How to Floor Bench Press

Floor bench press as ‘safer’ than traditional bench press, allows you to press more (you have better contact with the floor, and also lower range of motion). Still gives you a great adrenaline pump, great activation in your triceps, chest, glutes, back, and thighs.

Setting up

Find an open space at the gym or home, and start off with one 45-pound plate on each side. Scoot your butt close to the barbell (like you were going to do one of those hip ‘thruster’ exercises which are quite popular right now).

Position your hands in a ‘suicide’ grip (thumbs not gripping the bar, but *ABOVE* the bar), and keep your thumbs roughly where the ring is on the barbell. Then use your hips to push the weight up until you get into a glute bridge position, then use your chest and triceps to push the weight up (arch your back and press hard with your triceps and arms upwards). Once you get it all the way up, re-adjust your position, slowly lower it down then try to push it back up.

Keep increasing the weight until you can no longer lift it up.

The goal is simple:

Keep increasing your ‘one rep max’ by 5 pounds every week. That means every week, try to add one 2.5 pound weights on each side of the barbell, and strive to become stronger!

If you fail, no worries. Take a few days off or a week off, then try again!