As usual, before I give you the tips on training I’m going to do a few updates.
It’s been a busy week at TPS for me and for the gym.
Last Saturday we ran out 13th annual NAS Massachusetts State Strongman event and it was f*ing awesome. We had great weather, a ton of volunteers, some incredible athletes and beer.
There really were quite a few impressive athletes here but I wanted to single out one. Nick “Catz” Cambi of TPS.
Dave Tate really needs to lock this kid up for a sponsorship.
He’s going places and chicks dig him.
Just ask Mickey B.
I love Nick Catz!
Nicky won 3 events in 3 consecutive weeks. The first was earning his Middleweight Pro Card in Strongman 3 weeks ago, the second was two weeks ago where he took first in the Heavyweight Open division at the Bay State Games, a weightlifting competition (or Oly as those who know nothing of the sport call it) and the third was my show, where he won the Heavyweight Open division.
I can’t be more proud of Nicky and wish I could understand his hashtags ( @cambidude on IG).
Carlos Moran of TPS is prepping for Boss of Bosses 2 and he is looking really good. Monday night I watched his depth on the squat. He BURIED 700 to USAPL depth using the totally awesome Texas Power Bar. Carlos will be in the 198’s and will be someone to watch for the win. ( @thewinterwolves on IG)
The next day I should have slept all day but Comic Con was in Boston and my 10 year old loves it so we went.
What's he looking at?
I’m not really a comic book guy but I love taking him because he has fun and we get to look at all the people in costumes. OK, I look at the girls. So does he. I’m in trouble when he gets older.
We saw a lot of really good ones and some really creepy ones. We were lucky enough to meet drunk Deadpool. This may have been the highlight of the day. He was a full grown man dressed as Deadpool and was hammered. I got a pretty big laugh out of it.
Deadpool and his Heinekin.
Now that the Strongman show is over, you’d think we would sit back and relax but nope. On October 17th and 18th we will be hosting the RPS/TPS Power Challenge in Everett, Mass. This is a two day meet and we will have over 200 lifters if last year is any indicator. This is also the meet my girls are prepping for. If you want to come and do a fun meet that is well run and has good food this is the one.
I get the food donated by Kayem and the crew from Everett Pop Warner runs the concession. We give them all the loot too. Kids and football is a good thing and they need cash to run the organization. This is where you come in. Do the meet or come and watch and go out and eat a whole mess of burgers, dogs and pizza.
The cash goes to a good cause.
OK, let’s talk about the Floor Press.
Everyone wants a bigger bench right?
Who doesn’t?
Communists that’s who.
Everyone else does.
There are lots of ways to build the bench and you need to identify specific (weak) areas of your bench that need work. We are all different right, but there is one commonality with all bench pressers:
Who doesn’t need to be stronger or faster off the chest?
OK, so you can say that about the middle and the lock out too, but off the chest is critical. If you can’t get it off the chest you can’t do anything so let’s build your bench from the ground, or floor up.
Let’s review why the Floor Press is awesome.
-it builds a stupid amount of starting strength
-it is easy on the shoulders
-it makes the triceps stronger too
-when done right, there is no ego and no question of whether it was a good lift, I’ll explain below later
-it can be used to train around injuries, as a max effort exercise or as an accessory lift
OK, so how do we do it?
It’s pretty easy.
Lie on the floor in a Power Rack and set up some safety pins to catch the bar if you miss preventing your untimely death, lie on the floor and unrack, then press it to full extension.
Simple right?
OK, I have a few more opinions here.
I may not be the best bencher in the world, or in Massachusetts or even in my gym, but I am a good coach so hear me out.
There are a lot of correct ways and a lot of less than optimal ways to do most exercises and this one is no different. Here is what I feel is the best way:
Get on the floor and set your upper body up as if you were on a bench, using a foam pad or a mat is ideal so you can get your shoulders squeezed together tighter. Next, place your legs out STRAIGHT in front of you. Do not bend them. Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can before hand off and keep them squeezed. Make sure the legs stay straight through the whole lift. This takes the lower body out completely.
I feel this is the best way to build starting strength. Taking the lower body out makes your upper body ( pecs, delts, triceps and lats) do all of the work.
This makes them stronger and this is the goal.
We see people using a bent leg technique all the time on YouTube and Instagram and while this is not wrong, I feel it defeats the purpose of the exercise. Of course it’s up to you to decide why you are doing something and I am not saying it is wrong.
When you Floor Press with the legs bent you drive through your heels and your ass pops up hard off the floor as we see all the time. It’s kind of like turning it into a decline press.
Why not just do a decline press and save the wear and tear on your lower back?
I feel that to get the most out of the lift, you need to take the lower body out of the lift totally.
Keeping your legs straight ensures that your upper body does the work.
There you have it.
Add in the Floor Press as described for a Max Effort move or as an assistance lift for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps after you bench for a few weeks and see how it goes. You can also use a slightly closer grip to make the triceps stronger.
Good luck and I encourage comments.
Share this on your social media too. Someone may get a bigger bench because you did.
Ask me a question-Be sure and Type to Murph in the header
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#bostonsstrongest
Vincere vel mori
I've been doing floor presses as described in this post ever since I've gotten a nasty shoulder injury a little over two months ago. It's healing well, but I could use a similar movement with carryover to overhead pressing if you know of one. I've been doing light pin presses and high volume (30-50 reps), low weight overhead presses for two weeks in addition to standard rotator cuff rehab. First real strongman competition in 3 months and I'd hate to zero out on log presses because I'm still healing up down the line.
As always, love your articles. Keep 'em coming.
Sorry to hear about your injury.
The sad part is that I don't think benching or floor pressing has much carry over ot the press or the log, except that it works the triceps.
Try doing close grip floor presses, or close grip inclines with the shoulder saver pad on this site.
Both will get the triceps stronger.
I suggest that if you have access to a log that you begin training it as soon as is practical without exacerbating the injury.
Make sure that you shrug the shoulders as high as possible and take a huge breath into the chest when the log is in the rack position.
This will shorten the range and take some stress off of your shoulder.
Also, try to learn a split jerk on the log.
It will help you to get at least one so you don't zero.
Neutral grip dumbbell overhead presses will help too but nothing is better than a log for prepping for it in a contest.
Good luck and sorry I couldn't give you a better answer.
Vince vel Mori
PS
Thanks for the feedback, it's always good to hear.