Building Upper Body Strength: How the Barbell Floor Press Can Help

For gym goers of all skill levels, the barbell floor press is an excellent pressing variant. The exercise assists people who have sore shoulders by providing a wonderful variation while also enhancing muscular hypertrophy, strength, and bench-press technique.

It is a variation of the bench press that strengthens your chest, shoulders, and triceps. For athletes who are healing from injuries, it is a terrific alternative.

The floor press has a number of advantages, which we'll go over in this article. The objective is for you to be able to perform this exercise correctly.

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How to perform the barbell floor press correctly

In order to complete the floor press, you must lie on the floor and cross the weight over your torso. The fact that you can't use leg drive and have to put more effort into your chest, shoulders, and triceps to finish each repetition is one of the floor press's most noteworthy advantages.

Floor press works your triceps, chest and shoulder muscles. (Image via Unsplash/ Victor Freitas)

Here’s how to perform this exercise properly:

• Lie on your back.
• Your feet should be flat on the floor, and your knees should be slightly bent.
• With your palms facing away from you and your hands shoulder-width apart, hold the barbell.
• Maintaining a close body position with your elbows, lift the bar from the rack and lower it to your chest.
• Squeezing your chest and triceps at the top of the exercise, press the bar back up to the starting position.
• Repeat for the required amount of reps.

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Muscles targeted by the barbell floor press

The pectoralis major (chest), which spans the top front side of the torso, is the main muscle involved in a floor press barbell.

The fan-shaped muscle helps with several arm movements and is essential for pressing the bar up and controlling it as it comes down. Due to the floor press' constrained range of motion, our pecs don't get the same stretch, yet the exercise increases muscle growth and lockout strength.

The second important muscle engaged in floor pressing is our triceps. Our upper arms' posterior muscles, the triceps, are primarily responsible for elbow extension (straightening the arm).

Floor press improves muscle growth. (Image via Unsplash/ Victor Freitas)

The third main muscle group used in the barbell floor press is the deltoids (shoulders). The anterior deltoid head helps the triceps and pectorals move the weight, whereas our deltoids primarily work to stabilize the shoulder.

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Benefits of the barbell floor press

Barbell floor presses are a rather unusual workout that you don't see performed very frequently in the gym. But despite being less well-known than the bench press, the floor press is a great compound exercise that increases the muscular size and improves lockout strength.

Here’s a list of benefits offered:

1) Increased upper body strength

The barbell floor press engages several different muscle groups and is a good exercise to use to increase upper body strength and muscle mass.

2) Lower risk of injury

Compared to the standard bench press, the barbell floor press puts less stress on your shoulders and lower back because you're lying on the ground.

Floor press uses your core muscles. (Image via Unsplash/ Victor Freitas)

3) Increased triceps strength

The barbell floor press puts greater attention on your triceps by keeping your elbows close to your torso throughout the exercise, which helps you increase triceps strength.

4) Core stability

A stronger, more solid midsection can be developed with the barbell floor press, which forces you to use your core muscles to stabilize your body throughout the activity.

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Common mistakes to avoid

Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

Allowing your elbows to flare out: It's critical to keep your elbows tucked in close to your body the entire time during the exercise to maximize the involvement of your chest and triceps.

Taking your feet off the floor: Keep your feet level on the floor the entire exercise to ensure perfect form and increase your stability.

Not bringing the bar all the way down to your chest: Make sure you drop the bar all the way to your chest before pressing it back up to get the most out of your chest muscles.