Board Press
Also works: Chest · Forearms · Lats · Shoulders
A bench press stopped short by a stack of 2x6 boards on your chest, turning the lift into the top half, the top third, or whatever slice of the range you choose. It is the most precise tool available for training a bench that fails at a specific height, and it is worth nothing if you cannot name that height.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Screw two to five lengths of 2x6 together and have a partner hold them on your sternum, or strap them down — never balance them loose.
- Set up as for a competition bench: feet tucked back, blades pinned, traps driven into the pad.
- Pick the board height that sits about 2 cm below where your bench actually stalls, not the one that lets you load the most.
- Take a shoulder-width grip if you are chasing triceps, or your normal competition grip if you are chasing the lockout.
- Pull the bar out with straight arms and let the swing settle before the first rep.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Big breath at the top, held through the descent and the dead stop, exhaled at lockout. Two seconds down, one second still on the wood, explosive up.
Before you load it
- Use a spotter who can also hold the boards. Loose boards tucked under a shirt slide out from under a heavy bar.
- Set the rack safeties below board height — an overload single that fails has nowhere else to go.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
A one-board press typically runs about 105% of your paused bench, a two-board around 110%, a three-board 115-120%. Start at your paused max for a triple and build from there. Add weight only when the bar leaves the boards with no hesitation; a grinding board press is training your patience, not your lockout.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Have your partner call a one-second count before you press. If you cannot start it from dead still, strip 10 kg — the bounce is doing the work you came to train.
Film your failed competition bench and measure where it stalls. Use the board height just below that point, and rotate heights across a training block.
Keep the arch and the upper-back tightness identical to your competition setup. If the boards feel like they move, they are being held too loosely.
Train paused benches, wide-grip touch-and-go and dumbbell pressing instead. Boards only overload the range above the boards; they cannot make the bottom stronger.
Why bother
Bench presses fail at a repeatable point. Boards let you park the bar just below that point and load it heavier than you could from the chest, so the triceps and the lockout get overloaded without the bottom position acting as the ceiling. Each board is roughly 4 cm of range: a one-board press is a slightly shortened bench, a three-board is mostly triceps.
The stopping surface also removes the stretch reflex completely — a board press is a dead stop against a solid object, not a bounce. That teaches you to restart a stalled bar, which is the exact skill a paused competition press demands. What it does not train is the bottom position, so a lifter who fails off the chest will get nothing from this.
Where it fits
As the top-set movement on a max-effort upper day, or immediately after your competition bench as a heavy overload. Rotate board height every two or three weeks so you are not only training one slice. Two- and three-board work pairs badly with heavy skull crushers in the same session; pick one triceps hammer per day.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
When this gets easy
Asked and answered
How many boards should I use?
Whatever height sits just under your sticking point. One board suits a lifter who stalls a hand's width off the chest; three suits a pure lockout weakness. If you have never filmed a failed rep, start with two boards and work from there rather than guessing high.
What can I use if I don't have boards?
Pin presses in a rack give you the same range restriction with more precise height control and no partner needed, though they start from a dead pin rather than a touch. A rolled towel or a foam block strapped to the chest works in a pinch, but neither is as rigid as wood.
Will board pressing raise my full bench?
It will if your bench fails above the boards. If you fail on the chest, it will not, and the inflated numbers will mislead you about where you actually are. Test with a paused competition rep every three or four weeks to keep yourself honest.
Should the grip be narrower than my bench grip?
Take it in to about shoulder width if the goal is triceps and lockout strength — that is where board work pays the most. Keep your competition grip if the goal is rehearsing the exact top half of your contest bench at supramaximal load.