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Exercises

Barbell chest exercises: flat, incline, decline and no-bench options

Published October 19, 2026

The best barbell chest exercises are the flat bench press for overall size and strength, the incline bench press for the upper chest, and the decline bench press for the lower chest. The Spoto press, wide-grip and close-grip bench presses change where the bar is hardest, and the floor press and landmine press train your chest when there is no bench at all. Pick one flat press, one incline press and one variation for the weak spot you notice, and take most sets to 1 to 3 reps in reserve.

  1. Barbell Bench Press Chest
  2. Incline Barbell Bench Press Chest
  3. Decline Barbell Bench Press Chest
  4. Spoto Press Chest
  5. Barbell Wide-Grip Bench Press Chest
  6. Close-Grip Bench Press Triceps, Chest
  7. Floor Press Chest, Triceps
  8. Landmine Chest Press Chest

Flat barbell chest exercises

The flat bench press moves the most weight of any chest exercise, so it anchors almost every barbell chest day. The two variations here keep the same bench and bar but change the job: a wider grip shortens the press and puts more of it on your pecs, and the Spoto press stops the bar just above your chest so you cannot bounce out of the bottom.

Whole chest, flat press

Barbell Bench Press

Chest

It loads your entire chest, front delts and triceps with more weight than any other press, and small jumps on the bar are easy to track week to week. If you only do one barbell chest exercise, this is the one.

How to do it

  1. Lie on the bench with your eyes under the bar, feet planted, and squeeze your shoulder blades back and down into the pad.
  2. Grip the bar a little wider than shoulder width, unrack it, and hold it over your shoulders with locked elbows.
  3. Lower the bar to your lower chest, around nipple height, with your elbows angled roughly 45 to 70 degrees from your sides.
  4. Touch your chest without bouncing, then press the bar up and slightly back until it is over your shoulders again.

Cues

  • Shoulder blades stay pinned
  • Bar to the nipple line
  • Drive your feet into the floor

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides: let them sit a bit closer to your ribs so your shoulders stay comfortable.
  • Lifting your hips off the bench to finish a rep: keep your glutes down and count that rep as your last.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Smith Machine Bench Press, Machine Chest Press

Build a session with Barbell Bench Press

Chest-biased flat press

Barbell Wide-Grip Bench Press

Chest

Widening your grip by a hand on each side shortens the distance the bar travels and asks your pecs, not your triceps, to finish the press. It is a useful second flat press after regular bench work.

How to do it

  1. Set up as for the bench press, then take a grip one hand width wider on each side than your normal grip.
  2. Unrack and steady the bar above your shoulders.
  3. Lower it with control to the middle of your chest, letting your elbows travel out a little more than usual.
  4. Press back up to straight arms without letting your shoulder blades slide off the bench.

Cues

  • Wider hands, same tight back
  • Slow on the way down
  • Stop short of shoulder pain

Common mistakes

  • Going so wide that your shoulders ache at the bottom: bring the grip in until the bottom feels strong.
  • Dropping the bar fast to use the bounce: lower over about two seconds.

Swap for: Barbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Chest Fly, Pec Deck Fly

Build a session with Barbell Wide-Grip Bench Press

Flat press, paused above the chest

Spoto Press

Chest

Stopping the bar one or two inches above your chest and holding it there takes away the stretch reflex, so your pecs have to start the press from a dead stop. It builds control at the point where most people lose the bar's path.

How to do it

  1. Set up exactly as for your normal bench press, with your usual grip.
  2. Lower the bar as if you were going to touch your chest.
  3. Stop it about an inch or two above your shirt and hold it still for one second.
  4. Press it back up along the same path to locked elbows.

Cues

  • Hover, do not touch
  • Count one before you press
  • Keep your upper back tight through the pause

Common mistakes

  • Letting the bar drift toward your neck during the pause: hold it over the same spot you would normally touch.
  • Shortening the pause as you tire: a rep with no full stop does not count.

Swap for: Barbell Bench Press, Floor Press, Close-Grip Bench Press

Build a session with Spoto Press

Barbell exercises for the upper chest

Your upper chest fibers run from your collarbone, and they work hardest when your arms press up and slightly overhead instead of straight out. An incline bench does that directly. With a flat bench only, the reverse-grip bench press gets a similar effect by tucking your elbows and pressing toward your face, and the landmine press needs no bench at all.

Upper chest, incline press

Incline Barbell Bench Press

Chest

Pressing on an incline moves the work toward your upper chest and front delts. It is the main way to build the top of your chest with a barbell, and most lifters can use most of their flat bench weight.

How to do it

  1. Set the bench to about 30 to 45 degrees and lie back with your eyes under the bar.
  2. Pinch your shoulder blades back, plant your feet and unrack the bar with a grip a bit outside shoulder width.
  3. Lower the bar to your upper chest, just below your collarbones.
  4. Press it straight up until your arms lock, keeping your chest high.

Cues

  • Bar to the collarbones
  • Chest up to meet the bar
  • Lower angle if your shoulders take over

Common mistakes

  • Setting the bench too steep, which turns it into a shoulder press: 30 degrees is plenty for most people.
  • Bringing the bar down to your mid chest as on a flat bench: on an incline it belongs higher.

Swap for: Incline Dumbbell Press, Smith Machine Incline Press, Machine Incline Press

Build a session with Incline Barbell Bench Press

Upper chest, flat bench, underhand grip

Reverse-Grip Bench Press

Chest

Holding the bar palms toward your face pulls your elbows in and makes you press up and back toward your head, which brings in your upper chest without an incline bench. Use a spotter or safety pins, because the grip feels unfamiliar for the first few sessions.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on a flat bench and take an underhand grip a little wider than shoulder width, thumbs wrapped around the bar.
  2. Unrack the bar with straight arms and hold it over your shoulders.
  3. Bring it down to the bottom of your chest with your elbows tucked near your ribs.
  4. Press up and slightly back toward your face until your arms lock out.

Cues

  • Thumbs wrapped, always
  • Elbows brush your ribs
  • Start lighter than your normal bench

Common mistakes

  • Using a thumbless grip: the bar can roll out of an underhand grip, so wrap your thumbs.
  • Loading it like your regular bench in week one: the groove takes a few sessions to learn.

Swap for: Incline Barbell Bench Press, Reverse-Grip Incline Dumbbell Press, Landmine Chest Press

Build a session with Reverse-Grip Bench Press

Upper chest, no bench

Landmine Chest Press

Chest

With one end of the bar anchored in a landmine or a corner, you press the other end up and forward on an arc, which matches the line of your upper chest. It needs no bench and is easy on the shoulders.

How to do it

  1. Wedge one end of the bar into a landmine or a padded corner and load the other end.
  2. Stand in a staggered stance and hold the loaded end in one hand at your chest.
  3. Press it up and forward until your arm is straight, reaching your shoulder blade forward at the top.
  4. Lower it back to your chest under control. Finish the set, then switch hands.

Cues

  • Press up and out
  • Ribs stay down
  • Reach at the top

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to press: stay tall or slightly forward so your chest, not your lower back, does the pushing.
  • Letting the bar crash into your chest: lower it slowly to the same start every rep.

Swap for: Incline Barbell Bench Press, Single-Arm Incline Dumbbell Press, Landmine Press

Build a session with Landmine Chest Press

Lower chest and lockout strength

The decline press drives the bar down toward your hips, which suits the lower, larger part of your pecs and usually lets you handle your heaviest weight. The floor press and close-grip bench press cut or narrow the bottom of the lift, so your triceps and the top half of your chest do more of the work. They are the picks for a press that stalls near lockout.

Lower chest, decline press

Decline Barbell Bench Press

Chest

The decline angle aims the press at the lower part of your pecs and shortens the bar path, so most people press more weight here than on a flat bench. It is the barbell answer to a lower chest that lags.

How to do it

  1. Hook your legs under the pads of a decline bench and lie back with the bar over your eyes.
  2. Grip it a bit outside shoulder width and unrack it with locked arms.
  3. Bring the bar down to the base of your chest, just under the nipple line.
  4. Press it back up over your shoulders and lock out.

Cues

  • Bar to the bottom of your chest
  • Legs locked under the pads
  • Have a spotter hand you the bar

Common mistakes

  • Unracking alone on a decline: the bar sits behind you at an awkward angle, so get a hand-off.
  • Lowering to your upper chest: on a decline the bar path ends lower.

Swap for: Decline Dumbbell Press, Machine Decline Press, Chest Dip

Build a session with Decline Barbell Bench Press

Chest and triceps, no bench

Floor Press

Chest, Triceps

Lying on the floor stops your elbows at the ground, which removes the bottom of the press and puts the work on your triceps and the top half of your chest. It is the barbell chest exercise you can do with no bench at all.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar in a rack at about the height of your outstretched arms when you lie on the floor, or have a partner hand it to you.
  2. Lie under it with your knees bent or legs straight, grip a bit outside shoulder width, and lift it out.
  3. Lower the bar until the backs of your upper arms rest on the floor.
  4. Pause for a moment with your arms on the floor, then press back to lockout.

Cues

  • Arms land softly, then press
  • Elbows at about 45 degrees
  • Shoulder blades pinched into the floor

Common mistakes

  • Slamming your elbows into the floor: lower until they touch, not until they bounce.
  • Rolling the bar off and onto your body to get in and out: use a rack or a partner.

Swap for: Dumbbell Floor Press, Spoto Press, Close-Grip Bench Press

Build a session with Floor Press

Inner chest and triceps, narrow press

Close-Grip Bench Press

Triceps, Chest

A shoulder-width grip makes your triceps work harder while your chest still moves a lot of weight. It is the variation to add when your bench stalls in the top half.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on a flat bench and grip the bar with your hands about shoulder width apart.
  2. Unrack and hold the bar above your shoulders.
  3. Bring it down to the base of your chest, elbows tucked in by your ribs.
  4. Drive it back up to straight arms.

Cues

  • Hands shoulder width, not touching
  • Elbows brush your ribs
  • Same bar path as your bench

Common mistakes

  • Gripping so narrow that your wrists bend back: hands under your shoulders is close enough.
  • Letting the elbows flare as the set gets hard: keep them tucked or end the set.

Swap for: JM Press, Dumbbell Floor Press, Close-Grip Push-Up

Build a session with Close-Grip Bench Press

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Full rack with flat, incline and decline benches

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets20 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench, Incline Bench, Decline Bench

You train in a gym or a full garage setup and can use every bench angle with a barbell.

With every angle available, each session opens with one heavy flat or incline press and follows with a different angle or grip, so each part of your chest gets a press it handles best. The main press stops at 2 reps in reserve because heavy barbell sets close to failure need a spotter; the second and third exercises go to 1. That gives 10 to 11 hard chest sets per session and about 21 per week.

Chest A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets firstTouch, no bounce. 4 × 5–8 2 3 min
Incline Barbell Bench PressBench at 30 degrees. 3 × 8–12 1 2:30 min
Close-Grip Bench PressHands shoulder width. 3 × 8–12 1 2 min

Open Chest A in the session builder

Chest B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Incline Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets firstBar to the collarbones. 4 × 6–10 2 3 min
Decline Barbell Bench PressGet a hand-off. 3 × 8–12 1 2:30 min
Barbell Wide-Grip Bench Press2 s down. 3 × 10–15 1 2 min

Open Chest B in the session builder

How to run it
Do Chest A and Chest B once each per week with at least two days between them. Use safety pins or a spotter on every press.
How to progress
When every set of an exercise reaches the top of its rep range at the target reps in reserve, add 2.5 to 5 pounds next time. If a lift stalls for three sessions, drop the weight by 10 percent and build back up.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

A flat bench and a power rack, no incline

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets20 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench

You have a flat bench in a power rack at home and no way to set an incline.

Without an incline bench, the reverse-grip press stands in for the upper chest, and the Spoto press adds a different stimulus without new equipment. Bench press sets stop at 2 reps in reserve because you may be training alone with only safety pins; the variations stop at 1 to 2. Each session has 10 working sets.

Flat A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets firstPins set just below your chest. 4 × 6–10 2 3 min
Reverse-Grip Bench PressThumbs wrapped. 3 × 8–12 2 2:30 min
Floor PressInside the rack, pins low. 3 × 8–12 1 2 min

Open Flat A in the session builder

Flat B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Spoto Press2 warm-up sets first1 s hover above the chest. 4 × 6–10 2 3 min
Barbell Wide-Grip Bench Press 3 × 10–15 1 2 min
Close-Grip Bench Press 3 × 8–12 1 2 min

Open Flat B in the session builder

How to run it
Do the two sessions once each per week. Set the safety pins about an inch below your chest when lying on the bench.
How to progress
Add a rep per set until you reach the top of the range, then add 5 pounds and start again at the bottom. Keep the Spoto pause a full second even as the weight goes up.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

A barbell and plates, no bench

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets14 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Landmine

You have a bar, plates and a corner or landmine, but no bench.

Only two barbell chest exercises work without a bench, so this plan uses both and moves the volume around rep ranges instead of exercises. The floor press goes heavy with a short range, and the landmine press, done one arm at a time, fills in the upper chest. Floor press sets stop at 1 to 2 reps in reserve and landmine sets at 1, for 9 to 10 sets per session.

Day 1
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Floor Press2 warm-up sets firstPause with arms on the floor. 4 × 6–10 2 2:30 min
Landmine Chest PressPer arm, staggered stance. 3 × 10–15 1 90 s

Open Day 1 in the session builder

Day 2
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Landmine Chest Press1 warm-up set firstPer arm. 4 × 8–12 1 90 s
Floor PressSlightly narrower grip. 3 × 10–15 1 2 min

Open Day 2 in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate Day 1 and Day 2, twice each per week if you can recover, or once each if chest is part of a full-body plan.
How to progress
Add weight to the floor press when all sets hit the top of the range. On the landmine press add reps up to 15 per arm, then a small plate.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is the number one barbell chest exercise?

The flat barbell bench press. It lets you move the most weight through a long range for your whole chest, front delts and triceps, and it is easy to load in small steps. Add an incline press if you want the upper chest to keep up.

Is it OK to work out chest every day?

Not with hard barbell sets. Your chest needs about two days to recover from a session taken close to failure. Two sessions a week with 10 to 20 hard sets in total gives you plenty of growth and room to recover.

What barbell chest exercises can I do without a bench?

The floor press and the landmine press. The floor press uses the floor to stop your elbows, and the landmine press is done standing with one end of the bar anchored in a corner. The no-bench plan above uses both.

Is the incline or flat bench better for chest?

Do both if you can. The flat press builds the most overall strength and the incline press does more for your upper chest. If you only have time for one, alternate them from session to session.

How many sets of barbell chest exercises should I do?

Ten to twenty hard sets a week, split over two sessions, works for most lifters. A hard set here means one that ends 0 to 3 reps short of failure.

Is the close-grip bench press a chest exercise?

It trains both. Your triceps work harder than on a regular bench press, but your chest still moves a lot of weight. Treat it as a chest press with a triceps bias, not as a replacement for the regular bench.

How do I know if a barbell set was hard enough?

Ask yourself how many more clean reps you could have done. If the answer is 1 to 3, the set counts. If it was 5 or more, add weight or reps next time.