Pec Deck

The pec deck is a chest isolation machine. It targets your chest muscles, with some help from the front of your shoulders.

Set the seat so the pads line up with the middle of your chest. Sit tall with your back against the pad and your feet flat on the floor. Grip the handles or place your forearms on the pads with a slight elbow bend. Pull your shoulder blades back and down. Keep your shoulders in a comfortable range - do not overstretch.

Press the pads together in front of your chest. Squeeze your chest at the center, then slowly reverse the motion. Lower until you feel a stretch in your chest, but stop before your shoulders are pulled too far back. Repeat for the set.

Breathe in before you start and brace your core. Exhale as you bring the pads together. To make it easier, use a shorter range of motion. To make it harder, hold the squeeze for a moment at the center.

Fault: Letting your shoulders roll forward or shrugging up. Fix: Pull your shoulder blades back and down before each rep and keep your chest lifted.

Fault: Pressing with straight, locked elbows. Fix: Keep a slight elbow bend throughout the movement.

Fault: Letting the pads snap back quickly. Fix: Control the return, feel the stretch, and stop before the shoulder is overstretched.

Fault: Using your front shoulders more than your chest. Fix: Lighten the resistance and think about squeezing the pads together with your chest.