Axle Bar Floor Press
Floorpress is a secondary Bench Press movement that is performed laying on the floor versus laying on a bench. In fact, you press the bar whilst laying on the floor. Weird hey!? Think of it as the box squat of the upper body. The floor press can be performed in a few different ways; feet flat, arched back, flat back, legs straight, long pauses etc... I prefer to floorpress with a setup that mimics my competition bench press in the upper back, this means shoulders back and chest up (which I'll explain in more detail in my upcoming bench series!). I like to keep my legs straight out in front of me to eliminate any leg drive. My favorite addition to this exercise is to complete it using an axle bar or with fat gripz. I find that the thicker bar really emphasizes proper wrist position and teaches tightness and tension in the paused position; of course this isn't a necessity. When you floor press, your upper arm/ triceps will contact the floor in the bottom of the press, this means depending on individual biomechanics and leverages you will be benching at a reduced range (or not) which will be very individual. When lowering the bar towards your chest be cautious of driving your elbows into the floor with the weight, control the weight throughout the entire movement and DO NOT bounce off of your triceps. After you reach the floor, pause the weight for 1-3 seconds without losing tension in your chest and upper back. After your pause, drive the weight up and back (towards your chin).
What does it target?
Now, most people think the floorpress is a movement used to work lockout strength due to its often limited range of motion. The fact of the matter is, this is going to vary on an individual basis depending on if you have 3 inch long arms like I do or if you trip on your knuckles walking up and down the stairs. Regardless; when using the technique described above, the floorpress is a fantastic movement for improving speed off of the chest in a competition style bench press. With your legs extended flat on the floor, you will get no leg drive. The weight will be focused on your triceps, chest and lats when you reach the bottom portion of the lift. As you relax your triceps, you will have to go from a zero force position (pause) to a 100 percent force drive to get the weight up, thus increasing the power output from your chest, shoulders and lats.
How will it make you better?
The Floorpress should be programmed as a supplemental exercise to the competition style bench press. It exaggerates the competition pause, eliminating leg drive and largely removing the triceps from the initial portion of the lift. This makes the floor press, great at building starting strength and speed off of the chest.
Pros?
-Simple movement requiring little to no extra equipment
-Can be substituted for bench press in situations where a bench is not available
-Mimics the competition bench very well, targeting areas lots of raw lifters struggle with (strength off the chest)
-Can be used differently depending on individual lifters strengths/weaknesses
-Can be used with no power rack/cage, as long as you have a solid training partner or a little ingenuity
Cons?
-Lots of commercial gym power racks don't have holes low enough to set the hooks to safely rack and unrack the weight.
-Lots of commercial gym bros can't deadlift what they floorpress, so getting a spot can be a challenge
-There is a slightly higher risk of injury supporting the load on the upper arm
-It is difficult to spot and/or dump should you fail a rep
BCP- Stay Strong