Overall, research indicates that the free - weight and
machine bench press produce very similar levels of pectoralis major EMG amplitude and therefore either will train the muscle effectively.
They reported that the barbell and smith
machine bench press produced superior triceps muscle activity than the dumbbell bench press.
Not exact matches
Free - weight exercises such as the
bench press produce better muscular and skeletal adaptations than
machine exercises such as the chest
press.
In summary, it appears that the barbell and smith
machine variations are superior to dumbbells for
producing triceps muscle activity, in addition to greater levels of triceps muscle activity during
bench pressing compared with shoulder
pressing.
McCaw et al. (1994) reported similar findings, showing that the smith
machine and barbell
bench press produce similar levels of muscle activity in the triceps muscle.
The
machine shoulder
press,
bench press and pec - deck
produced similar levels of muscle activity compared to the remaining exercises.