Top 5 Barbell Chest Exercises at Home (No Bench)

In a barbell workout series, today I’ll share five exercises that you can do with barbells to build a muscular chest at home with no bench. So, if you work out with barbells or dumbbells only, then these exercises will be helpful for you.

Barbell exercises are excellent for chest growth, but working out without a bench will be challenging.

To perform barbell chest workouts without a bench, you’ll need help from your friend, who can lift the weight off the floor and assist you in performing chest presses effectively.

You can also do it with yourself by sitting on the floor and keeping the bar on your hips. However, it will be challenging, and you won’t lift heavier.

Except for floor press, you can do other exercises without any help.

So, try all workouts as they will be exciting and challenging, and at the same time, help you increase your strength, mass, and balance over time.

Okay! So here’s the list of chest workouts you can do with barbells.

1. Barbell Floor Press
2. Reverse Grip Barbell Floor Press
3. Standing Landmine Press
4. Barbell Rolling Chest Fly
5. Barbell Floor Squeeze Press

Let’s see how to do the above exercises with a step-by-step guide.

Related: 17 Dumbbell Chest Exercises You Can Do Without A Bench At Home

1. Barbell Floor Press

The floor press is a compound workout¹Single vs. Multi-Joint Resistance Exercises: Effects on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy – National Institute of Health that works simultaneously on your chest and triceps.

It is one of the basic but functional barbell exercises that will help you build a sturdy chest at home.

1. Set the appropriate weight into the bar and sit on the floor in front of it.
2. By rolling the bar, bring it just above your hips.
3. Lie on the floor on your back, thrust your hips up to grab the bar over your chest. Keep your legs straight or bend in front of you.
4. Hold the bar firmly, and press it up until your arms are straight and directly over your chest.
5. Squeezing your pecs, pause for a couple of seconds at the top, and then slowly lower the bar down to complete your first repetition.
6. Do three to four sets of 10 to 12 reps with 1-2 minutes rest between each set.

You can also do floor press with dumbbells. And that will be easy and allow a good range of motion than a barbell.

You can also do both to get the best results.

2. Reverse Grip Barbell Floor Press For Lower Chest

The reverse grip barbell floor press works on the lower chest and helps you build muscular pecs at home without a bench.

To perform the reverse grip barbell floor press, grab the bar with an underhand grip with your palms are facing in. And follow the same steps as mentioned for doing standard floor press.

You can also perform dumbbell exercises to strengthen your lower chest at home. You can do many exercises and develop your lower chest efficiently with dumbbells.

3. Standing Landmine Press for Chest

The landmine press is a standing barbell chest exercise.

It works on multiple muscles at once, such as front deltoids, triceps, and especially the chest, and helps you grow strength and mass.

If you want to develop an upper chest and build a muscular upper body without a bench, you can incorporate the landmine chest press in your barbell home workout routine.

How to do it:

1. Place the one end of the bar in the corner of the wall and put the desired weight into another.
2. Grab the second end of the bar firmly with your hands (with a neutral grip) and stand in the shoulder-width stance.
3. Take a step back and slightly lean forward but maintain a neutral spine position. That’s the starting point.
4. Now, press the upward until your arms are entirely straight.
5. Focus on your pecs and pause for two seconds at the top of the press.
6. Bring the bar back to the start by bending your elbows. There’s your one rep.
7. Aim for three to four sets of 10 to 12 reps.

4. Barbell Rolling Chest Fly

The rolling barbell chest fly is an advanced workout that requires good balance, strength, and grip to do it effectively.

It engages your pecs when you roll the bars toward each other.

You can try it out and see if you can do it or now.

You can also do it by sitting on your knees if you feel difficult to do it on your toes.

To do barbell rolling chest fly,

1. Grip the bar (instead of placing your palms on the floor) and get into the “up” position of a standard push-up.
2. Roll the barbells out to your sides until your arms are open, but elbows slightly bend.
3. Now, roll the bars toward each other until they are together underneath your chest.
4. Do as many times as you can.
5. Focus on your pecs when you bring the barbells to each other.

5. Barbell Floor Squeeze Press

The squeeze press is one of the isolation workouts that help you develop your chest specifically. You can do it with both a barbell and a dumbbell.

Here, I’ll share how to squeeze press with a barbell.

1. Place one side of the bar in the corner of the wall and put the desired weight into another.
2. Lie on the floor in front of the bar and lift it off the floor.
3. The first end of the bar will lie between your legs and hold the second just over your chest.
4. Squeezing your pecs, press the bar up until your arms are entirely straight.
5. Lower the weight to the starting position and repeat the desired number of times.

Barbell Home Workout Routine For Chest (No Bench)

The Takeaway

Barbell exercises are excellent for growing chest muscles; however, working out without a bench will be tough.

On the other hand, performing chest press on a bench allows a better range of motion, fully engages chest muscles, and grows mass more than floor press.

But, in the absence of a workout bench, the floor press can a great alternative to a bench press.

Other than that, landmine press, barbell rolling chest fly, and squeeze press will be beneficial, and doing them all will help you develop a sturdy chest slowly but surely.

You may also like related articles:

• Top 10 Barbell Shoulder Exercises

• Barbell Biceps Exercises For Ultimate Growth

• Top 6 Barbell Exercises For Triceps

• Barbell Leg Exercises For Quads, Hams, Glute & Calf

• Barbell Workouts For Mass Gain (An Ultimate List)

References

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  Single vs. Multi-Joint Resistance Exercises: Effects on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy – National Institute of Health