The Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Press is a beginner-friendly machine strength exercise that targets the triceps, with the chest working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesTriceps
Secondary musclesChest
EquipmentMachine
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Press
Set the bench on the Smith machine so the bar lines up directly over your lower chest when you lie down.
Lie on the bench, plant your feet flat on the floor, and grip the bar with hands shoulder-width apart.
Pull your shoulder blades back and down into the bench to create a stable pressing platform.
Unrack the bar by rotating the wrists, then lower it slowly to your lower chest with elbows tucked close.
Pause briefly at the bottom with the bar touching the chest and the elbows still tight to the sides.
Press the bar back up to full lockout by driving through the triceps and chest in one smooth motion.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Builds triceps mass with the safety of a guided bar path.
Allows lifters to push to failure without a spotter present.
Reinforces a strong elbows-tucked pressing pattern that transfers to free-weight benching.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Setting the grip too narrow so the wrists collapse inward under load, which strains the joint.
Letting the elbows flare wide, which removes the triceps bias and stresses the front shoulders.
Bouncing the bar off the chest to use momentum instead of a controlled touch and press.
Forgetting to rotate the wrists to rack the bar at the end of the set, dropping it onto the safeties.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Press, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
