Epicondalgia lateralis tennis elbow
Advantages:
The floor press allows you to gain strength and muscle mass without the ill effects that frequent bench presses bring.
When you stretch your legs it becomes a pure upper body strength test. You cannot smuggle with your legs.
You can train purely for strength with a floor press but also for muscle mass.
You will probably get stronger with bench pressing. You often get into the hardest corner of bench pressing where the load is heaviest.
What is a floor press?
A floor press is an exercise that you can use as an upper body exercise. It is a way to still reap the benefits of bench pressing but not the disadvantages. Everyone likes to bench press. There is something about being able to bench press a lot and is often seen as a sign of strength. But unfortunately we see that when this exercise is done too often problems can develop in the shoulder. Muscles in the shoulder, especially the rotator cuff, can become overloaded and can even lead to tendonitis. In times of nasty injuries, it is a great way to still keep training but it is also one of our most sought after rehabilitation exercise for training a shoulder injury!
Pure upper body!
By stretching your legs, you cannot make a hollow back and push from your legs. This isn't necessarily right or wrong but by doing this you are purely putting an appeal to your upper body. If you have little experience with bench pressing, this is an ideal way to get used to this movement pattern. The movement is more controllable and you know better what to do. Let's face it you're not going to bounce your elbows on the floor like crazy. You are exercising much more consciously than you normally do when bench pressing. The floor provides a controlled pace. All conditions for a more efficient movement pattern.
More frequency in press exercises:
It allows you to train chest-shoulder-triceps more often. With a floor press you train mainly triceps and a lot less chest and shoulders than with a normal bench press. By the way, it's also not true that bench presses super directly train your chest or shoulders. For muscle growth, there are other exercises that do more justice to the function of the chest. More on this another time!
When you want to get stronger you need to do that exercise more often. Besides strength, it is also important that your muscles know what to do. In other words, you need to control them as efficiently as possible. Compare it to playing the piano. The more often you do it the better the coordination, the less effort it takes.
Getting stronger in the hardest corner of bench pressing:
Many people, when they can control the weight down well, often still get the barbell a few inches off the chest. After that, it becomes really difficult. With the floor press, you train precisely that weak position. After a period of regular floor presses, your bench press will probably start to feel easier.
Want to know more? Suffering from a shoulder injury that just won't go away? Check out www.fysiofitaal.nl to see what we can do for you or contact us directly!