I tried floor press for the first time tonight. I actually get probably about 3 inches from the chest. I dk if this is suppose to happen but i havent felt my chest work this hard in a long time it was pumped like i was doing hypertrophy work lol. I put up 265x5 as my last set and i was good with that. Flat bench is usually around 320x4-5 reps.
So my question is- are floor presses suppose to work the shit outta your chest? And do you think they carry over well to competition bench?
I feel like i have a really weak small chest because my tris are decent size…i started out reading geared articles so i always did more tri work lol.
I’m no expert but I always thought the floor press was to help build the lock out portion of the bench therefore making it more of a triceps exercise than a chest exercise although the chest will of course still get some stimulation.
Same thing happened with me. I haven’t done them in a while but my pecs would feel pretty trashed afterwards(with a close grip). Probably individual as far as carry over goes. I don’t think I stuck with them long enough, but I know that my floor press was right around 90% of my competition bench. Either way I’d say its a solid assistance exercise and much more than just lockout work.
[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Same thing happened with me. I haven’t done them in a while but my pecs would feel pretty trashed afterwards(with a close grip). Probably individual as far as carry over goes. I don’t think I stuck with them long enough, but I know that my floor press was right around 90% of my competition bench. Either way I’d say its a solid assistance exercise and much more than just lockout work.[/quote]
Out of interest do you think close grip floor press would be a better assistance exercise for the bench than regular close grip bench or would you say its just down to the individual ?
Depends on the individual, but I would say regular close grips would be the best, especially if you bench with a wider grip. I use close grip as my competition bench, so the floor press adds another close grip exercise I can do.
Love floor presses, I feel they hit my chest well as they take leg drive completely out of the equation (IMO floor presses should be done with your legs straight and not bent) I equally love the Close Grip shorter ROM to to trash my tris.
I know most will say if your a Raw lifter you shouldnt worry about weak points of the lift and simply bench more. I disagree as I always had a sticking point midway so its perfect for me when done with a pause, and safe as well.
Im gonna add them in for awhile. I think for me anyway it trashes chest more than triceps hell i barely felt my triceps being worked. I think for me it takes my tricep out of the equation because i pause for about half a second and explode up. Im gonna try them for about a month as a replacement for my OHP on 531 because ohp does nothing for my bench so im gonna do this.
Main movement
531 floor press super setted with pull ups.
Assistance close grip flat bench 5x10 50%
Super set with tbar rows 5x10
Weighted Tricep Dips 3x10 Super set with some high rep push downs 3 sets.
Sounds like a good plan to me. Some think the OHP should always be in the program, but you know your body better than we do. I’ve thought about doing the same thing as you, but I kind of like doing the OHP. I did replace the bench with it for a couple of cycles though.
I worked on OHP for a while when i started 531 i was at 135x5 at the beginning at the end i was at 185x5 205x1
During those times my bench didnt really move too much at all. I have alot of people have this same experience though. I think it may help a little but not as much as people think.
I do like the movement though i might actually try to incoroprate some heavy triples or 5s in on bench day.
I by no means am an expert in the floor press. On the other hand they are the single best lift for me personally to increase my bench. I believe the pump that you are getting is from the moment you hit the floor. At that point the muscle relax every so little then reach peak contraction just absolutely ripping the shit out of every muscle in the press. Also to answer your question on close grip being a better assistant. I’d say do both. Not in the same session. Maybe after a cycle you switch grip. What ever works for you man.
When I floor press my chest touches the bar, lol. I love em, did some today in fact. Like others have said just lay on the floor and press. Keep the legs straight and bench like a gym rat - no advantageous set ups here or you defeat the point. When you go back to setting up properly, all that leg drive and technique will really be apparent. Floor press with chains is the cats ass for me. Love some FP.
You can even do these in a smith rack. That really lets you pile the weight on and only have to worry about pressing the weight. Serious triceps killer.
So i shouldnt retract my shoulder blades? I have shoulder pain when i dont retract. Would it still be benificial to retract with a slight arch and leave the legs straight ahead?
[quote]jkondash89 wrote:
So i shouldnt retract my shoulder blades? I have shoulder pain when i dont retract. Would it still be benificial to retract with a slight arch and leave the legs straight ahead?[/quote]
if thats the case, protect the shoulders. I’ve always understood the point of the FP is you are trying to make the floor press as hard as possible so that when you go back to benching, all the bench set up things will really stand out and boost the bench. If you do a full on setup with an arch and all that then why even bother. Just bench or do board presses to work the midrange of your bench. I’ve even seen guys put a piece of plywood on the bench to limit the elbows traveling to simulate a FP without actually FP’ing.
Best advice I can give is give it a shot and see what happens. See what is the hardest for you and which style give you the most benefit. I mean arching isn’t a deal breaker but…
I dont have a big arch to being with so its nothing crazy. Ill toss it around for 2 months to see if i see any carryover to the bench.
I still feel it alot in my chest which ibfeel is a weak point for me because i always trained the hell outta tris with minimal chest work. I was one of the ones doing 2 board presses when i could lockout 395 from a 2 board press but only bench 335 so i proved to myself that my triceps are stronger by alot and my chest has always lagged behind in the competition bench i leterally feel almost no stimulation in the chest from flat bench but tris are sorer than a mother.
Soni think if my floor press keeps hitting my chest like it had and builds it up a bit more thatll have to helpbatleast a little. Thanks for the replys guys ill let you know on feb 24th if my bench has moved past 345-350 area which ive been stuck at for a while regardless what i do.
[quote]jkondash89 wrote:
I was one of the ones doing 2 board presses when i could lockout 395 from a 2 board press but only bench 335 so i proved to myself that my triceps are stronger by alot and my chest has always lagged behind in the competition bench i leterally feel almost no stimulation in the chest from flat bench but tris are sorer than a mother.[/quote]
Question… when you board press are you lightly touching the board and then pressing or do you let it sink in and heave it off your chest? ( on a side note, this is much how a bench shirt works, using the compressive forces stored in the chest to lift the weigfht lol) I have found that most times when people have a much higher board press like that they are doing the later style. Try the light touch and see if that helps your bench.
Don’t sweat the chest not being sore so much. When I bench my tris, upper back are generally more sore than the chest is. So I add the soreness by doing blast strap push ups and stuff like that. ha