Bodybuilding Forums

I use the Hammer incline chest press machine a lot. As I was loading the plates the other day I was wondering if I should factor in the weight of the levers when deciding how much weight to use. Should I be doing this.? If so does anybody know how much each lever would weigh.?

It shouldn't make a difference should it? As long as you consistently record the amount of weight you are doing and go to failure for 8-12 reps, only the fact that you get stronger between chest workouts is important. I use a different machine for bench presses. I don't know how the action & leverage affects the weight I load on compared w/ a flat bench, but I get a great workout and burn from it as I can do negatives t failure w/o having to worry about a spotter.

Yes it would matter. If I can only work with a certain amount of weight I have to factor in the added weight from the levers on the machine. If I can only push 200 lbs and both levers are say 5 lbs a piece then I'm at 210. I'm over the amount of weight I can use optimally. In that case I can only load 190 on the levers that puts me at my target weight of 200. It's no different than loading an olympic weight bar. You have to factor in the weight of the bar ( 45lbs) when you're loading the plates you're going to use. Again if I'm at 200 lbs I can't just throw 200 lbs on the bar then I'm at 245. I only need to load 155 lbs worth of plates. Taking into consideration any extra weight is always relative to what you're doing.

If I use the same barbell when I bench it doesn't matter how I record the weight as long as I do it consistently. You use as much weight as it takes to hit 8-12 reps to failure, record that amount and then next workout either you get more reps or use more weight. It would only make a difference if one day a 45 lb barbell wasn't available and I had to use one that weighs different. What's important is to monitor your progress consistently, either include the weight of the bar 225 or exclude the bar 185. The only time this wouldn't be the case is if you are either a competitive powerlifter, or bragging to your friends on how much you bench. If that's the case then you wouldn't be using the machine. The target weight is in your head, the point is to stimulate the muscle to grow. Now if you aren't able to use the same machine one day, or are trying to translate this into how much you can benchpress you have other factors to consider besides weight, ie. the action of the machine, angles, leverage, etc.

i use this sometimes as well, usually it is listed on the side of one of the arms, or on the machine as well, i believe mine is around 7lbs? I usually dont factor that in, because i didn't to begin, going from machine to machine i record the weight used on the specific machine. For instance usually you wont be doing the same exact weight on 'peck deck' as you will on chest press. But none the less check on the machine, it should have it listed!

hey frndz I wanna puchase press machine plz suggest me brand n location...