For chest growth
For chest growth, high-to-low cable fly rates higher on our research criteria: more stretch.
Both are good choices, and they train the chest differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed. (Fonseca et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2021)
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
High-to-Low Cable Fly. Cables keep the chest loaded through the whole arc, and the downward path angles the work toward the lower and middle chest.
Smith Machine Bench Press. The bench press without the balance or a spotter: easy to push hard safely.
For chest growth, high-to-low cable fly rates higher on our research criteria: more stretch. Both are good choices, and they train the chest differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed.
About the same: both are easy to learn.
High-to-low cable fly needs a cable station, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Smith machine bench press needs a Smith machine and a bench, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
About the same: both rate Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric.