Close Grip Block Floor Press

Lay on your back under the barbell with the plates elevated on blocks. “Blocks” can be soft plyo boxes like in the video, bumper plates, plastic exercise steps, stacked mats, plywood pieces, etc. Use a closer grip where your elbows are under your fists at about shoulder width apart (unless your program specifies otherwise). Engage your lats keep your core tight and bench press the weight off the blocks until the elbows are extended and fully locked out. Don’t waste too much energy on the eccentric and make sure to rest the weight completely on the blocks before pressing again and avoid bouncing the weights off the blocks. These are great for starting strength and working on your sticking points. They help build the rate of force production.

Trainer Tip: When close grip benching the bar-path is usually slightly closer towards the hips than directly above the pectoral muscles. The wider you grip the bar, you will naturally want to press higher towards your neck. This exercise will build massive tricep strength which is ~75% of your bench!