Hammer Chest Press Exercise on FreeMotion Machine

Every second week, I like to add the hammer chest press as a variation to my chest workout. I prefer doing it on the Nautilus machine, but my gym got rid of the Nautilus line of exercise machines so I switched to the FreeMotion machine for this exercise. You can also use dumbbells for this exercise either on an incline bench or lying down on a flat bench.

I prefer using the FreeMotion cable pulley machine because it offers constant resistance and offers me with an alternative to dumbbells and a little additional variety to my workout. Doing the seated chest press with a hammer grip works out the chest from a different angle. It’s good to vary your chest workout in this way. If you don’t have this machine at the gym, you can also do it on the LifeFitness machine or on any other similar chest press machine.

In my selfie exercise video, you can see how it is done.

• Grab the handles with your palms facing each other or vertically downwards and perpendicular to the floor. Press forward as far as you can go (where handles and hands meet in front of you) while still keeping your shoulders back.
• Release backwards until handles and hands are in front of you and repeat the repetition.
• Make sure it’s your chest doing all the work. Forearms only act as levers to do the press.
• Breathe out as you press forward, breathe in as you go back (or release).
• Do about 4-5 sets of 12 repetitions.

Variations

• You can also do this exerice using a wide grip (palms facing forward).
• The good thing about using a cable pulley machine is that you can also change the angle of forward motion, thus working out the chest from different angles.