Floor Press

If you’re looking to build arm and chest strength, the floor press is a great exercise to add to your routine. It works like a bench press, but by lying directly on the floor, you give your back better support and take away your ability to drive with your legs. This makes the floor press a great upper body exercise. The floor press isn’t difficult to master, but you want to make sure you have the right form before you add too much weight. With a little practice, though, you can master this exercise.

Steps

Getting Into Position

  1. Lie on your back. A floor press should begin with you lying on your back under the bar. Ideally, you should be set up so that your eyes are underneath the bar. Too far forward or back could lead to injury or pressing your bar into the rack.[1]
    • The exact position varies for each person. Get a feel for what is comfortable for you. You want to be in a place where you’re not pressing into the rack, and stable enough to unrack. Remember to always have a spotter to help keep you safe.
  2. Bend your knees. Some people prefer to perform a floor press with their legs extended straight, but most beginners feel more comfortable starting with their knees bent. Bend your knees enough that you are able to place your feet flat on the floor. This helps provide some stability as you learn the exercise.[2]
  3. Set your grip. Start by grabbing the barbell with your hands shoulder width apart. Once you’re comfortable with the exercise you may choose to use wider or more narrow grips to activate the muscles in different ways, but a standard grip will allow you to learn proper form while you are still mastering the exercise.[2]
    • Once you have a firm grip on the barbell, push yourself down into the ground. This will lock your shoulders in and give you stability to unrack.[3]
  4. Unrack the barbell. The safest way to unrack your barbell is to have someone help you lift off. You want to avoid pressing up to clear the rack, since this will unlock your shoulders and compromise your upper body stability. Pull the bar out from the rack to a position where it is hovering over your lower chest.[2]

Performing the Exercise

  1. Stabilize your grip. Before you lower the bar, take a couple of seconds to make sure you are stable. Avoid bringing the barbell down until you know you can do so in a controlled fashion. If you feel yourself struggling or failing, let your spotter know.
  2. Lower the bar. Once you have the bar stable, lower it in a controlled motion down over the lower part of your chest. Tuck your elbows and bring the bar down until your upper arms touch the ground. Pause here, and try to keep the weights from slamming or bouncing.[4]
  3. Press the bar. With your elbows tucked, press the bar up with as much controlled force as you can. Keep your wrists aligned with your elbow, and try to finish the press in the exact position in which you started it.[3]
  4. Repeat the press. Repeat this motion for as many reps as you have planned for your workout that day. Remember that early on you should aim to build good form and muscle memory. Try starting with one to two sets of five to eight reps each.

Trying Floor Press Variants

  1. Do a dumbbell floor press. Instead of using a barbell, you can use dumbbells to do a floor press. Dumbbell floor presses utilize largely the same motion, but begin with your upper arms by your side and your elbows at a 45 degree angle with dumbbells in hand. Press up from this start position, and perform the floor press the same as you would with a barbell.[5]
  2. Straighten your legs. One of the benefits of the floor press is that it takes away much of the ability to drive with your legs that occurs during bench presses. Once you have become comfortable with the floor press motion, you can reduce this drive further by extending your legs out straight in front of you.[3]
  3. Vary your grip. Once you have become comfortable with the standard barbell floor press, try varying your grip to change the way in which you work your muscles. Bring your hands in a little toward the center of your body for a more narrow grip, or set them a bit wider than the shoulders for a wide grip.[2]
    • Only vary the position slightly. Too tight or too wide a grip could make performing the exercise unnecessarily dangerous.

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ hhttps://www.theboxmag.com/crossfit-training/exercise-anatomy-floor-press-12153
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/floor-press/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://www.theboxmag.com/crossfit-training/exercise-anatomy-floor-press-12153
  4. ↑ https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/main/popup/name/floor-press
  5. ↑ https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-floor-press-what-makes-the-floor-press-so-special.html

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