If you want to use the floor press to target more triceps, ensure you’re keeping your elbows slightly tucked in front of the barbell. Lockout strength is often a weakness when it comes to bench and overhead pressing, Olympics lifts, and even strongman events. A close grip floor press is the same exercise but you’ll take a grip that is shoulder-width apart. This variation is used more with football players or combat athletes as these sports require athletes to develop strength and power in a close hand position. When performed on the floor, the range of motion of the exercise is limited to reduce the strain placed on the shoulder joint. Your grip should be the same that you use for the regular bench press. What this means is that you’re only working a specific segment of the movement. Barbell Floor Press. This move is great for beginner lifters because the reduced ROM can reduce aches and pains that might be caused by larger ROM movements. Lie with your back flat against the floor. As you bring the barbell off the rack, you’ll begin to lower the weight to your chest in a controlled fashion. The floor press starts with you lying on the floor. The tricep muscles are most used to extend the elbow in the final lockout portion of the floor press. Here are some other frequently asked questions that I receive when it comes to floor pressing: While the floor press does activate the chest as you bring the barbell down to the floor, the pec recruitment is minimal compared with the regular bench press. This variation will require a specialty bar called a swiss bar. It can even be a great variation for lifters with achy shoulders. By pausing (and I recommend that you do), you will need to generate force from a dead stop while the weight is de-loaded on the floor. The video below from CrossFit’s YouTube channel demonstrates how to properly perform the floor press: [Related: Floor Press vs. After you've done regular dumbbell floor presses for a while, you may reach a point where your progress starts to stall out, or you reach a strength level where you either max out the dumbbells at your gym or it just becomes too hard to get them into position.This doesn't mean you have no choice other than heading back to barbells—which might not be an option if you've got jacked-up shoulders. This is particularly the case if you choose to pause each rep for 1-2 seconds with your elbows on the floor. You can expect to do 5-10% less weight on the floor press vs bench press. The floor press is one of the best bench press accessories for building strength, hypertrophy, and technique. There are several benefits to the floor press, which we’ll discuss in this article. At one time lifters attacked the lift with gusto, putting up some impressive numbers, including George Hackenschmidt's 361-pound strict floor press back in 1899. Because you can use less weight on the floor press, but still yield a high training effect, the floor press shouldn’t cause as much training fatigue as other exercises. The views expressed on this site may come from individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the view of BarBend or any other organization. Because you can use less weight than a normal bench press but have an extremely high training effect (i.e. In the absence of the arch and leg drive, the upper body is challenged to a greater extent. The floor press is similar to the bench press except rather than using a bench, it is done while lying on the floor. However, don’t let your hands or lats relax. The differences (besides the obvious) are less range of motion (ROM) and minimal assistance from the lower body. World records, results, training, nutrition, breaking news, and more. I wrote an entire article on the swiss bar bench press. The barbell floor press is an upper body exercise for the chest, shoulders and triceps. It’s been demonstrated that a grip that is shoulder-width apart will recruit the triceps 2X as much when compared with a grip that is double the distance (Lehman, 2005). You can limit the range of motion in the bench press to gain the … The barbell floor press is the standard floor press option that we described above. While the shoulder muscles are quite active during the floor press, the shoulder joint doesn’t have a large range of motion to go through. Here are three variations to consider. The floor press will incorporate the major pressing muscle groups, including: While the chest is the least active muscle group in the floor press, it’s still used as a prime mover. The floor press is the original horizontal barbell press, even predating the bench press. It allows you to lift heavy from the safety of the floor without putting excessive strain on your joints. As annoying as that may be, there is no reason to waste time or anger when another lift is available to offer a bevy of benefits: the floor press. The only barbell floor press equipment that you really … Find related exercises and variations along with expert tips How to do Floor Press with proper form and technique. Using dumbbells can reduce strength imbalances on each side. They will also be more active if you choose to have more of an elbow tuck, where the elbows are placed in front of the barbell. As you lay underneath the weight, you’ll want to have your eyes slightly in front of the barbell. As you lower the weight to your chest, ensure that your thinking about keeping your chest high (not letting it collapse), and have your elbows slightly tucking in front of the barbell. Because the floor press reduces the range of motion to only focus on the lockout portion, the triceps are highly active in this variation. Eb says: The floor press isn't an excuse to skip out on the good eccentric contractions. Try both and find out what works best for you. The floor press is used to increase lock-out strength in the bench press, with a focus on shoulder and tricep development. Additionally, your chest will be more active if you choose to heave your elbows directly stacked underneath of the barbell rather than have a slight elbow tuck. This is useful if you have shoulder issues when pressing the barbell, or find a particular angle to be more comfortable. If you experience pain going all the way down to your chest in a bench press, floor presses … I would suggest having a slight elbow tuck during the floor press, unless for some reason you purposely wanted to use this exercise to target your chest muscles. I would not substitute the floor press with a bench press. Incline and decline presses are rotated mostly without bands. With the floor press you can handle heavy loads in the top half of the movement, strengthening your triceps, chest, and anterior shoulders. With that being said, the Floor Press is a damn good way to improve your Bench Press and may even act as a great substitution for it during times when you are forced to work around certain injuries. If you want to target your chest to a larger extent, perform the regular bench press, or other exercises such as dumbbell press, pec flys, or machine press. When all the benches are taken on bench press Monday, you’re might consider giving the lifter sitting on the bench talking on their cell phone the evil eye. Finally, the increased stability of the floor can help improve pressing mechanics and positioning. Place feet on floor with knees bent. This is especially important if you need to increase muscle mass for your shoulders and triceps specifically. The SWIS bar floor press … In the floor press, you don’t have the opportunity to ‘bounce the barbell’. I am running 12 week strength program (so far I love it!) On a personal level, I’ve been dedicating myself to the world of powerlifting for the past 15 years, having both competed and coached at the highest level. The range of motion ends when your elbows touch the floor. The floor press should not replace the bench press because the floor press is only a partial range of motion. We are going to discuss what the floor press is and how it should be performed. Here’s how you should set up the floor press: You’ll need a squat cage for this exercise. Benching pressing with dumbbells but the lifter should be lying on the floor rather than on a bench while pressing the dumbbells) To perform this movement, lay on the floor, have a partner hand you two dumbbells, then bring the dumbbells down until your elbows hit the floor … What makes the floor press unique is that instead of lying flat on a bench press, you will lay flat on the floor with either your legs bent or straight. You want to make sure you’re still maintaining tension on your muscles rather than letting this be a position where you ‘rest’. Take a look at my article on 9 Highly Effective Bench Press Alternatives. The floor press is harder because you are restricting the amount of leg drive and upper body arch that you would otherwise get in the regular bench press. Just like the bench press, there are dozens of very finite details you need to implement into your form and training protocols in order to truly maximize your performance.When comparing the floor press versus the bench press the most obvious difference is the lack of a bench in the floor press. Can You Squat and Deadlift In The Same Workout. Instructions. A post shared by MUSCULAR HUMANS (@muscularhumans) on Sep 10, 2020 at 7:30pm PDT. These male standards were last updated August and are based on 6,000 filtered lifts. … Since dumbbells are harder to stabilize than a barbell, it may slow the lift down, providing more time under tension. Saves Your Shoulders. Prior to taking the barbell off the rack, squeeze your hands and lats as hard as you can, take a deep breath, and pull the barbell out over your sternum. If you train the floor press for a substantial amount of time and then return to the regular bench press, your strength should have increased. I’m Avi Silverberg and this is the place where my friends and I nerd out about powerlifting technique. 9 Highly Effective Bench Press Alternatives, 5 Tricks To Bench Pressing With Long Arms, Can You Deadlift In Squat Shoes? While you might see some people do the floor press with their legs straight, I recommend having your legs bent and your feet flat on the floor. 1) Dumbbell Floor Press. Dismount barbell from rack over chest. The floor press is a fantastic pressing variation for lifters of all levels to improve muscle mass, lockout strength, and bench press technique. As I mentioned previously, by manipulating the position of your elbows you can easily target different muscle groups. The Floor Press is my preferred horizontal pressing exercise for wrestlers. Don’t let a lack of bench stop you from improving your upper body strength and mass. Then we’ll dive into the benefits of the lift and why you should consider including it into your training routine. It is used by both bodybuilders and powerlifters, in addition to injury-prone athletes. Each shoulder injury is different though, and you’ll want to make sure to seek proper medical advice if you’re injured or feel shoulder pain. This is why you need to train both the bench press and floor press, either by rotating the exercises over consecutive training programs or by adding in both movements within the same training program. the weight feels hard), you’ll see a variety of different strength athletes use this exercise. Due to the floor reducing shoulder external rotation, this variation is an excellent lift for those with banged up shoulders. When you use the swiss bar during the floor press your hands will be in a neutral position, which will cause your elbows to tuck more while pressing. When you lower the bar, your upper arms rest on the ground at the bottom of the movement. Combined with the neutral grip, it is easier on the wrists as well due to a clean alignment of the elbow to the wrist for the duration of the movement. Hi! Bench Press —Which One Should You Be Doing?]. 2. The barbell locks your wrists and shoulders into one position for the entire ROM, which doesn’t agree with all lifters. The floor press is used to … Feature image from Muscular Humans’ Instagram page. As such, there is less stress at the level of the joint that would otherwise be present during a full range of motion bench press. Use these benefits to determine whether the floor press is something that you should implement into your training program. Of course, heavier weight is great for those with a goal of building mass and strength. The trap bar can offer the benefit of more manageable heavy loads than the dumbbell floor press, as you won’t have to contend with stabilizing each weight individually. You want to think about applying maximum force during this phase, especially as your elbows leave the floor. Your level of shoulder activation will also largely be determined by the length of your arms. Slowly lower the dumbbells (or barbell), letting your elbows touch the ground softly. Most lifters like using the floor press to drive muscle growth because, as I stated before, you don’t need a lot of weight to get a high training effect from this exercise. ... your partner passes you the barbell, take it with over hand grip a bit wider than shoulder width; to … The shoulders are sometimes vulnerable when in abduction and external rotation — common positions of a standard bench press. This will ensure additional stability through your torso, and it will make it easier to hold your shoulder position. As such, you don’t need a heavy weight to feel like the movement is a high effort. In the 12 Week Strength program for example you can do a block of … If you use a higher rep range (8-12 reps) then you’ll be able to use the floor press to build hypertrophy. No, he was just doing Close Grip Floor Press. [Related: 5 Ways to Improve Your Bench Press Lockout]. barbell floor press is a free weights exercise that primarily targets the chest and to a lesser degree also targets the forearms, triceps and middle back. DRIVING DIRECTIONS: Why buy from New York Barbell: New York Barbell sells TDS Fitness Equipment and is the only Fitness Equipment Company that has a large warehouse of items coupled together with … Never again will you have to worry about all the benches being occupied at the gym, as you’ll have a new perspective when seeing open floor space. Just ditch the bench and instead set up on the floor … Travis also has tester exercise such as a floor press … Learn how to correctly do Barbell Floor Press to target Chest, Shoulders, Triceps with easy step-by-step expert video instruction. Depending on how many times per week you bench press, I would use the floor press on your second bench press day within your training split. PowerliftingTechnique.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Rather, I would use the floor press to compliment your other pressing movements within your overall training program. I would recommend the floor press to beginner, intermediate, and advanced lifter in order to develop top-end strength, power, and hypertrophy. A floor press does require a stable surface for the … It will also give you a bit more flexibility to position your hands and elbows in a more natural movement pattern. There are 7 benefits to performing the floor press. In the below video you can see the proper setup and execution of the barbell floor press. Landmine Floor Press: Involves lying down on the floor and holding the free end of a barbell that is secured with a … Floor presses are a pure upper body power movement. As such, the muscles in your upper body have to work harder to stabilize the movement. The shoulder muscles, especially the anterior delt (the front part of the shoulder), are the most active during the initial drive upward as the elbows leave the floor. The setup of my gym makes barbell floor pressing difficult so I was curious about alternatives. Note: if you smash your elbows on the ground it can cause elbow pain in the long run. The floor press is not only easier on your shoulders, but it targets your triceps better than the standard version of the exercise. When he programs Floor Press I would think he just means your standard grip or comp grip. Here’s how I would program the floor press over a 6-week program. The floor press you’ve come to know and love, but performed with dumbbells instead of a barbell. Close Grip Floor Press: Done by holding a barbell with a closer-than-shoulder-width grip. Rather than the barbell going through a full range of motion, the barbell will stop when your elbows hit the ground. The benefits of the floor press are covered as well, which states increased triceps mass and strength, better lockout performance, and makes the case for the floor press as a shoulder saving pressing option. The floor press starts with you lying on the floor. 1 – Barbell Floor Press This is one of the most basic pain-free ways of pressing that decreases the amount of stress on the anterior shoulder girdle while also allowing you to go heavy. Like other partial range of motion lifts (rack pulls and box squats), the floor press is great for targeting certain portions of the lift. This will inevitably bring up the strength of the mid-part of your lift once you’ve trained this way for a significant amount of time. Note: these barbell standards include the weight of the bar, normally 20 kg / 44 lb. Learn 13 principles that create more effective powerlifting technique. 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If the floor press can teach us a lesson, it is that we do not need as much range of motion on our exercises as we may think. When you feel your elbows on the floor, pause for 1-2 seconds. I could find a good space for DB floor … The floor press has several benefits, including being able to prioritize the mid and top-end range of motion, allowing the shoulder joint to experience less strain, and increasing elbow extensor strength. As a result, your triceps will be more activated in this variation versus the regular floor press. If you struggle in the lock-out phase of the bench press, then you’ll want to implement variations that target the top-end range of motion specifically. Bodybuilders, powerlifters, Crossfitters, and Strongmen all use the floor press to build their elbow extensor strength, increase shoulder and tricep hypertrophy, and reduce the stress on their joints that other exercises may cause. Rather than the barbell going through a full range of motion, the barbell will stop when your elbows hit the ground. Lie supine on floor at base of power rack. Bend knees with feet firmly planted on floor. You’ll have the chest most active as you bring the bar down, as it has a role in stabilizing the bar path and decelerating the barbell before your elbows hit the floor. While a bench press requires you to p… This is because the floor press removes two important elements of your bench press technique, which are the bench press arch and leg drive. As a result, you need to practice decelerating the barbell on the way down rather than relying on the rebound that you get from ‘bouncing’. Don’t continue to train your areas of strength, you’ll get stronger by training your areas of weakness. As such, the entire movement is focused on the top-half to the top-third range of motion, which is the exact portion of the lift that needs to be prioritized if you struggle to lock your elbows at the top of the lift. If you do have long arms, you’ll want to read my article on 5 Tricks To Bench Pressing With Long Arms. This is particularly the case if you are the type of lifter who ‘bounces’ the barbell of your chest while benching. (No, Here Are 5 Reasons). Using dumbbells does allows you the capacity to change the angle of the shoulder and wrist. If you need help with your lockouts on things like presses, jerks, dips, or muscle-ups, floor presses might not be a bad idea. Therefore, if you want to take the chest and shoulders out of the movement altogether, use the close-grip floor press. Set up the pins low since you’ll need to be able to grab the barbell while you lay on the floor. Join the BarBend Newsletter for everything you need to get stronger. 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