Barbell Guillotine Bench Press
Also works: Shoulders · Triceps
A bench press variant where the bar is lowered to the neck with the elbows flared wide, rather than to the sternum with the elbows tucked. It stretches the upper pec fibres harder than a flat press, and it puts the shoulder and the bar in the two least forgiving positions in the gym.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Set the safety pins or arms so they catch the bar just above throat height. Do this even with a spotter.
- Have a spotter for every working set. This is the one bench variation where that is not optional.
- Grip just wider than shoulder width — the width that gives you a 90-degree elbow at the bottom.
- Lie so your eyes sit under the bar and unrack it to a position above your neck, not above your sternum.
- Keep only a modest arch. Arching hard pushes the chest up and defeats the reason for lowering to the neck.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — One breath per rep, taken and held at the top. Four seconds down, one second paused above the throat, then press and exhale at lockout.
Before you load it
- Use safety pins set just above throat height, and a spotter for every working set. A failed rep in this position lands on the neck rather than the chest.
- There is no bail-out on this lift. You cannot tip a bar off your throat the way you can roll one down your ribs on a flat bench, so the safety pins are the entire plan B — set them before you unrack, every set.
- Any pinching or clicking at the front of the shoulder is a stop signal, not something to warm up through.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start with the empty 20 kg bar and a spotter, and never take this above roughly 60% of your flat bench press. Good looks like a four-second descent to a point 3-5 cm above the throat, a one-second pause, and a smooth press with no shift in the bar path. Add reps up to 15 before you add a single plate.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Cap it at 50-60% of your flat bench and work in the 10-15 range. Treat it as a stretch-biased accessory whose job is tension, not load.
Set the safeties just above throat height before you unrack, and get a spotter for anything above a warm-up. A missed rep here lands on your windpipe.
Stop 3-5 cm short and pause there for a second. The last few centimetres add nothing to the stretch and add all of the risk.
Rack it and switch to a 30-degree incline barbell or dumbbell press. The clavicular pec gets the same work and the humerus never reaches the position that pinches.
Why bother
Touching high on the chest with the elbows near 90 degrees of abduction lengthens the clavicular head of the pec more than a tucked bench press does. Bodybuilders who use it are after that stretch, and the shortened range above the neck keeps constant tension on the chest instead of handing the top of the rep to the triceps.
The price is real and worth stating plainly. Flared elbows with the bar low put the humerus into abduction plus external rotation, the position that provokes anterior shoulder pain and impingement in most people who get it. And the bar finishes over your throat, not your ribs, so a failed rep has nowhere safe to land.
Where it fits
As an optional light chest movement for a healthy-shouldered lifter who already benches well, 2-3 sets of 10-15 at maybe 50-60% of your flat bench, second or third in the session. If you have ever had shoulder pain, do a 30-degree incline press instead — it biases the same fibres without the position or the throat.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
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When this gets easy
Asked and answered
Is the guillotine press actually dangerous?
It carries two risks a normal bench press does not. The bar finishes over your throat, so a failed rep without pins or a spotter can crush the windpipe. And the flared-elbow, low-bar position is the classic shoulder impingement posture. Neither makes it forbidden — with pins, a spotter and light weight it is a legitimate accessory — but the risk-to-benefit ratio is worse than nearly every alternative.
Does it really hit the upper chest better than an incline press?
It stretches the clavicular fibres harder, but a 30-degree incline press changes the resistance angle, which is the more reliable way to bias upper chest. If you want the stretch, an incline dumbbell flye gets you there with the shoulder in a safer position. Use the guillotine only if you have tried the alternatives and genuinely prefer how this one feels.
How wide should my grip be?
Wide enough that your forearms are vertical and the elbow sits at about 90 degrees at the bottom — usually a thumb's width or two outside your normal bench grip. Going very wide shortens the range but pushes the shoulder further into abduction, which is the part you want to limit, not maximise.
Should I touch my neck with the bar?
No. Stop 3-5 cm short and pause there. You have already reached full pec stretch by that point; the remaining travel only buys you the chance to drop a loaded bar on your throat. Anyone telling you the touch is required is repeating gym folklore.