Barbell Floor Press: Substitute for Bench Press

⏱️ Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes
🧠 TL;DR
- Barbell Floor Press: Substitute for Bench Press offers effective, accessible movements for targeted results.
- This guide is designed to help you move smarter, build strength, and stay consistent.
✍️ Summary
This post explores barbell floor press: substitute for bench press in a way that’s actionable and easy to follow. Whether you're new to this style of training or leveling up, it includes practical takeaways for your routine.
📚 Table of Contents
How To Do A Barbell Floor Press
To properly do a barbell floor press, start from the rack or being handed it by your partner. From here you're going to get your points of contact feet, hips, head and shoulders on the ground. This barbell press on floor technique is crucial for stability.
The barbell press on floor involves pressing the weight up with the goal to fully lockout. And then when you return, elbows all the way to the ground as you do this.
What you don't want is any excessive lordotic arching of the back, and you want to make sure your hands are the right width apart.
So you're looking at the same width as you would with barbell bench press on floor, which means they're going to be a little bit wider than your shoulders.
Who Benefits The Most From This?
The floor press is not just a great home workout variation, but it's great for anyone looking to improve lockout strength and is a great variation for anyone with shoulder issues or recovering from injuries! The barbell floor press benefits include being a shoulder friendly chest exercise and a fantastic bench press substitute.
Helpful Resources:
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Want more guidance? Check out our Weekly Dumbbell Workout #1.
📝 FAQs
How often should I do these exercises? +
2–3 times per week is a good starting point for most people.
Do I need equipment? +
Many of these can be done with just your bodyweight or a single kettlebell or dumbbell.
Can beginners do these routines? +
Yes! These movements are designed to scale with your fitness level.