then breathe out and push the dumbbells up with your chest.
    5. Lock your arms at the top, hold for a second, and then start slowly lowering the weight. Tip Ideally, lowering the weights should take about twice as long as raising them.
    6. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
    7. When you are done, place the dumbbells back on your thighs and then on the floor. This is the safest manner to release the dumbbells.

    Sets and reps: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: incline press, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Primary muscle: pectorals, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Equipment: free weights, not a machine
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Balance: harder to stay steady on than the Leverage Incline Chest Press
  6. Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

    6. Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

    84% match

    Pectorals · Intermediate · Compound

    It still works the pectorals, through a different movement.

    • Machine
    How to perform it
    1. Place an incline bench underneath the smith machine. Place the barbell at a height that you can reach when lying down and your arms are almost fully extended. Once the weight you need is selected, lie down on the incline bench and make sure your upper chest is aligned with the barbell. Using a pronated grip (palms facing forward) that is wider than shoulder width, unlock the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
    2. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your upper chest.
    3. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
    4. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
    5. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

    Sets and reps: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Primary muscle: pectorals, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Equipment: a machine, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Leverage Incline Chest Press

Leverage Incline Chest Press FAQ

What muscles does Leverage Incline Chest Press work?

The exercise primarily targets the clavicular head of the pectoralis major (upper chest), with secondary work from the anterior deltoid and triceps. You recruit upper-pec fibers most effectively by using a 25–35° bench angle and driving the elbows up and slightly inward to produce horizontal adduction.

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