I love the Floor Press for a lot of reasons, and the fact that you can build a huge Bench Press with it is one of them.
Some of the others are:
- It’s an indictor exercise
- It can be used as a Deload
- It allows you to train around injuries
- It builds a shitload of strength
- It can refine technique
Let’s look at these one by one shall we and then we’ll go over how to do it optimally.
It’s an indicator exercise:
An indicator exercise is one you can use to gauge progress and also get an estimate to where you can open at a meet.
If your floor press is going up, you can rest assured that your Bench Press is too.
And if you can Floor Press it, you can bench it, so it’s good for guesstimating an Opener. A lot of people, especially new lifters open too heavy. Using this a “feeler gauge” is one way to figure out where opener should be.
It can be used as a Deload:
Yes, I said it. The Floor Press is a reduced range of motion. Reduced range exercises are perfect for Deloads because they are easier to recover from than full range ones.
It allows you to train around injuries:
Got a leg, knee, ankle, hip injury?
The Floor Press allows you to Bench Press as heavy as you like without aggravating it. A primary rule of Old Man Conjugate is to find what you can do. For many, this fits the bill.
The Floor Press is also perfect for many shoulder issues due to the limited range. Pair it up with an American Press Bar and it’s an even bigger winner.
It builds a shitload of strength:
Taking the lower body out of the Bench Press really forces you to get every last bit out of your upper body. Stopping on the floor also build a huge amount of strength similar to a Box Squat by breaking the eccentric/concentric chain. It is also an AWESOME Max Effort exercise.
It can refine technique:
When the lower body is taken out of the lift, as in the Floor Press, it allows you to focus on things that need to be done with the upper body, such as spread the bar, meet the bar and chase the bar.
How to Perform the Floor Press and Build a huge Bench Press with It
There are two primary ways to perform the Floor Press, legs out or legs bent.
Legs out
Legs bent
I prefer the legs out variation for a lot of reasons.
First off, to get the most out of the Floor Press and keep it from being an ego exercise, we have to take the lower body out. The only way to do this is to keep them straight.
Keeping the legs out also allows you to squeeze the glutes hard just as you would in a competition Bench Press. When the legs are bent your ability to squeeze the glutes has been taken away.
Legs straight also places ZERO shear force on the lumbar spine. This is especially important for two scenarios:
Lower back injury
Removing ego
When the legs are bent you have the ability to drive the hips into the lift, and basically turn it into decline bench.
When you do them as shown in the picture above you have now added to the shear (bad) force on your lumbar and turned it into an ego exercise.
If your goal is to ego lift and fool yourself, I encourage you to do them as shown in the photo above.
But, if you goal is to get stronger, reduce wear and tear, and possibly train around injury, go ahead and use the legs out variation.
Using the Upper Body on the Floor Press:
Is there any difference that Bench Pressing the usual way?
Yes and no.
The YES:
Try to do everything as you would in a Competition style bench.
Meet the bar on the way down and stretch/bend it, chase the bar on the way up. Keep the movement as close to a comp bench as you can.
The NO:
On a Floor Press, you cannot meet it as hard or chase it as hard as you can with your feet down.
But.
That’s ok.
As long as you strive to do it as much as you can it WILL carry over to your comp bench.
I’ve used the Floor Press for years with lifters who were not able to Bench Press, and the ones who did the work all saw a big payoff when they went back to benching normally.
Use theses tips for the Floor Press and Build a Huge Bench Press.
PS:
If you are in the Boston area, we are hosting the RPS Mass State Powerlifting Championships at TPS on March 5th.
C’mon by and watch some great lifting.
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Vincere vel mori
C.J. Murphy
February 17, 2022
