Barbell Floor Press Believer

[88NKB]

Hello,

I've recently ditched the barbell bench press and replaced it with the floor press in my Tactical Barbell Zulu template. All I can say is that I wish I had made the switch sooner and I'd like to share my experiences and reasoning.

Pavel had the floor press programmed as a primary lift in my copy of Power to the People. Aside from the minimalist nature, I think the inherent consistency of the movement fits nicely with the concept of frequent practice. Prior to switching over, I had looked for input both in this forum and elsewhere. With some exceptions I've commonly seen it characterized as a lockout-only partial, generally not useful for thinner, longer-armed lifters like myself. Having performed the lift now for three weeks, I must disagree with such sentiments.

My favorite aspects of the lift are as follows:

1) Less technical than the bench press with an easier set up. Luckily I have a rack, so I simply crawl under the bar, pack my upper back/shoulders and that is it. If you need to bridge the bar into place, I could see it being more challenging to set your upper back and shoulders.

2) It is a pure pressing movement. I keep my legs straight rather than bent, completely removing leg drive.

3) The floor press helps suit my uneven anthropometry. I have muscle imbalances from years of tennis, with lingering pectoral and lat/upper back muscle size (not strength) differences as a result. On a paused bench press, I would feel the bar not resting evenly on my body, due to my asymmetry. The floor helps negate the impact of my asymmetry as my triceps are supporting the weight as opposed to my torso. Fortunately my arm length and triceps are symmetric! I have noticed a much more even bar path.

4) All of the above mean that nearly every rep feels consistent, whether I'm warming up with 95 or doing triples with 205 on my 90% week. I've struggled on the paused bench press with inconsistent shoulder packing, uneven leg drive and lower back fatigue from trying to excessively arch my back on heavier lifts.

I perform the floor press with a strict two-second pause at the bottom. For those doubting the range of motion, I measured it and found the bar to be ~ 2.5 inches above my torso at the pause using a medium grip. With a shoulder width grip it was under two inches. This surprised me, as I was predicting it to be more like 5 or 6 inches based on videos I've seen of thicker lifters doing the floor press. Then I realized that most of these lifters were performing the lift with flared elbows, flat backs, wide grips and touch-and-go reps. In PTTP, I remember the pictures of Pavel doing the lift and thinking it looked nearly like a regular bench press. His upper back and shoulders are packed tightly and his chest is up, with a natural arch in the spine. By performing the lift in this fashion, I feel the exercise mostly in my chest with the triceps at the very top.

So far it has felt great, and I don't feel as though I am missing out on anything. My other main pressing movement is the paused seated OHP, with dips and weighted push ups as accessory movements. Thus I am still performing some full ROM pressing. I am not a powerlifter, just someone trying to get stronger who happens to find it an easier exercise to consistently perform.

Has anyone else used the floor press as a main movement in place of benching?

 

[Adachi]

It is a pure pressing movement. I keep my legs straight rather than bent, completely removing leg drive.

interesting.

 

[Steve Freides]

Has anyone else used the floor press as a main movement in place of benching?

Last week I started floor pressing for the first time. I’m making it 1/2 to 2/3 of my weekly press volume. But it’s to early for me to say anything about its effectiveness for my competition BP. I am hip thrusting the bar into place. My BP 1RM is 193 lbs. I hit 135 (x 5) on the FP for the first time yesterday. Grip is much narrower than my BP grip.

-S-

 

[88NKB]

@Steve Freides thank you for you input! Personally, I can't say I'll never bench press again but I imagine there would be some carryover.

So far the biggest difference for me has been the ability to stay tight during the pause, breathe properly and initiate the concentric from an even bar position. The consistency from session to session has been great.

 

[Hardartery]

I have not had gym access in over a year. Everything I do at the moment is without a rack. Front Squats only with what I can Clean, no back Squats, onlyFloor Press variations and OHP. It is not carrying over. My bench is unquestionably lower. Probably a lot. I've done the Floor presses with 275 lbs, arching the bar off of a 4" block on each side. I've been using DB's as well, only have a pair of 75's with me atm. I am trying to make it up a little with Flyes (The 75's again), but the lack of ROM is definitely hurting the pec development and strength. My shoulders actually prefer the full ROM as well, especially with weights above 225 lbs. I am as thick as I am wide, there is certainly a lot less than 2.5" clearance at the bottom, the bar stops maybe an inch off the chest with pretty much any arm angle. I think they are a nice accessory and may be helping my triceps a little, but certainly not equivalent in most ways. I should also point out, my triceps are the weak point in my pressing and I have seen excellent benefit from BTN work in the past.

 

[Steve Freides]

With some exceptions I've commonly seen it characterized as a lockout-only partial, generally not useful for thinner, longer-armed lifters like myself.

I am thin and long-armed, but my understanding of the main benefit is that you start the lift at the point where many people fail, so you strengthen your weakest point in the movement’s range of motion. The fact that, at least for me, the grip is narrower and therefore might have triceps benefit is an added benefit.

-S-

 

[88NKB]

I have not had gym access in over a year. Everything I do at the moment is without a rack. Front Squats only with what I can Clean, no back Squats, onlyFloor Press variations and OHP. It is not carrying over. My bench is unquestionably lower. Probably a lot. I've done the Floor presses with 275 lbs, arching the bar off of a 4" block on each side. I've been using DB's as well, only have a pair of 75's with me atm. I am trying to make it up a little with Flyes (The 75's again), but the lack of ROM is definitely hurting the pec development and strength. My shoulders actually prefer the full ROM as well, especially with weights above 225 lbs. I am as thick as I am wide, there is certainly a lot less than 2.5" clearance at the bottom, the bar stops maybe an inch off the chest with pretty much any arm angle. I think they are a nice accessory and may be helping my triceps a little, but certainly not equivalent in most ways. I should also point out, my triceps are the weak point in my pressing and I have seen excellent benefit from BTN work in the past.

Wow that is interesting. How much has your bench press dropped? So far my strength on both lifts is similar, as I have transitioned at exactly the same loads as bench press. I'm 5'10, 170 lbs with long arms and a thin, short torso. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Antti]

The floor press is a good variation. The exact usefulness, naturally, individual. The basic premise is very much solid. I somehow like to compare it to a box squat.

 

[Hardartery]

Wow that is interesting. How much has your bench press dropped? So far my strength on both lifts is similar, as I have transitioned at exactly the same loads as bench press. I'm 5'10, 170 lbs with long arms and a thin, short torso. We'll see how it goes.

Still no gym access. I will find out where I'm at at some undetermined point in the future. I am typically in Nicaragua, and that is a place where you have to be careful right now. Herd immunity will be achieved by surviving there, not vaccines. My triceps are coming up, full disclosure, with all the limited range work. My chest was always the strong point, so it will come back pretty fast and I may end up ahead of the game when it's all said and done, but short term I can definitely tell that 315 would probably present a challenge atm and it should definitely not. Not that that really matters, my OHP strength is more important to me and Bench is really an accessory for OHP for me. I am hoping I still have 315 in the tank and I was probably in the 350-360 range when this started.

 

[Chrisdavisjr]

I trained the floor press when I was doing PTTP. I think I hit an a 1RM of 100kg, which was tough as I had to hip-thrust the bar into position and start from the bottom. My best ever bench press is 90kg. I always ascribed the disparity between the two lifts to the relatively shorter range of motion in the floor press but now I'm thinking there might be more to it than that.

 

[88NKB]

I trained the floor press when I was doing PTTP. I think I hit an a 1RM of 100kg, which was tough as I had to hip-thrust the bar into position and start from the bottom. My best ever bench press is 90kg. I always ascribed the disparity between the two lifts to the relatively shorter range of motion in the floor press but now I'm thinking there might be more to it than that.

Yes it is definitely easier to get into position with a rack or uprights. I actually figured my floor press would be a good amount higher than my bench press due to my build. It was a bit surprising to me that they were practically identical.

Additionally, I figured that since I am not good at maintaining my arch on BP, that I would have a much easier time on the floor press because of the reduced ROM. I didn’t realize:

1) how much assistance the legs actually provided despite my difficulties with setting up and arching under maximal loads
2) a properly performed floor press still has most of the ROM of a bench press even for a longer armed lifter.

 

[LukeV]

I hardly ever bench press any more due to repeated shoulder problems so the floor press is my go to vertical press. I don’t know if it’s superior or inferior to the bench press, all things considered, but it certainly provides an effective workout whether the goal is strength or hypertrophy. I don’t feel that I’m missing anything. The floor press limited range of motion is much friendlier to the shoulder and I also floor press with legs straight so it is a pure press with no lower body assistance

 

[william bad butt]

Last time I bench pressed was September 2019 at my last powerlifting meet (I think... I may have done it once or twice since then...). I've been Floor Pressing once per week since then (except for a few months in early 2021 when I took a layoff).

I was going to type some stuff up, but then remembered I did this before (deja vu). Here are my thoughts on the floor press vs bench press.

I'll give you a list. But overall, I like it because for whatever reason, I am making newbie progress/gains and they seem to carry over to my bench. List:

-Bench is technical (more than people realize). Floor press has less focus on neurological improvement and just builds muscle strength.
-More focus on triceps, which I think is a weak point for me and most intermediate benches
-No leg drive and less arch, allows for more upper body hypertrophy
-my bench press has a fairly big arch for a 230 lb guy. So my floor press range of motion isnt that much less than my bench range of motion.
-When I fail the bench, it is not on my chest. It is 1-2 boards above, during the transition of my triceps taking over the chest muscles (I hope this makes sense, I realize they are all firing at the same time). Floor press pauses right at this spot. Note my bench and floor press grip... My pinky fingers are on the outer ring.
-More fun! I dont have to setup the bench and contort myself into position (bench press is uncomfortable). I dont have to wear my lifting shoes or belt.
-Less stressful on shoulders (not a factor for me).

Obviously, if I was going to compete I would need to practice the bench press. I would bench at least 10 weeks out, probably 20. To me, the floor press is more of a pure strength movement.

To me, the floor press is to the bench press as the overhead press is to the push press. I'm curious of others have noticed this.

Concerning my last statement... What I mean is that my bench press has a lot of leg drive like a push press. I might even say that in the continuum of a Grind vs a Ballistic movement, my floor press is more of a GRIND than my bench press. Both are GRINDS, of course. But with explosive leg drive the bench press is almost like a push press (referencing Power to The People Professional, here, I think Pavel wrote about this in the Bench Press chapter).

If you had to choose 1 upper body lift (barbell overhead press vs barbell overhead push press) to get stronger with over the next decade, which one would you choose? I bet most of you would choose the overhead press, right? Why did you choose this?

Well, I bet that same reason is why I prefer the Floor Press vs Bench.

Regards,

Eric

 

[Trever]

I’ve been doing only overhead pressing for a few years now and I don’t have a bench or rack so I’ve been considering adding floor presses. I’m going to assume that even if it’s inferior to benchpress in some way, it’s still a lot better than not doing either ?

 

[Philippe Geoffrion]

The floor press is my favorite horizontal press and let me say why.

1) There is no need for a rack. I like doing the bridge variation to start the move.

2) The floor is stable, unlike a bench. I never feel comfortable on a bench. My shoulders are a bit wide and my back is not super thick and my legs are long. Setting up into a position where I don’t feel wobbly has always been an issue for me

3) Without fail, it has always helped increase my bench press more so then bench pressing. It would be for me what Bret Contreras refers to as an indicator lift.

4) It is a pure pressing lift if done with a pause and straight legs. You cannot bounce off your torso, use leg drive or hike up a high arch to help you out.

5) After I tore my pec, this was my go to heavy lift. It never causes my shoulder any issues even with high frequency and heavy weights. The bench sometimes aggravates my old injury. In times of shoulder discomfort, it is a great go to option to continue heavy lifting.

In the past year and a half, I haven’t done a legit bench press due to gym closures but I’ve been able to floor press quite a bit. I’ve had no worry of my bench strength waning, although, it really wouldn’t matter greatly to me if it did anyways since I have no plans at the moment to compete in powerlifting. It is an exercise that lends itself well to progressive overload and is useful for those lacking a bench or whose shoulders get bothered by full rom benching. It is a valuable lift for many reasons.

 

[88NKB]

The floor is stable, unlike a bench. I never feel comfortable on a bench. My shoulders are a bit wide and my back is not super thick and my legs are long. Setting up into a position where I don’t feel wobbly has always been an issue for me

Yes Philippe, this is exactly what I was referring to. I too struggle with feeling comfortable and getting a proper setup as I get into 90% + of my 1RM. The floor also removes any potential variation in bench position, bench height, pad width, pad thickness etc. This can be an issue if training in different gyms or on different equipment.

What I mean is that my bench press has a
lot of leg drive like a push press.

My understanding is that a good paused bench press is initiated with leg drive. For me, it always seemed that my right leg/quad would contract harder out of the hole as I pushed the bar upward. The floor press completely removes this factor and allows for a much more even bar path even with heavier weights.

 

[Adachi]

The floor also removes any potential variation

This is a very tempting position for me to adopt given the constraints of my budgetary decisions.

No rack, or bench? Problem solved .

 

[Chrisdavisjr]

This is a very tempting position for me to adopt given the constraints of my budgetary decisions.

No rack, or bench? Problem solved .

Indeed! Very appealing for the minimalist; after all, a bench is a considerable investment for something essentially used for just one exercise.

As an additional bonus, unless you have an enormous neck (or very small diameter plates) you're in no danger of getting trapped with the bar on your neck and suffocating.

The only safety concern that comes to mind is that you have to be careful and controlled on the descent as striking the ground with your elbows while supporting a considerable amount of weight through the forearm could really mess up your wrists/forearms. Naturally, your reps should always be controlled. If you feel like you're about to fail a lift, bring your hips up as the bar is coming down and just 'reverse hip thrust' it back to the floor.

 

[acutaiar12]

This is a very interesting thread!

When my goal was to increase my powerlifting total as high as possible, my bench press improved the most when I increased the frequency to 2x a week and stopped doing variations of the bench press. So I only benched, then did some bodybuilding specific tricep accessories.

But if your goal is to just get stronger, after reading this thread I think the floor press is great!

Personally, I can never see myself having a gym membership again. I’m in the best shape of my life with just a 20, 28, 36, and 48 kg bell and Pavel’s books. When I meet my kettlebell goals, switching to barbell training is an option, and I like that idea of minimalist training, for my caveman brain and my wallet!

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

I've commonly seen it characterized as a lockout-only partial,

That Is Exacty What It Is

By definition that is eactly what a Floor Press is; "A locked partial movement". It has some value.

With that said to fully develop the muscle involved and over come some imbalances, full range movement usually need employed.

Partial Range Movement, along often promote imbalances.

Less technical than the bench press...

Bench Press Technique

The Bench Press does require more technique.

There is also some Technique involved in performing a Floor Press.

I measured it and found the bar to be ~ 2.5 inches above my torso

2) a properly performed floor press still has most of the ROM of a bench press even for a longer armed lifter.

Closer To A Full Range Bench Press

Performing the movemnet from 2.5 inches off your chest comes closer to being a Full Range Bench Press.

The Sticking Point in a Bench Press is approximately in the 2.5 inch are off the chest.

Thus, performing Partial Bench Presses with a Floor Press, Rack Press or Pausing with the Bench Press in the 2.5 inch are above the chest is instrumental in performing a Full Range Bench Press.

Secondly, Benching from the 2.5 inch area off the chest to move more weight definitely requires a Specific Bar Path, Technique.

If the Specific Bar Path Technique is performed correctly, the bar will feel like it is being push on rails, gliding up.

My other main pressing movement is the paused seated OHP, with dips and weighted push ups as accessory movements. Thus I am still performing some full ROM pressing.

Full Range Movements

Full Range Push Up and espeically Full Range Dip are effective method of working and developing muscle and strength for a Bench Press

Rack Press Preference

My personal preference is Rack Presses over Floor Presses.

Rack Pressing allow you to work the Bench Press from different distances with different load.

If you feel like you're about to fail a lift, bring your hips up as the bar is coming down and just 'reverse hip thrust' it back to the floor.

Hip Thrust Bench Pressing

As Chrisdivisjr, stated Hip Thrusing with weight up work if your stock.

Let's me explound on the effective use of this method for training.

This method involves placing your feet on a Bench Press Bench allowing the bar to come down to the chest and then heaving it back up with some Hip Drive.

A Flat Bench Press is turned into a Decline Bench Press due to that fact that you butt goes up in the air while your back remains planted on the Bench.

This method allows you to use substanially more weight, it changes the angle the muscles are being worked and overload.

The Top End of the Bench Press with this method magnifying the workload on the Triceps and part of the Pecs.

I was introduce to this method years about byJoe DiMarco of The Orginal Westside Powerlifting Method

While Pausing the Weight in a Floor Press (any movement) and taking the leg out of the equation is effective at increasing Maximum Strength.

However, Hip Thurst Bench Press Overloads also elicit a beneficial Strength Training Effect, as well.