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How to Do RDL on Smith Machine: A Comprehensive Guide
Learn to do Romanian Deadlifts (RDL) on a Smith Machine safely. Step-by-step guide with tips, targeted muscles, and common mistakes for Aussie workouts.
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Why Am I Not Building Muscle: Unraveling Common Mistakes and Fixes
Studies have shown that the result of muscle growth doesn't depend only on heavy lifting but rather on a cooperative interaction between training, nutrition, and recovery. In fact, there is evidence that with proper nutrition and consistent lifting, significant increases in muscle size (~12% gain in cross-sectional area) and strength (~20% gain) can be achieved after only 12 weeks of resistance exercise (Journal of Applied Physiology). And even with frequent workouts, most people still can not realize their desired gains. Why is this the case? The fact of the matter is, people make small but damaging mistakes that cost them in the long run! Whether it is underestimating calorie needs, neglecting rest, or rushing through workouts with poor form, these are habits that can hinder the seeing of palatable results. Whether you've wondered, "Why am I not gaining muscle?" you are not alone. The good news is that you can fix most of these mistakes with thought and care. We'll take a look at some of the most common stumbling blocks and how to navigate them so that you can start making real progress. Signs You're Not Gaining Muscle It's not always easy to tell if you are really gaining muscle or just working hard and wasting your time and energy. Here are a few things to look for: No noticeable size or strength improvements – If you've been lifting for months and still look the same, something is off. For example, if your biceps are the same size after three months of curls, then it’s probably time to take a look at what you're eating and how you’re training. Clothes fit the same – If you're actually just gaining muscle, then before long, your favourite T-shirt should fit a little snug around the shoulders and chest. If it still fits the same as Day 1, that may mean little progress. Lack of progress in the gym – If you're using the same weights for the same reps week in and week out, I can guarantee that your muscles are not recycling enough tension to grow. Feeling perpetually tired or sore with no results – Being sore doesn't always mean you're going to build muscle. If you are always tired and nothing is happening, it either means you are overtraining or aren't giving yourself enough time to recover between workouts, or that your nutrition isn't adequate. Now if any of these sound like you, do not lose hope: It doesn't mean it's all over yet. It merely means you get to analyze and sharpen. 7 Common Muscle Building Mistakes and Fixes When it comes to building muscle, most people aren't held back by lack of effort—it's the small, often overlooked details that make the biggest difference. Let's break down the most common mistakes that stall progress and how you can fix them. 1. Not Eating Enough Calories An important reason that so many people have difficulty adding muscle mass is that they are not consuming enough calories. This idea might sound counterintuitive at first, but then again, when people conceptualize "getting in shape", they also tend to think about eating less food. But when the goal is to grow muscle, it's not. To repair those muscle fibers that you tear down while training, your body needs a constant supply of nutrients. If you aren't feeding it enough calories, then you're asking it to build muscle out of nothing. think of it as trying to build a house when you don't have enough bricks - no matter how hard the construction crew works, there's not going to be much progress made. That doesn't mean you can go hog wild eating whatever you want and a bunch of junk food, but it does mean that you are going to have to eat in a controlled surplus. For example, if your maintenance calories are around 2,500 calories a day, then consume between 2,700 and 2,800 calories as a starting point. How do you make up for that extra couple of hundred calories? It might be as easy as a protein shake, an avocado, or a serving of oats added to your usual meals. Not to mention, the last thing you should worry about is that those extra calories will immediately turn into flab. When you are a regular strength trainer and lead an active life, your body uses that energy to grow new muscle for the sprints and recover from the lifting session, as opposed to storing it around the waist. 2. Not Getting Enough Protein Calories are important, of course, but protein is what actually rebuilds and strengthens your muscles. If you don't consume enough protein, your muscles can't adequately recover from training, and the lack of recovery means a halt in results. A lot of people think they eat enough protein, only to find out that they barely hit more than half of the goal. And as a general rule of thumb, shoot for 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Research from the International Society of Sports Nutrition supports this approach, recommending 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight for those engaged in regular resistance training to maximize muscle growth and recovery. For example, if your weight is 170 lbs, you need between 120-170 grams of protein per day. And you might think that 4 grams is a lot — but it’s easy to work into your meals. For breakfast, that might mean eggs or Greek yogurt; for lunch, chicken or tofu, and, in the evening, salmon or lean beef – plus snacks like protein bars or cottage cheese to bridge the gap between meals. If you always reach your protein intake, then you're going to recover faster and have less soreness and more muscle mass. 3. Training Too Light—or Too Heavy Another mistake people also make when lifting is that they are either too comfortable or lift weights that are too heavy. If you've been performing the same exercises with the same dumbbells for months, and you haven't increased your repetitions or weight lately, your body will carry on as is. On the other hand, trying to lift too much weight many times results in bad form, which takes the focus off your muscles and puts it on your joints. The best method is called progressive overload—slowly increasing the difficulty over time. It could be… Adding 5 lbs to your squat a week from now, doing one more rep on the bench, resting less between sets. This gradual yet steady increment in resistance cues your body to adapt and grow new muscles. 4. Skipping Compound Movements It's so simple to focus on isolation movements (bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and calf raises) — even more so when you consider these work the muscles that have the most front-facing appearance in the mirror. But not doing those compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press, and pull ups is a big opportunity missed in terms of gains. Compound lifts use multiple muscle groups at the same time, which means you can shift more weight - stimulating growth across the board. This is where the right equipment can save you — with a Smith Machine or Power Rack to give that stability and safety. You can train with progressively heavier weights without sacrificing good form. Consider these strength-training foundation pieces. Once you develop a good base with the compound lifts, then you can incorporate isolation workouts to help shape your body. For instance, if you can do bodyweight pushups easily enough but want to dramatically increase the strength in your chest, it is unlikely that doing a lot more pushups will achieve much compared to bench pressing inside a power rack. 5. Overlooking Recovery Here's something many people forget: muscles don’t actually grow in the gym—they grow afterward, when your muscles are in a state of rest and recovery. Every time you lift weights, you create tiny tears in your muscle fibers. Your body repairs these tears during recovery, and that's what makes your muscles stronger. The common misguided belief that more training results in more gains prompts most to train themselves to death every day of the week and wonder why they're constantly tired, burned out, or lifting the same weights for years on end. The truth is that without the necessary recovery time, the body simply doesn’t have enough time to repair and adapt. Your rest day is not a lazy day — it's actually a growth day. Ignoring them only leads to overtraining, performance plateau, and, in some cases, injuries, which will only hinder the progress more than a single day off ever would. Don't feel guilty if you need time to recover — it's part of training. Get quality sleep, eat the right foods to fuel your body, and add some gentle exercise like Yoga stretching or a walk to keep the muscles moving, but not overdo. 6. Inconsistent Training Inconsistent workout is not bad, but one of the biggest secret barriers to success. It’s fine to crush it at the gym for two weeks, but then if you miss the next three, your body never gets a chance to find its rhythm. People are going to have different rates of muscle growth as building muscle is a slow and steady process, which involves prolonged hard work in the gym or at home. Better to be on a schedule you can midwife through for the next few months than work on a hardcore foster system and give it up in two weeks. Now think about what is realistic for you: Can you physically get to the gym/studio three times a week fairly consistently? If it is, that consistency will take you much farther than a short stretch of overtraining and then burnout. Pro tip: consider creating your own home gym tailored to your goals. Having your own setup makes it easier to stay consistent—no excuses, no skipped sessions. 7. Sloppy Form Last but not least, there is bad form, which is one of the biggest reasons for stalling when building muscle. If you have to start swinging the weights, bouncing the bar off your chest, or rushing through reps, just to complete them, you're not accurately working the muscles as they are supposed to be worked. Even worse, you are setting yourself up for chronic injuries that could end your training entirely. Good form is not how you look; it's about being in control. Slowing the tempo, bracing mindfully, and generating controlled contraction will always serve you better, as opposed to piling up the bar with weights and just doing a set. You get more if you do two sets of 30 reps than one single rep of five seconds or so, 10 close, controlled repetitions of an exercise are better for strength than doing 20 + rapid, sloppy ones! If you're not sure of your form, record yourself lifting or pay a coach to assess your technique. A couple of tweaks now could make all the difference in your progress and also ensure that you don't destroy your joints. Final Thoughts When it comes to building muscle, there is no quick fix and very rarely do we get things right the first time. You have to consistently do the work, put the right fuel in your body, plan for when you lift, and take care of your body between lifting sessions.” All of us struggled to begin (not eating enough, not doing major lifts, too much done poorly over too long periods), but what makes a difference is when you can pinpoint your bad habits early and gradually replace them with good ones. Stay consistent, continue to learn, and know that gains take months to years, not a few weeks. Get the basics down, avoid repetition of some common mistakes, and you'll likely surprise yourself at how much stronger and more stable you can become. At Major Fitness, we're here to support your journey — explore our training guides and high-quality home gym equipment to overcome plateaus and build the muscle you're working for.
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How to Do Incline Bench Press on Smith Machine: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you're looking to build a strong, well-shaped upper chest, the incline bench press on a Smith machine is a move you can't ignore. Unlike the traditional free-weight version, this exercise offers more stability thanks to the guided bar path. That makes it a great option for beginners learning the basics, as well as experienced lifters who want to safely push heavier loads. People often call this exercise by a few names—smith machine incline press, incline Smith machine press, or incline bench press Smith machine. No matter what you call it, the goal is the same: target your upper pecs while keeping your shoulders and triceps engaged. What Is the Incline Bench Press on Smith Machine? The incline bench press on Smith machine is a chest exercise performed with an adjustable incline bench placed inside the Smith rack. The barbell moves along rails, keeping the bar path straight and stable. So, how does it differ from the traditional incline bench press? With free weights, your stabilizer muscles (especially in the shoulders) work harder to control the bar. On the Smith machine, much of that balancing is removed. The upside is that you can focus purely on pressing power and chest activation. The trade-off is that stabilizers don't work as much—but that’s not always a bad thing if your goal is chest hypertrophy. Primary muscles worked: Upper chest (clavicular head of the pectoralis major): the main target. Front deltoids (shoulders): assist with pressing. Triceps: help lock out the bar at the top. This variation is often chosen by lifters training alone or those coming back from injury who need a more controlled environment without sacrificing chest development. Benefits of Doing Incline Bench Press on a Smith Machine The smith machine incline press isn't a newcomer's tool alone—it has benefits for the advanced lifter as well: Built-in Safety and Stability: As the bar runs along rails, there is no aggravating wobble. You can maintain better form there, and it's easier to teach yourself that you're not going to bankruptcy since you're just a rep or two off. Better Upper Chest Isolation: More of your attention isn't needed for balance, and more tension shifts to the chest. A lot of lifters also report more of a "burn" in their upper pecs than they do with free weights. Beginner-Friendly Learning Curve: For beginners, the Smith machine offers an opportunity to practice proper pressing mechanics without the fear of learning with a free barbell. Easier Progressive Overload: Do you want to make progress by 5 pounds every week? You can rack and unrack the bar with total control on the Smith machine… no spotter needed! In comparison to free-weight incline, the trade-off is that there's not quite as much functional strength and stabilizer engagement—but your key benefit from using this machine version is consistency, safety, and confidence that you can truly overload the chest. How to Do Incline Bench Press on Smith Machine (Step-by-Step Guide) Here's a practical breakdown to make sure you're not just going through the motions but really training your chest effectively: Step 1: Adjust the Bench Angle Start by setting the bench between 30 and 45 degrees. It is this angle that dictates which muscles bear the burden most. A less declined bench (about 30 degrees) emphasizes the upper chest, while a greater angle (just shy of 45 degrees) shifts the focus onto the shoulders. Like if you ever felt more front delts than chest in incline press, chances are your angle was too steep. Keep to 30–35° if you're looking for a bigger chest. Step 2: Set Bar Height and Add Weight Check the bar position before you lie down. Ideally, when you're lying flat, the bar should be resting at chest level. It makes unracking feel smooth and safe. If it's too high, you'll be spreading your arms far to reach around and muscling yourself before the motion even begins; if it's too low, you'll be awkwardly on top of it more than pressing off of it. As soon as it feels good, load your weight plates. Do remember: the Smith machine brings stability, and you don't need as much weight on it as you would a bar. If you can typically bench 135 lbs of free weight, aim for the 95–115-lb range here to nail form first. Step 3: Position Yourself Correctly Now rest with your back pinned to the bench and eyes directly under the bar—this sets up a straight, simple pressing path. Place your feet flat on the ground about shoulder-width apart and ensure that they are pressed down throughout the set. Pull your shoulder blades together and subtly tuck them beneath your torso before you grip the bar. It's a small thing, but keeping your chest up and off the ground really creates a solid base for you and saves your shoulders. Think of it as if you’re pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades — that’s how tight you want your upper back to be. Step 4: Grip Width and Unrack the Bar Hang onto the bar just outside of shoulder width. The goal is to keep your forearms vertical when the bar is at the bottom of each rep—an angle that allows force to be transmitted into the bar rather than your wrists or elbows. When you have a good grip, turn the bar to release it from the safety hooks. Take your time with this part, and readjust to stabilize yourself if you feel shaky. Quite simply, smooth unracking gets the whole set off on the right foot. Step 5: Controlled Lowering Lower the bar slowly toward your upper chest, landing somewhere between the nipple line and collarbone. Keep your elbows at about a 45-degree angle to your torso. Too wide, and you'll overload the shoulders; too tight, and you'll turn it into a triceps press. Use a controlled 2–3 second descent—you should feel the stretch in your pecs, not a bounce off your ribcage. A common cue is to think about “pulling” the bar down under control rather than letting it drop. Step 6: Press Upward Push the bar back up — and as you do, exhale to power through your chest (not just your arms). But don’t lock out your elbows, as this will transfer the tension from your muscles to your joints. Think about pushing up under the bar on a slight curve rather than in a straight line up and down — that natural arc helps keep your chest engaged. A good pace for this stretch would be to go down slow but strong (1-2 seconds) and match the same push-up. 👉 Breathing & Tempo Tip: Take a deep breath as you lower the bar, brace your core, and then exhale powerfully as you push it up. It is this up and down rhythm, but with a slow twinge down and then a powerful off (up), which makes the lift so effective. For instance, a set of 10 done with each rep in 3–4 takes is going to be much more effective at helping you build your pecs than would the same set but performed at twice the speed. If you take these steps to heart and incorporate them into your regular programming, the Smith machine incline bench press won't just be another exercise of the chest (of which there are many) but rather a powerful tool that you can use to hammer your upper chest with perfect precision, reduce your injury risk, and build beastly strength. After a while, you'll see the difference: Your chest will be fuller at the top, your shoulders won't feel as beat up, and every one of those presses will be deliberate. Common Mistakes to Avoid While the Smith machine definitely increases safety on pressing movements by providing a guided bar path, it isn't a surefire method of ensuring perfect form. In fact, many lifters have adopted habits that compromise pec activation or make some nagging shoulder issues even more bothersome. Here are some of the most common traps — and how to sidestep them: Bench Angle Too High or Too Flat – If you've set your bench too flat, you don't even need an incline press; it simply leads to more flat bench presses and targets your mid-chest. On the other hand, if you crank it too high — like closer to 60° — now you've basically turned the move into a shoulder press. Both really steal thunder from your upper chest. The 30° range is the sweet spot, and many lifters consider 30°/35° to be the optimal angle for large chest growth. If you've realized that your shoulders feel fresher than your pecs do after a few sets, your bench angle is likely the culprit. Bouncing the Bar Off the Chest – It might feel like a little momentum helps you get the bar moving, but bouncing the bar wastes tension and risks bruising your sternum or straining your shoulders. The Smith machine is built for controlled movements, so take advantage of it. Lower the bar with control, pause briefly just above your chest, and then press up smoothly. Using Excessive Weight – Excess weight usually leads to shallow reps, flared elbows, or awkward bar paths—all of which strain your shoulders and reduce chest activation. Instead, focus on progressive overload: start lighter, master your form, and add weight gradually over time. A strong-looking chest isn’t built in one heavy set—it's built through months of smart progression. Short Range of Motion – Half reps might let you move more weight, but they don't build a complete chest. If the bar comes down halfway, you're not pushing your body as much as possible. Each repetition should lower the bar to chest height (upper chest, nipple-to-collarbone line) with bent elbows at least 90 degrees. Full range not only does a better job of activating more muscle fibers, but it also gives your chest that full round look once developed. Relying Only on the Smith Machine – The Smith machine is great for safe strength building, but it’s not the only device you should be using in your chest workout. And it insulates your stabilizing muscles since the machine locks the pathway of the bar in place. If you only use the Smith, and never exert that pressure on your own, slowly, steadily adding force into a fixed range using whatever halves of muscles and support are currently working for you), you'll get strong only in that range (potential over water but not under stress). Add some dumbbell incline presses for balance and control, or barbell incline presses for pure power. Consider the Smith machine a side dish, not your main course. FAQs 1. Which way do you incline on a Smith machine? Set the bench at a 30–45° angle with the bar aligned over your upper chest for proper incline pressing. 2. Is the Smith machine good for an incline bench? Yes, it’s excellent for beginners and solo lifters because the guided bar adds safety and stability. 3. How to properly bench press on a Smith machine? Keep a controlled motion, grip slightly wider than shoulder-width, lower to your upper chest, and press without locking elbows. 4. Can I use a Smith machine for an incline bench? Absolutely. Just adjust the bench angle and bar height before starting. 5. Is the Smith machine effective for the bench press? Yes, though it doesn't engage stabilizers as much as free weights, it's highly effective for muscle growth and safe strength training. Conclusion The Smith machine incline bench press is one of the best exercises for building a stronger, fuller upper chest safely. Using the right bench angle (30–45°), keeping good form, and controlling your tempo ensures your chest does the work while protecting your shoulders and elbows. Add the incline Smith machine press to your chest or push-day workouts and focus on lowering the bar fully and pressing it with control. To develop balanced strength and a well-shaped chest, you also could include free-weight variations like dumbbell or barbell incline presses. Doing both consistently will help you build size, strength, and upper-chest definition over time—safely and effectively.
