Proper Floor Press

The floor press is the original horizontal barbell press even predating the bench press.

Proper floor press.

Although using the floor press for this purpose is effective to an extent it s not all it s cracked up to be. While it may seem like an easier form of the press because of its restricted range of motion it is actually shifting the brunt of the effort rather than making a lift easier. It works like a bench press but by lying directly on the floor you give your back better support and take. The floor press which was covered extensively in a previous article is a segmented shorter range of motion variation of the bench press with the intent to target the top half.

You can t use your legs so creating maximum tension before the bar or dumbbells move is important. 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. The floor press has been used by powerlifters for 20 years to build herculean strength in the upper body. In this article we re going to cover every facet of the floor press including why you would use them and we ll wrap up with a 12 week program.

The key to maximizing the floor press lies in proper technique and set up. The dumbbell floor press looks exactly as it sounds with the athlete lying on the floor instead of the bench with a dumbbell in each hand. If your set up is poor or your elbows flare out you ll get hurt or not feel comfortable doing floor presses. And if your goal is to bench press ridiculous weights the floor press can be used as a supplementary lift to your bench to all new levels.

The floor press is a fantastic pressing variation for lifters of all levels to improve muscle mass lockout strength and bench press technique. It can even be a great variation for lifters with.