Are you rocking the same chest workout every time you walk in the gym? We bet you are. If you’re like the 98% of guys out there, you’re starting off with flat benching, moving on to the incline bench, then finishing things off with some dumbbell benches and flyes.
What happens when you stick to that template week after week and year after year? Absolutely nothing. You’ll grow and get stronger for a while, but as soon as your body adapts to what you’re doing every workout, your progress grinds to a halt and you’re left wondering what you can do to get yourself back on track and making gains again.
Enter the floor press. This versatile movement is a great way to work the middle section of your bench press stroke. It’s also tremendously effective for working both your chest and your triceps without placing excessive strain on your shoulders.
Perform barbell floor presses in a power rack with adjustable J-hooks. If your gym doesn’t have a power rack, stick with the dumbbell version.
BARBELL FLOOR PRESS
Lie on your back on the floor in a power rack. Unrack the bar as you would when bench pressing and lower the weight until your elbows hit the ground. Pause for a second, then press the bar back to the start position.
DUMBBELL FLOOR PRESS
Lie on the floor with a pair of dumbbells. Press the dumbbells until they’re over your chest, lower, pause, then explosively repeat.
