The Floor Press is my preferred horizontal pressing exercise for wrestlers.
In fact, unless a wrestlers asks me to design a program with the Bench Press as part of it, I always use the Floor Press.
Why?
The top reason- I think this is the best pressing movement for wrestlers. This is primarily due to the limited range of motion at the shoulder.
Typically I don’t like exercises with a decreased range of motion. However, based on a few research studies (read the post here- Tricep Strength For Shoulder Health) I’m hugely in favor of wrestlers using pressing exercises like this.
Ultimately, my goal as a performance coach for wrestler is to keep them as healthy as possible while improving their functional strength and power.
Wrestling itself is tough enough, right?
I personally had a lot of shoulder issues when I wrestled and they were always made worse by pressing.
As a result, at one point I stopped pressing all together.
It wasn’t the smartest thing for my overall upper body strength, but it did help my shoulders feel a lot better.
Fortunately, I have since learned about floor pressing.
All in all I favor the Floor Press (dumbbell and barbell) because it’s great at building upper body pressing strength without putting any extra stress on your shoulders.
Here’s a video of me demonstrating a Dumbbell Floor Press.
I prefer to straighten my legs because it takes them out of the equation.
Remember why I think, and all the wrestlers I train think, this is a great exercise- minimal stress on the shoulders.
By adding in leg drive you will be able to lift more weight. The extra weight will put extra stress on your shoulders.
This is the same reason why I like to pause at the bottom rather than use the “touch and go” method.
Even though it’s executed the same as the dumbbell version, here’s a video of the Barbell Floor Press.
Hi, I’m Dickie (the author of this blog). Here I am with my good buddy, Kyle Dake. While he doesn't have a nice coat like me, he is pretty good at wrestling. Here's what he said about my training system:
Before I began lifting using Dickie's system my wrestling skills were getting slightly better. I've now been lifting under his guidance for more than 5 months and I have begun to dominating ALL of my competition. At first I had little faith in Dickie and his program, but now I would run into a wall if he told me I would get stronger! I know it sounds insane, but I would. The bottom line is Dickie is an expert and knows what he is talking about. If you want to defeat those kids whom you've always lost to and reach a level you never thought possible, I suggest you start lifting using Dickie's system immediately.
-Kyle Dake, 4X NCAA Division 1 National Champion