Pec Deck
Trains the Pecs.
- Equipment
- A machine
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set the seat so the handles or pads sit level with your chest, not your shoulders.
- Sit back with your whole back against the pad and your feet flat.
- Take the handles with your upper arms roughly parallel to the floor and your elbows slightly bent.
- Bring your arms together in front of your chest, leading with the upper arms.
- Squeeze briefly where the arms meet.
- Open back out under control until you feel a stretch across the chest, then stop before the shoulders roll forward.
Common mistakes
- Setting the seat low so the arms travel upward. The path should be horizontal across the chest; sending it upward moves the work to the front of the shoulder.
- Opening as far as the machine allows. Machines are built to a range that suits nobody in particular, and the end of the range is where the shoulder is least supported.
- Pulling with the hands rather than driving with the upper arms. On a pec deck the hands are just where you hold on — the movement is the upper arm coming across the body.
- Letting the back peel off the pad to squeeze harder. Once the torso rotates forward the chest has stopped shortening and the movement is coming from the trunk.