Pressing with your head lower than your hips shifts the work toward the lower part of your chest. Many find it easier on the shoulders.
Hook your legs under the leg pads and lie back with your eyes under the bar. Grip the bar a little wider than your shoulders and lift it off the hooks. Lower it to the bottom of your chest, then press it back up. Rack the bar before you unhook your legs.
Keep your wrists straight and stacked over your elbows. Have a spotter for heavy sets.
The large, fan-shaped muscle across the front of your chest. It pushes your arms forward and pulls them across your body, powering push-ups, presses and hugs.
The front of your shoulder cap. It lifts your arm forward and overhead, so it works in push-ups, presses and every time you lift something onto a high shelf.
The horseshoe-shaped muscle on the back of your upper arm. It straightens your elbow, so it works in every push and press and whenever you push yourself up out of a chair.
A long steel bar, usually 7 ft and 45 lb, that you load with weight plates; often called an Olympic bar.
A head-down bench with leg hooks and built-in uprights that hold a barbell, for decline pressing; often called an Olympic decline bench.
Strength: Builds muscle and strength with controlled, resisted movement.
Intermediate: Free-weight lifts, single-leg balance under load, or near-bodyweight strength moves. Form matters.
Bilateral: Each rep engages both sides of the body simultaneously.
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