Larsen Press: The Bench Press Variation That Builds Pure Pressing Strength

The Larsen press is a bench press performed with your legs extended and feet hovering above the floor.

By stripping away leg drive, it forces your chest, shoulders, and triceps to do all the work, making it one of the most effective ways to build pure upper body pressing strength.

This guide covers proper form, the science behind muscle activation, common mistakes, how it stacks up against other bench variations, and exactly how to program it.

What Is the Larsen Press (and How Is It Different)?

The Larsen press is a bench press performed with your legs extended straight out, feet hovering above the floor.

That one change eliminates leg drive entirely and shifts the full pressing demand to your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

It sounds simple. The impact is not.

Without your feet anchored to the ground, you lose the stable base that lets you push heavier loads. Most lifters see roughly an 8% reduction in load.

A 300-pound bencher will typically Larsen press around 275. That gap comes exclusively from the loss of leg drive, not from any upper body weakness.

One important distinction: the Larsen press is not the same as the feet-up bench press. In the feet-up variation, your feet rest on top of the bench.

In the Larsen press, your legs extend out and hover with nothing supporting them. This creates significantly more instability and demands continuous core engagement to stay balanced.

If you have never tried it, start with the feet-up bench press for 2-3 weeks before progressing to the full Larsen press. The stability gap between the two is significant, and your body needs time to adapt.

How to Do the Larsen Press With Proper Form

Getting this right comes down to one principle: set up exactly like your regular bench press, then remove your feet after the bar is in position.

Setup and Unrack

Lie on a flat bench with your eyes directly under the barbell. Lift your body off the bench, pull your shoulder blades down and tight, and arch your upper back.

Lower yourself back onto the bench. You should feel upper back tightness with your chest pushed upward.

Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width with a full overhand grip. Thumbs wrapped around the bar, always. Never use a thumbless grip on this movement.

With your feet still firmly on the floor, unrack the bar and lock it out over your chest. Your feet stay planted until the bar is stable. Taking your feet off before unracking is the single most common setup mistake.

The Press

Once the bar is stable, lift your feet off the floor and extend your legs straight out. Squeeze your quads and brace your core. Your legs should hover a few inches above the ground.

Lower the bar in a controlled J-curve path toward your mid-chest (sternum area). Take a full 2 seconds on the descent. Keep your elbows at roughly 45 to 75 degrees from your torso.

Pause for 1-2 seconds at the bottom. The pause eliminates any bounce and forces pure muscular effort off the chest.

Press the bar back to lockout. The bar will drift slightly toward your face on the way up, following the natural J-curve. Drive through your chest and triceps.

Safety Notes

Always use a power rack with safeties set just below chest height, or have a spotter. The instability of the Larsen press makes a failed rep more dangerous than a standard bench failure.

Most gym benches are narrower than competition-width benches (11.5 to 12.5 inches). Narrower benches increase the chance of sliding off during later sets.

If your gym’s benches feel unstable, stick with the feet-up variation until you can access a wider bench.

Before your working sets, warm up your upper back and shoulders. Two rounds of cat-camel stretches (10 reps) and kneeling elbow circles (6-12 reps) will prepare your thoracic spine and shoulder joints for the instability demand.

Larsen Press Muscles Worked

The Larsen press hits the same muscles as a standard bench press, but harder. Research published found that bench pressing with feet off the ground increases pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and triceps activation compared to pressing with feet planted.

Why does activation increase when you press less weight?

Two reasons.:

First, without leg drive contributing force into the bar, your pressing muscles must generate 100% of the effort.

On a standard bench, your legs help transfer force through your hips and into the bar. Remove that, and the chest, shoulders, and triceps pick up every pound.

Second, the Larsen press flattens your back against the bench. If you normally bench with a high arch, you shorten the bar’s travel distance.

A flatter back means the bar travels further, loading your pecs through a greater range of motion. More range means more time under tension at the bottom (weakest) position.

Primary Muscles

• Pectoralis major: The main driver. Greater ROM and zero leg assistance produce a deep stretch at the bottom and full contraction at lockout.
• Anterior deltoid: Works harder to stabilize and press without force transfer from your lower body.
• Triceps: Handle the lockout phase. With no leg drive to assist the initial push, the triceps fire earlier and sustain effort longer.

Secondary Muscles

• Core and obliques: Your core works continuously throughout every rep to keep you from rolling or sliding off the bench. Your obliques fire dynamically to counter the shifting load. If you want to strengthen your core outside of pressing, pairing the Larsen press with lower ab exercises builds a solid foundation for stability under the bar.

Best for: Intermediate to advanced lifters who want to build upper body pressing strength, increase pec activation, or diagnose technique issues in their bench press.

Skip if: You are a beginner who has not yet built a solid bench press foundation, or you do not have access to a power rack or spotter.

Common Larsen Press Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Most Larsen press problems come from treating it like a regular bench press. These five fixes will clean up your form immediately.

1. Taking Feet Off the Floor Before Unracking

The bar is heaviest when you first lift it out of the rack. Removing your stable base before unracking is asking for trouble. Always set up with feet planted, unrack, stabilize, then lift your feet.

2. Letting Shoulders Protract

Rounding your shoulders forward destabilizes the entire movement and puts your shoulder joints in a compromised position. Actively retract your shoulder blades before unracking and maintain that retraction through every single rep.

If scapula control is a weak point for you, winged scapula exercises can help build the stability you need.

3. Bouncing the Bar Off Your Chest

Without leg drive, the temptation to use momentum increases. Bouncing reduces muscle activation and raises injury risk. Slow down the descent (2 full seconds) and pause briefly at the chest.

4. Going Too Heavy Too Soon

Start at roughly 92% of your regular bench press weight, not your full bench numbers. The 8% reduction is a starting point. Some lifters need a 10-15% drop initially while they build stability.

5. Letting Wrists Extend Backward

When wrists bend backward under the bar, you lose force transfer and increase wrist stress. Keep your wrists straight and grip the bar tight. The bar should sit over the heel of your palm, not back toward your fingers.

Bonus tip: If the instability feels overwhelming, try the Larsen press on a Smith machine first. You will still lose leg drive and gain core engagement while the fixed bar path removes the lateral stability challenge. Graduate to a free barbell once you feel confident.

Most mistakes come from treating the Larsen press like a regular bench press. It demands deliberate control from the first rep to the last.

Larsen Press vs Bench Press vs Floor Press vs Spoto Press

Choosing the right bench variation depends on what you are trying to improve. Here is how they compare:

Feature	Larsen Press	Standard Bench	Spoto Press	Floor Press	Feet-Up Bench
Leg drive	None	Full	Full	Partial/None	None
ROM	Full (increased)	Full	Partial (stops 3-6” above chest)	Partial (elbows stop at floor)	Full
Core demand	High	Low-moderate	Low-moderate	Low	Moderate
Best for	Upper body isolation, pec activation	Max strength, competition	Off-the-chest strength	Lockout and tricep strength	Beginner leg-drive removal
Load vs standard	~92%	100%	~90-95%	~85-95%	~92-95%
Injury risk	Moderate (falling risk)	Low	Low	Very low	Low
Lower back stress	Very low	Moderate-high	Moderate-high	Very low	Low

The floor press and Larsen press are often confused because both reduce lower body involvement.

The key difference: floor press cuts the bottom range of the movement (your elbows hit the floor before the bar reaches your chest), making it a lockout and tricep exercise.

The Larsen press keeps full range of motion but removes leg drive. They solve different problems.

The Spoto press keeps your feet planted and pauses the bar 3-6 inches above your chest, building strength at the sticking point where most lifters fail. It is more stable than the Larsen press and does not require the same core demand.

If you are new to bench variations, start with the feet-up bench press. Once you can handle that comfortably at moderate loads, move to the Larsen press.

Save the Spoto press and floor press for when you have identified a specific weakness (off-the-chest or lockout) that needs targeted work.

How to Program the Larsen Press (Sets, Reps, and Real Examples)

Two clean ways to slot the Larsen press into your training: as a primary lift or as an accessory after your main bench work.

As a Primary Lift

Replace your bench press with the Larsen press for 3-6 week blocks. Work up to 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps with 3+ minutes of rest between sets.

This works best during hypertrophy or general strength phases, not during competition prep.

As an Accessory

Perform the Larsen press after your main bench work. Use 2-3 sets of 6-12 reps with 2-3 minutes of rest. This is the more common approach.

Competitive lifters often run it exactly this way: 2 sets of 8 after their heavy top sets, focusing on controlled reps with strict upper back position.

Load Selection

Start at roughly 92% of your standard bench press weight. If you bench 300, begin with 275 for the Larsen press. Adjust down further if your form breaks during the first few sessions.

Sample Routines

Hypertrophy block: Larsen press 4×6-8, incline dumbbell press 3×8-12, cable crossovers 2×12-15, push-ups 1x max.

Strength block: Larsen press 6×3, wide-grip bench press 3×5, weighted dips 3×8.

Powerbuilding block: Larsen press 5×5, incline barbell press 3×6, dumbbell bench press 3×8.

When NOT to Use the Larsen Press

Skip it during competition prep when specificity matters most. Skip it if you bench under 225 pounds and weigh over 200.

At lighter loads, the instability challenge is minimal, and you will get more out of close-grip bench or paused bench work. Also skip it if you train alone without a power rack. The fall risk is real.

Best for: Off-season strength blocks, hypertrophy phases, and lifters working on upper body pressing power.

Skip if: You are peaking for a meet, training alone without safeties, or not yet strong enough for the instability to matter.

Larsen Press Variations to Try

Once you are comfortable with the standard barbell Larsen press, these four variations add variety and address different training goals.

Dumbbell Larsen Press

Each arm works independently, exposing and correcting left-right imbalances. The added instability of individual dumbbells makes this a serious stability challenge. Use lighter loads than you think you need.

Close-Grip Larsen Press

Shift your grip to shoulder width or slightly narrower. This moves emphasis to the triceps while keeping all the core and stability benefits of the Larsen press. Excellent for lifters whose lockout is the weak link.

Paused Larsen Press

Add a deliberate 2-3 second pause at the bottom of every rep. This eliminates any residual stretch reflex and forces your pressing muscles to generate force from a dead stop. One of the hardest bench variations you can do.

Legs-Crossed Larsen Press

Cross your ankles instead of extending your legs straight. This adds a small amount of stability compared to the full Larsen press while still eliminating leg drive. A good middle ground between the feet-up bench and the standard Larsen press.

Progression Path

If you are new to feet-off-the-ground pressing, follow this progression:

1. Feet-up bench press (feet resting on the bench)
2. Legs-crossed Larsen press
3. Legs-extended Larsen press (standard)
4. Paused Larsen press
5. Close-grip Larsen press

Start with the dumbbell or legs-crossed variation if the full barbell Larsen press feels too unstable. Build confidence at each stage before moving to the next.

FAQs

What muscles does the Larsen press work?

The Larsen press primarily targets the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and triceps. EMG research shows higher activation in all three muscles compared to standard bench pressing with feet planted. Your core and obliques also work throughout each rep to maintain stability.

How much less weight should I use for the Larsen press?

Most lifters press about 8% less than their standard bench. If you bench 300 pounds, start around 275 for the Larsen press. Some lifters need a 10-15% drop initially while they build stability. Adjust down further if your form breaks during the first few sessions.

Is the Larsen press the same as the feet-up bench press?

No. In the feet-up bench press, your feet rest on top of the bench, providing some stability. In the Larsen press, your legs extend straight out with feet hovering and nothing supporting them.

The Larsen press creates significantly more instability and demands greater core engagement. The feet-up bench is a good stepping stone before progressing to the full Larsen press.

Is the Larsen press safe?

With the right precautions, yes. Always use a power rack with safeties set just below chest height, or have a spotter. Use a competition-width bench (11.5-12.5 inches) when possible.

Set up with feet on the floor before unracking. The main risk is sliding off the bench during heavy or fatigued reps. Proper equipment and smart load selection largely prevent this.

Who should NOT do the Larsen press?

Beginners who have not built a solid bench press foundation should skip it. The instability is not challenging enough at light loads to provide meaningful benefit.

Lifters who train alone without a power rack should avoid it due to fall risk. Anyone in competition prep should prioritize the standard bench for specificity. If you have active shoulder injuries, consult a physical therapist first.

Bottom Line

The Larsen press is one of the most effective bench press variations for building upper body pressing strength and increasing pec activation.

It strips away leg drive, demands constant core engagement, and forces your chest, shoulders, and triceps to do all the work.

It is not without trade-offs. Jen Thompson, an 11-time IPF world powerlifting champion, has said she does not practice it because she believes the instability creates unnecessary risk.

Dave Tate calls it a valuable training and diagnostic tool. Both perspectives have merit, and your decision should depend on your experience level and goals.

Beginner (bench under 185 lbs): Skip the Larsen press for now. Focus on building a strong, stable bench press with proper leg drive.

Intermediate (bench 185-315 lbs): Add the Larsen press as an accessory, 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps after your main bench work. Use it for 4-6 week blocks.

Advanced (bench 315+ lbs): Use the Larsen press as a primary movement during hypertrophy blocks. Program it at 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps and track how it carries over to your competition bench.