Horizontal pressing exercises for upper body strength are some of the most common and fun exercises there are. Think bench presses and dumbbell presses and pushups.
You might not categorize exercises in your head as horizontal pressing or horizontal pushing exercises, or even vertical push, etc., but knowing the fundamental movement patterns is a great way make sure you are working all planes of motion.
And besides, no one ever says, “hey, how much do you horizontal press?” Lol but people definitely ask, “how much ya bench?”
Horizontal Pressing Exercises as Fundamental Moves
When I say horizontal press, I mean a horizontal exercise in relation to your body. This is one of the most basic movement patterns the body does, so it is worth practicing. You can be on your back doing a horizontal press, as you press a barbell upward toward the ceiling. You can be doing a horizontal press while seated upright, pushing into a machine or bands. You can really be facing any direction, as long as the resistance allows you to push outward from your chest into the resistance.
You might hear some people split their training into a push-pull workout. The target muscle group during a push day is usually chest and/or shoulders. Horizontal pressing exercises will be a large part of that push day.
Horizontal presses are fundamental for building upper body strength, particularly in the chest, shoulders, and triceps. If you want any width on your shoulders or depth to your upper body, you’ve got to include these exercises. Your entire body will look strong and balanced when you do. This post covers how to incorporate this basic movement pattern into your workout, no matter what level you are at.
Eight of My Favorite Horizontal Pressing Exercises
1. Barbell Bench Press
- Muscles Targeted: Chest (pectoralis major), shoulders (anterior deltoids), triceps.
- Benefits: Allows for heavy loading, great for overall upper body strength, and foundational for powerlifting.
- Variation: Incline bench press and decline bench press to target different parts of the chest.
- muscle mass, shoulder blades
The bench press is a foundational upper-body strength exercise that primarily targets the chest, shoulders, and triceps. This compound movement is what you think of when you think of a regular bench press. It is performed by lying on a bench and pressing a barbell or dumbbells upward from chest level.
The movement involves lowering the weight to the chest and then pushing it back to the starting position. The prime movers during the bench press are the pectoralis major (chest muscles), anterior deltoids (front shoulders), and triceps brachii (back of the upper arms). Supporting muscles like the serratus anterior, rotator cuff, and lats also play a role in stabilizing the movement.
The bench press is a staple in strength training because of its versatility and effectiveness. It helps build muscle mass, increase upper-body strength, and improve overall pressing power, which is beneficial for sports performance and daily activities.
Additionally, incorporating the bench press into your workout routine can enhance posture and boost bone density in the upper body due to the load-bearing nature of the exercise. Whether you’re aiming to gain muscle, improve athletic performance, or maintain functional strength, the bench press is a valuable addition to nearly every training program.
For the bench press haters: remember, you don’t have to max all the time! In fact, please don’t max all the time! The bench press is one of the best exercises for upper body strength, which is hugely beneficial, not just for powerlifters, but especially people who need to build upper body strength, muscle mass and bone mass. Like all of these exercises, you can reap great benefits from it in sub max work.
2. Dumbbell Bench Press
- Muscles Targeted: Chest, shoulders, triceps.
- Benefits: Increased range of motion compared to the barbell bench press, improves muscle imbalances, and enhances shoulder stability.
- If you want to work more of your upper chest muscles, you can set up your bench at an incline, so this becomes an incline dumbbell bench press.
The dumbbell bench press is a versatile upper-body exercise that primarily targets the pectoralis major (chest muscles), anterior deltoid (front shoulders), and triceps brachii (back of the arms). Performed by lying on a bench and pressing dumbbells upward from chest level, it involves lowering the weights to the sides of the chest and pushing them back up.
Unlike the barbell bench press, the dumbbell variation allows for a greater range of motion, engaging stabilizing muscles more effectively and promoting balanced muscle development between both sides of the body. This exercise helps build chest strength, improves shoulder stability, and enhances overall pressing power, making it an excellent addition to strength training for improved functional strength and aesthetics.
Incline Horizontal Pressing
A note about incline work here. So far, we’ve covered the best horizontal push exercises and quickly mentioned incline work. If you picture an overhead press, that is strictly a vertical exercise where you press weight overhead. Of course, the flat bench press is a horizontal press. The incline dumbbell bench press or bench press will be some degree between those two.
We can really split work into the basic movements, but the truth is life doesn’t always work strictly on planes of movement. Therefore, you will benefit from working at inclines between totally horizontal and vertical presses. The best way to get full pectoral development and strength is to work these different angles.
3. Push-Up
- Muscles Targeted: Chest, shoulders, triceps, core.
- Benefits: Bodyweight exercise that can be done anywhere, scalable with variations like incline push-ups, decline push-ups, and weighted push-ups.
Push ups are a classic bodyweight exercise that, like other pushing movements, work the pecs, shoulders and triceps. I LOVE pushups! They also work abs, back, all of your core and stabilizing muscles. As a horizontal pressing movement, push-ups are one of the best exercises due to their accessibility—requiring no equipment—and scalability for all fitness levels.
They’re fantastic for your abs and core, too. The top of push up position is just a high plank position. Then, a pushup is a moving plank!
You can do them anywhere, anytime! They build functional strength by working natural movement patterns and train the body to work as a unit, improving stability and coordination. Push-ups also offer versatility, with variations to increase difficulty or target specific muscles, making them ideal for building strength, enhancing endurance, and supporting overall upper-body development.
If you get really good at pushups and want to get crazy, you can move from a stable surface to something that moves and challenges you more. You can add pauses, tempo work, or even plyometric pushups if you’re very powerful.
Here’s a whole tutorial on how to do pushups.
4. Close-Grip Bench Press
- Muscles Targeted: Triceps, chest, shoulders.
- Benefits: Emphasizes the triceps more than the traditional bench press, good for building arm strength.
Like the other horizontal pressing movements, the main muscles close grip bench presses work are chest, shoulders and triceps. However, since the close grip bench press allows for much more elbow flexion, it uses more triceps. Some people find this grip is kinder to their shoulder joint, and some people use as an elbow extension exercise to focus on triceps.
We’re halfway through! Is this more than you want to think about? If so, talk to a quality personal trainer about your workout program. Sometimes, even with lots of training experience, it’s just helpful to have someone plan your training. Message me if you’d like to talk about your exercise selection or training program.
5. Chest Press Machine
- Muscles Targeted: Chest, shoulders, triceps.
- Benefits: Provides stability and can be safer for beginners or those with shoulder issues, allows for controlled movement and isolation.
- This is one of the most intuitive horizontal pushes, because the lifter is usually seated, and pushing horizontally.
6. Floor Press
- Muscles Targeted: Chest, shoulders, triceps.
- Benefits: Reduced range of motion helps protect the shoulders, great for focusing on the lockout phase of the press.
7. Dumbbell Floor Press
- Muscles Targeted: Chest, shoulders, triceps.
- Benefits: Similar benefits to the floor press but allows for individual arm work, improving unilateral strength.
8. Resistance Band Press
- Muscles Targeted: Chest, shoulders, triceps.
- Benefits: Provides variable resistance throughout the range of motion, good for shoulder health and can be done anywhere.
More Tips for Horizontal Push Work
As you can see, the main types of horizontal push exercises are barbell, dumbbell, and machine presses. Include both a machine chest press and free weight press (dumbbell and barbell presses) in your training. Varying your chest presses will benefit you.
Including a mix of these exercises in your routine can help you build a strong, balanced upper body.
I suggest you start with pushups and dumbbell presses. If you can handle the barbell, that is a good starting point too. I’m generally not a smith machine fan, but they are super helpful for doing pushups from if you’d like that modification.
Final Notes About Horizontal Presses
There are very few true isolation exercises. Your horizontal pushing exercises will be compound exercises. Whether your grip is shoulder width, wide, close grip, whether your hands are neutral grip or overhand, will not work different muscle groups. With all these horizontal press exercises, you’re working pectoral muscles, shoulder muscles, and triceps. These are compound movements.
You’ll also want to do horizontal pulling exercises too, to have a balanced body.
Of course, you’ll want to work lower body too. You can expand the push-pull routines into your lower body as well with a push-pull-squat workout. There are many different exercises and workout splits. If you’d just like to follow a plan that works your whole body in balanced proportions, check out The Works, a full-body strength training program that includes resistance training, cardio, abs and stretching. This program can be done at a gym or at home and will take into account what available equipment you have.
Of course, message me or leave a comment with any questions. Happy horizontal pressing! 😊 💪
About the author
Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.
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