10 Best Smith Machine Incline Bench Press Alternatives for Chest Pressing Strength

The Smith Machine Incline Bench Press is done lying on your back with a machine. Ranked closest by our scoring: the Smith Incline Bench Press, the Smith Machine Bench Press and the Smith Bench Press.

The Smith Incline Bench Press is the same movement under another name: the same rails, the same fixed bar path, the bar lowered to your upper chest and pressed back up. Without any smith machine free, the Barbell Incline Bench Press asks you to balance that same upward press with a bar in your own hands, replacing the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press's fixed rails.

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

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

How to Do the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

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

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

  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.

The 10 Best Smith Machine Incline Bench Press Alternatives

10 substitutes, ranked by how closely each one matches the Smith Machine Incline Bench 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. Smith Incline Bench PressPlay demonstration

    1. Smith Incline Bench Press

    99% 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. Adjust the bench to a 30-45 degree incline.
    2. Sit on the bench with your back flat against the pad and feet firmly on the ground.
    3. Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
    4. Unrack the barbell and lower it slowly towards your upper chest, keeping your elbows slightly tucked in.
    5. Pause for a moment at the bottom, then push the barbell back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.
    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 Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Primary muscle: pectorals, the same as the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Equipment: a machine, the same as the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
  2. Smith Machine Bench Press

    2. Smith Machine Bench Press

    90% match

    Pectorals · Intermediate · Compound

    It uses the same equipment and still works the pectorals.

    • Machine
    How to perform it
    1. Place a flat bench underneath the smith machine. Now 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 flat bench. Using a pronated grip 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 middle 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, lock 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 Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Equipment: a machine, the same as the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
  7. Cable Incline Bench PressPlay demonstration

    7. Cable Incline Bench Press

    87% match

    Pectorals · Intermediate · Compound

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

    • Cable
    How to perform it
    1. Adjust the bench to a 45-degree incline.
    2. Attach the cable handles to the high pulleys.
    3. Sit on the bench facing the cable machine with your feet flat on the ground.
    4. Grasp the handles with an overhand grip and bring them to shoulder height.
    5. Push the handles forward and upward until your arms are fully extended.
    6. Pause for a moment, then slowly lower the handles back to the starting position.
    7. 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 Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Primary muscle: pectorals, the same as the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Equipment: a cable, not a machine
    • Body position: lying on your back, the same as the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
    • Balance: harder to stay steady on than the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

Why You Might Need a Smith Machine Incline Bench Press Alternative

The usual reasons to swap the Smith Machine Incline Bench Press are that someone else is on the station, that you want the same fixed bar path at a different bench angle or grip, or that your gym has no smith machine at all. Some of these swaps use the exact same rails and let you change only the bench angle or grip, so you unrack, lower the bar toward your chest and push back up. Others hand you a free barbell, a cable pulley or a pair of dumbbells instead of the fixed rails, so your shoulders hold the bar path steady on their own. Either way you are still lowering to your chest and pushing back up with your chest muscles, the same motion you already know.

How to Choose the Right Smith Machine Incline Bench Press Substitute

If you want to stay on the smith machine but drop the incline, the Smith Machine Bench Press or the Smith Bench Press use the same rails on a flat bench and bring the bar to your chest. The Smith Wide Grip Bench Press stays on those rails with elbows out to the sides, and the Smith Wide Grip Decline Bench Press takes that setup onto a decline with feet secured under the pads. With no smith machine free, the Barbell Incline Bench Press or the Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip put the bar path in your own hands at the same incline, while the Cable Incline Bench Press replaces the bar with pulley handles pushed forward and up. The Dumbbell Incline Breeding lets each arm lower to the side of your chest on its own path.

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press FAQ

What should I try while the smith station is busy?

Take a barbell or dumbbells to an incline bench instead. The Barbell Incline Bench Press keeps the incline and the bar, lowered to your chest and pressed up, only now the bar path is in your own hands. The Dumbbell Incline Breeding lets each arm lower to the side of your chest on its own path. If a cable station is free, the Cable Incline Bench Press has you push the handles forward and up until your arms lock out.

What if my gym never bought a smith machine?

The Barbell Incline Bench Press and the Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip give you the same incline press with a bar you control yourself, and the Cable Incline Bench Press replaces the bar with pulley handles pushed forward and up instead. The Dumbbell Incline Breeding is another option, since each arm presses on its own path.

What if I want to change my grip width?

The Smith Wide Grip Bench Press and the Smith Wide Grip Decline Bench Press use a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, the same as you already use, elbows out to the sides, on a flat bench or a decline with feet secured under the pads. The Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip is the real change: a medium grip on a free bar, forearms and upper arms at a right angle, bar lowered to your upper chest.

Do these swaps still work the same muscles?

Yes. Every swap is a press where you lower a bar, a pair of handles or two dumbbells to your chest and push back up with your chest muscles, so the equipment in your hands changes but the muscles doing the pressing work do not.

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