hey guys i was just wondering if the floor press is more beneficial for muscle and strength gains, after watching a video T Nation posted to twitter featuring the floor press. Got me thinking that it is very underated, could this possibly substitute the bench press?
thanks
NO.
In my opinion, no. However, it certainly deserves noting that it also depends on oneās goal. For general strength and powerlifting, it certainly serves as an excellent supplement TO bench pressing. In bodybuilding, I could see it as a main movement before doing DB presses, etcetera for a period of time-- but not indefinitely of course.
[quote]jake_richardson wrote:
i was just wondering if the floor press is more beneficial for muscle and strength gains[/quote]
More beneficial? Not really. Beneficial? Probably.
Like Evolv said, itās about knowing why youāre doing the exercise, what you want to get out of it, and how youāre going to program it (volume, intensity, etc.). Youāre getting less range of motion, but the muscle activation should be increased from the deadstop.
Back in the day, like up to the 1940s and '50s, the āpullover and pressā and the ābridge and pressā were both done on the floor and served as some kind of āchestā work (even though ātraining chestā was a foreign concept at the time), but itās still not a direct substitute for the flat bench.
Iāve heard people say the floor press works your upper chest really well, but Iāve never tried it. Just donāt trust myself not to kill myself getting into position.
I really like close grip floor presses for triceps or as a bench press accessory lift. Iāve also suggested floor presses to several older guys with shoulder issues that prevent them from benching. Itās good in these special cases and as a way to āmix it upā every once in a while, but I see no reason to stop benching entirely unless you have injuries or something else keeping you from doing them.
The floor press is truly an underrated exercise. It has tremendous muscle building and strength potential. Especially utilizing techniques like starting from the floor, dead stops, clusters, density training, rest-pause sets etc. Fantastic exercise for tricep strength and development. The limited range of motion can be a real shoulder saver while actually increasing front delt size and strength.
I have always seen great upper chest development from the floor press when the set is initiated from the floor, then I take the set to near failure, come down to floor, pause, breath, rest 10-20 seconds, then force out 1-4 more reps. Other great options are DB or KB Floor press and my fave Deadsquat bar (or trapbar) Floor Press. Adding chains can make it a wicked tricep killer! Remember to use good pressing technique, proper arch, shoulders back, chest puffed up, elbows tucked, etc. Best thing about itā¦ doesnāt matter if all the benches are taken.
it can be used to improve lockout strength on the bench, but in terms of hypertrophy for the chest Bench Press>>> Floor press, and incline bench would be superior to the floor press for upper chess\t
[quote]janson8000 wrote:
it can be used to improve lockout strength on the bench, but in terms of hypertrophy for the chest Bench Press>>> Floor press, and incline bench would be superior to the floor press for upper chess\t[/quote]
Floor press improves lockout for you?
Thatās really interesting to me. When I train it, it does a much better job for me with training the drive off the chest rather than the lockout. Even though itās a partial bench, it puts way more tension in the pecs and shoulder than the triceps for me.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]janson8000 wrote:
it can be used to improve lockout strength on the bench, but in terms of hypertrophy for the chest Bench Press>>> Floor press, and incline bench would be superior to the floor press for upper chess\t[/quote]
Floor press improves lockout for you?
Thatās really interesting to me. When I train it, it does a much better job for me with training the drive off the chest rather than the lockout. Even though itās a partial bench, it puts way more tension in the pecs and shoulder than the triceps for me.[/quote]
Ć? 2
[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
[quote]jake_richardson wrote:
i was just wondering if the floor press is more beneficial for muscle and strength gains[/quote]
More beneficial? Not really. Beneficial? Probably.
Like Evolv said, itās about knowing why youāre doing the exercise, what you want to get out of it, and how youāre going to program it (volume, intensity, etc.). Youāre getting less range of motion, but the muscle activation should be increased from the deadstop.
Back in the day, like up to the 1940s and '50s, the āpullover and pressā and the ābridge and pressā were both done on the floor and served as some kind of āchestā work (even though ātraining chestā was a foreign concept at the time), but itās still not a direct substitute for the flat bench.[/quote]
Thanks for the explanation!
[quote]jms wrote:
The floor press is truly an underrated exercise. It has tremendous muscle building and strength potential. Especially utilizing techniques like starting from the floor, dead stops, clusters, density training, rest-pause sets etc. Fantastic exercise for tricep strength and development. The limited range of motion can be a real shoulder saver while actually increasing front delt size and strength.
I have always seen great upper chest development from the floor press when the set is initiated from the floor, then I take the set to near failure, come down to floor, pause, breath, rest 10-20 seconds, then force out 1-4 more reps. Other great options are DB or KB Floor press and my fave Deadsquat bar (or trapbar) Floor Press. Adding chains can make it a wicked tricep killer! Remember to use good pressing technique, proper arch, shoulders back, chest puffed up, elbows tucked, etc. Best thing about itā¦ doesnāt matter if all the benches are taken. [/quote]
Wow, never thought to use Kbs or a trap bar!
The floor press has changed the chest building game for me. It keeps a ridiculous amount of tension on the chest and simplifies rest pause sets. Surprisingly enough Iāve seen better upper chest development in the past few weeks than I have in the past two years from floor pressing. I think it just depends of the body type, for longer armed people I definitely think it can be beneficial
Do you have short arms?
Because if you do this would main the bar would be a lot closer level to your chestā¦
Iām asking because from my experience and a lot of others from what I can tell, it is mainly a lock out lift. When I floor press the bar is a good 5-6 inches off my chest, so carry over off the chest is basically non-existent. Not denying your results itās just interesting.
I have very long arms for my height. Makes deadlifting easy, but pressing sucks.
sorry i should have specified. i have been doing only dumbell floor press. i barbell floor pressed a few times but youāre right i couldnt get the tension on my chest. it really seems to get the shoulders out of it but yeah my triceps took most of the work. but idk for some reason i get an intense contraction with dumbbell floor press and flies. i have been focusing on progressing those for the most part and adding slow negative dips and incline (feet raised) pushups at the end of my chest portion of push day. i was always an advocate of full range of motion but since discovering floor press only a month ago my chest (especially upper chest) is noticeably more dense. weird