Intermediate

Board Press

Stacking a board or foam block on the chest shortens the range so you press only through the top half, where the triceps take over from the chest. That lets you handle heavier weight than a full bench and directly builds lockout strength. Powerlifters use it to hammer sticking points, but any lifter can use it to overload the triceps portion of a press.

Equipment
Barbell, Bench
Body part
Triceps
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Horizontal Press
Muscles worked
Target
Triceps Brachii Long Head, Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Triceps Brachii Medial Head
Secondary
Pectoralis Major Sternocostal, Deltoid Anterior

How to do it

  1. 1

    Have a partner hold a board flat against your lower chest, or secure a foam block there.

  2. 2

    Lie on a flat bench and grip the bar at about shoulder width with elbows ready to tuck.

  3. 3

    Unrack the bar and hold it over your chest with wrists stacked over elbows.

  4. 4

    Lower the bar under control until it touches the board, keeping the elbows tucked.

  5. 5

    Press explosively off the board to full lockout, driving through the triceps.

  6. 6

    Lock out, then lower to the board again for the next rep.

Tips

  • Keep the elbows tucked at about 45 degrees to keep the triceps in the drive.
  • Pause briefly on the board rather than bouncing the bar off it.
  • Use a spotter and matched boards so every rep hits the same depth.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • The board slides up toward the throat between reps because whoever is holding it is watching the bar instead of the board. Have them reset it on the same spot on your lower chest each time.
  • Board height gets picked by what lets the most weight move rather than by where the bench actually stalls. If you miss two inches off the chest, a three-board tells you nothing.
  • Wrists bend back under a load heavier than your bench and the bar drifts toward the fingers. Stack the wrist over the elbow and squeeze the bar hard before it leaves the rack.
  • Board presses take over the whole bench day and full-range pressing quietly disappears, so the top gets stronger while the bottom, where most misses happen, gets weaker.
  • The bar comes down fast because the range is short, and a heavy bar meeting a board on your chest is not a soft landing. Lower at the same speed you would to the chest.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the board press should someone new to it do?
Three to five sets of three to five reps with a two-board, at roughly 105 to 110 percent of your best full-range bench, once a week in place of your heavy bench sets. Rest two to three minutes. Run it for three or four weeks, then go back to full-range benching and see what changed, because board work is a block rather than a fixture. On the first session, use your normal bench weight while you learn the pause and your partner learns the timing.
What can I use instead of boards for the board press?
A dense foam block or a tightly rolled towel taped to the chest does the same job with no partner, which is why many gyms use them. A pin press in the rack, with the pins set a few inches above the chest, trains the same top half from a dead stop. A floor press shortens the range in a similar way and needs nothing but a bar and the floor. If all you want is the lockout work, close-grip pressing gets you most of it.
Who is the board press for, and when is it the wrong exercise?
It overloads the top half of the bench where the triceps take over, so it suits a lifter whose bench stalls a few inches from lockout and who wants to handle a weight heavier than their max. Powerlifters use it to attack one sticking point at a time. It is a poor choice if your bench fails right off the chest, since that is the range you are cutting out, and it is not a beginner exercise: supramaximal weight over a shortened range needs a solid bench first and a spotter on every set.

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