Bench Press or Floor press?

neither
isolation training is useless for everything except for looking good at the beach
 
Assuming you do other lifts as well (squat, deadlift, powerclean and OL lifts), bench press is better. More range of motion=better for your muscles. Besides, having your arms closer to your body is more common in escape situations--the bench will help you create some space (assuming you are already technically proficient).
 
AdamJackson said:
hmmmmm bench and floor press are isolation exercises?? I thought they were compound movements.
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Yes they're compound movements.

I read on t nation recently (sorry can't remember exact article) that floor press was good for mma reason being you're working off your back a lot... I'd ask what they think in the grappling forum, because being flat on your back is somewhere you never want to be anyway! (generally.)

What observer says makes sense to me...
 
millasur said:
Yes they're compound movements.

I read on t nation recently (sorry can't remember exact article) that floor press was good for mma reason being you're working off your back a lot... I'd ask what they think in the grappling forum, because being flat on your back is somewhere you never want to be anyway! (generally.)

What observer says makes sense to me...
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Are you referring to this article?

T NATION | 11 Myths of Warrior Training

 
Bench press is better. What is there to gain from floor presses (for a MMA fighter) that isn't already there in bench pressing?
 
Keosawa said:
Bench press is better. What is there to gain from floor presses (for a MMA fighter) that isn't already there in bench pressing?
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well, the only plus side to floor press is pushing the weight up without the stretch reflex (just like you would if someone was on top of you)
 
Floor press is an assistance exercise for training the mid/top portion of the bench press. Floor press is to bench press what rack pulls are to deadlifts.

That said, I imagine if you tried to "bench press" an opponent off of you, you'd get nailed with an armbar pretty quickly.
 
I would just do bench press. Bench is good when done in conjunction wiht squats and deadlifts for a grappler/mma fighter.

One thing I have to say though. About half that T-Nation article is wrong. The part on the floor press doesn't even make sense. Even if it were worded right, If you are trying to press someone off the floor in anyway while in an MMA fight or grappling you are doing it VERY WRONG! Shoudl probably find a new grappling coach ASAP
 
DrBdan said:
Are you referring to this article?

T NATION | 11 Myths of Warrior Training

It's a pretty good article but that is one point I would disagree with. Doing bench through a larger range of motion is better.
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Yeah I thought it was fairly decent, for example point one I see fricking EVERYWHERE of the 'mma' classes I've seen. (conditioning, surely technique should be worked first, conditioning last, though I see hte benefit of working hard early because then you're more tired for sparring etc.. either way, training circuits pointlessly does nothing to help your skill.)

Basically you don't need to have much expertise to realise that if you are adhering to those 'myths' you don't really have a clue - quick scan the first 6 at least 'myths' are totally obvious.

I agree I'm undecided on the floor /bench thing, but as others have said, if you're resorting to this then 'you're doing it wrong'.
 
BeatdownRG said:
neither
isolation training is useless for everything except for looking good at the beach
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Eh...I think most people would argue that the bench press is one of the finer upper body compound movements, not an isolation exercise. But thanks for the misinformation.

And I love Martin Rooney, but he pimps some ridiculous exercises sometimes. Not that the floor press is "ridiculous"...but if you read the workouts he's laid out in Training For Warriors, he has you doing a floor press 4 out of your 8 total upper-body training days.

If you are not very proficient at benching, and you are progressing at benching, I see no reason not to bench. The full ROM will benefit you far more than the limited ROM of a floor press. A floor press can be useful, but I look at it more as an assistance or sticking point exercise to aid with bench pressing. And I'm guessing you aren't a very advanced lifter with an exceedingly proficient bench press...
 
GiJoe said:
Eh...I think most people would argue that the bench press is one of the finer upper body compound movements, not an isolation exercise. But thanks for the misinformation.
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I just had to reread that dude's post. I was like, "There's no way someone is referring to bench press as an isolation excercise" yet sure enough, he did. And I'm not even a huge fan of the bench press.
 
If you're specifically looking for strength in pushing a mounted opponent off of you, do decline bench press. Because in order to not get armbarred, you need to push off his hips.
 
I don't like floor presses, they make it difficult to retract the scapula. Generally the only people who should be doing much limited ROM pressing are heavily equipped lifters. For the rest of us, I think board presses, and pin presses should be more than enough when it comes to limited ROM horizontal pressing. Plus they don't interfere with scapular retraction like floor presses do, and the ROM can be changed.

SlaveToTheDark said:
well, the only plus side to floor press is pushing the weight up without the stretch reflex (just like you would if someone was on top of you)
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You could also pause the weight, or press off pins when doing regular bench (or any bench variation).






If you can't tell, floor presses are an exercise I don't like. I'd only do them if I was training without a bench for an extended period. Even then they'd only be an accessory lift.
 
Agreed with Tosa. You can do pin presses to remove stretch-reflex while still getting a greater range of motion than in floor presses. I don't hate floor presses, and I do them on occasion, but bench press seems the more sensible option.
 
don't get me wrong, i'm not a fan of the floor press either but they work for me...
 
SlaveToTheDark said:
don't get me wrong, i'm not a fan of the floor press either but they work for me...
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Yes, but from what I understand you are a fairly strong individual already...and my assumption (which could be wrong) is that the TS is nowhere near close to rivaling your strength levels. So full ROM benching would be my recommendation for the gentleman.
 
I think the Tower 200 would work better for MMA, especially if you are ready to get crazy.
 
redaxe said:
If you're specifically looking for strength in pushing a mounted opponent off of you, do decline bench press. Because in order to not get armbarred, you need to push off his hips.
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