Floor Press (Dumbbell)
A shoulder-friendly chest pressing exercise performed lying on the floor to limit range of motion and emphasize triceps strength. Ideally suited for building lockout power or training around shoulder discomfort.
The floor press is often used when shoulder joint recovery is compromised. The AI analyzes your HRV and recovery data to suggest this variation when your 'readiness' score is lower, preventing strain on the rotator cuff. Furthermore, by tracking RPE specifically on this partial-range movement, the app can accurately distinguish between your lockout strength (triceps) versus your off-the-chest power, auto-adjusting weights to fix specific sticking points in your pressing strength curve.
Form Cues
- Lie flat with knees bent and feet planted firmly on the floor
- Tuck your elbows to a 45-degree angle relative to your torso
- Pause completely when your triceps lightly contact the ground
- Explode the weight up to full arm extension
- Keep your shoulder blades retracted against the floor
- Don't bounce your elbows off the floor to gain momentum
- Don't flare your elbows out 90 degrees wide
- Don't let the dumbbells crash together at the top
- Don't arch your lower back aggressively
- Don't lift your head off the ground during the press
Common Mistakes
- Bouncing arms off the floor
- Flaring elbows too wide
- Rushing the lowering phase
- lifting the hips off the floor
- Shortening the lockout at the top
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily targets the pectoralis major and the triceps brachii, with a heavy emphasis on the triceps due to the reduced range of motion. It also engages the anterior deltoids for stability while significantly reducing the strain on the shoulder capsule compared to standard bench pressing.
Primary
Secondary
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