Aren't You Board of Your Bench Press Workouts?
Josh Hezza- Apr 28
- 24 min read
Aren't You Board of Your Bench Press Workouts?
The Full Guide to Board Pressing - From Multiply to Raw, and Everything In Between
Origins, effectiveness, mistakes, variations, and why the board press still deserves a place in your training.
Why Board Presses Deserve a Comeback
Once a staple of every serious bench program, board pressing has quietly faded from mainstream popularity - and it’s a shame. If you understand it properly, a simple plank of wood could be the missing link between your current bench press and the one you actually want.
Before Instagram, before endless "how to tuck your elbows" threads, before every raw lifter was wearing £350 worth of kit to hit a 130kg bench, the board press reigned supreme. It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t complicated. It was brutally effective.
Board presses were originally designed to solve a real problem: Helping equipped lifters - especially those in multiply bench shirts - break into new shirts, handle supra-maximal weights safely, and build lockout strength where it mattered. Back when a new shirt could take weeks (and dozens of bleeding forearms) to break in, the board press let you control the range, hammer the groove, and get strong exactly where you needed it.
It wasn't just accessory work. It was survival.
Why It Still Matters - Even If You Lift Raw
Today, the board press often gets laughed off by parts of the raw powerlifting world - a world increasingly obsessed with chasing full-ROM paused bench numbers for Instagram clout. You’ll hear arguments like:
"It's not specific to the competition lift."
"You're just shortening the range because you're weak."
"LOL who even uses boards anymore?"
Here’s the reality:
✅ Most lifters miss midrange or lockout first - not because they're lazy, but because they don't actually train the overload portion of their press correctly.
✅ Board presses allow for supra-maximal handling, building the nervous system’s confidence with weights heavier than your raw max - which, over time, raises your real max.
✅ They can pinpoint technical breakdowns - showing you exactly where your press is leaking tension or losing speed.
✅ They're versatile across injury, progression, and weak point development, if programmed intelligently.
But they don't sell flashy SBD gear. They don't look good on TikTok. And they don’t fit the nice, marketable "one clean competition rep" image that modern raw lifting culture has leaned into.
If you care about benching bigger numbers, for longer, without running your joints into the ground, board pressing isn’t obsolete - it’s essential. You just need to understand how to use it right.
The Origins of the Board Press
To understand why the board press even exists, you have to roll the clock back to the rougher, grittier days of early equipped and especially multiply lifting - when the strongest benchers on the planet were battling both gravity and the barely-controllable stitched monsters known as bench shirts.
In those early days, a new shirt wasn’t something you just pulled on and hit PRs with. Breaking in a shirt meant weeks of struggle:
Fighting a groove that wanted to dump the bar into your face.
Dealing with shirts so stiff that simply touching your chest with anything lighter than a max attempt was impossible.
Learning how to control monstrous overloads with muscles and joints that weren’t yet ready for the strain.
Enter the board press.
By placing wooden boards on the chest, lifters could limit the range of motion to work specifically on the trickiest parts of the bench - the midpoint and lockout - without risking injury or wrecking themselves before a meet.
Instead of "forcing" a touch at all costs and wrecking pecs, shoulders, and elbows, board work let lifters:
Load the bar heavy.
Lower it with control to a specific height.
Train the groove and strengthen the prime movers (pecs, triceps, delts) without unnecessary stress.
It was pure, simple, and brutally effective.
Westside Barbell and the Rise of Board Work
While board pressing wasn’t invented solely at Westside Barbell, it was Louie Simmons and his crew who truly refined it into an indispensable weapon for serious benchers.
Louie documented how board presses, along with other partial range movements, became essential for lifters dealing with the ever-changing dynamics of heavy gear. In fact, Louie credited earlier influences like Culver City Westside (Bill “Peanuts” West’s team in California) for pioneering the general concept of partial pressing - lockout work, pin pressing, and overloads - long before multiply gear reached its peak.
(As Louie put it in his article The Board Idea: "Board pressing helps overcome sticking points and teaches lifters how to strain. Without this training, many would never press elite weights.")
At Westside, board pressing wasn’t just an accessory. It was part of the system:
Used with max effort work to build absolute strength.
Used dynamically to improve speed in partial ranges.
Rotated intelligently with floor presses, pin presses, and full-ROM work to cover every piece of the bench press spectrum.
When board presses entered the Westside system, they went from being a niche rehab/overload tool to a critical cornerstone of elite bench development.
Practicality: Why the Board Press Took Off
Beyond its effectiveness, part of what made the board press so appealing was how practical it was.
Cheap: Anyone could screw a few bits of wood together for less than £10. No need for a monolift, a heavy-duty rack, or expensive specialty equipment.
Portable: You could bring boards to any gym, tape them to yourself, or have a partner hold them. You didn’t need a specialist setup to get world-class results.
Versatile: Whether you were a geared bencher battling shirt grooves or a raw lifter just trying to smash a sticky lockout, the board press could be adjusted - height, pause, speed, bar weight - to fit exactly what you needed.
It was simple strength training innovation: Solve the problem first. Worry about looking cool later.
Why Board Presses Were So Effective for Multiply and Equipped Benching
If you’ve never lifted in a multiply bench shirt, it’s hard to fully appreciate the chaos it can unleash.
A good bench shirt can add 100–150kg to your press - but it’s not free strength. It’s barely-contained violence. Getting the shirt to work with you, instead of against you, is an art form - and that's where board pressing came in.
Controlling the Descent and Hitting the Groove
Early multiply lifters discovered quickly that just unracking a bar in a new shirt didn’t guarantee anything. The descent had to be controlled perfectly to “find the groove” - that tiny, brutally specific bar path where the shirt supported the weight without dumping it sideways, backwards, or straight into your chest.
Boards gave lifters a target. Instead of fighting to touch a bar to the chest and risking catastrophic failure, they could lower to a controlled height, practice the descent, and hone the shirt groove - without full-range chaos.
Training to boards allowed lifters to build bar path consistency under real competition weights, without having to "force" dangerous reps.
Breaking In New Shirts Without Breaking Yourself
New shirts - especially early-generation denim, polyester, and canvas - were notoriously unforgiving. You couldn’t just throw on a fresh shirt and hit depth.
Board pressing became the bridge.
Start with 3–4 board height: limit range of motion, stay safe.
Gradually lower over time (3-board → 2-board → 1-board → full ROM) as the shirt broke in and the lifter adapted.
Stay heavy throughout - no need to regress to baby weights while adjusting to brutal gear.
This progression kept lifters pressing world-class loads while bringing the shirt under control - without unnecessary pec, shoulder, or elbow injuries.
Without boards, you either risked severe injury or spent months unable to handle competition-level loads. With boards, you could train heavy every week - smartly.
Safe Partial Work Under Monster Loads
There’s a reason Louie Simmons compared board presses to box squats for the bench.
Like a box squat:
You have a defined stopping point.
You can pause and stay tight.
You can explode from a dead stop without relying on stretch reflex.
Instead of bouncing off your chest (or the shirt) with uncontrolled momentum, you paused the weight on the board, built static strength, then drove through with aggressive force.
Board pressing made it possible to:
Safely handle weights above your competition max.
Build tendon and ligament strength gradually.
Develop psychological confidence under supra-maximal loading.
It wasn’t "cheating the lift." It was building real, strain-tested strength exactly where it was needed.
Building Lockout-Specific Strength
Multiply gear changes where most lifters miss.
Instead of struggling just off the chest (as many raw lifters do), geared lifters typically blast off the chest with the shirt’s rebound - only to grind to a halt at midrange or lockout.
Board presses laser-targeted this weakness.
3–4 board work: Build tricep and upper back strength for final lockout drive.
2–3 board work: Train midrange stability and transition strength from shirt carryover to raw effort.
By rotating board heights, lifters could shore up every possible sticking point between the chest and lockout - while preserving shoulders and pecs for meet day.
Safer, Smarter, and Highly Adjustable
Like box squats, the board press allowed for fine-tuning.
Pause longer for more static strength.
Shorten or widen grip slightly to change stress.
Wave loads and board heights to keep progress moving.
And if needed? You could instantly adapt the board height to how the body felt that day. Coming off a tweak? Use a 3–4 board to limit stress. Feeling fresh? Drop to a 1–2 board and push the pace.
It was an intelligent, modular system - built by necessity, battle-tested under thousands of kilos.
Why Board Presses Fell Out of Favour for Raw Lifters
As raw powerlifting exploded in popularity during the 2010s, a major shift happened - and the once-essential board press quietly got pushed aside.
It wasn’t because board pressing stopped working. It was because the demands of raw lifting changed, the culture shifted, and a lot of lifters simply misunderstood how (and why) to use boards properly.
Raw Lifting: Different Sticking Points, Different Solutions
In multiply and shirted lifting, the common sticking point was clear:
Blast off the chest with the shirt’s rebound → get crushed halfway up if you weren’t strong enough at lockout.
In raw lifting? It’s a different story.
Without the shirt assisting the bottom end of the press, most raw lifters miss right off the chest or at the initial drive phase. Not at lockout.
This changed the game:
Building a massive lockout with board presses doesn’t fix a weak chest or a slow start.
Grinding endless 3–4 board presses does nothing for a lifter who can’t move a bar 5cm off their sternum.
For raw athletes, floor presses, Spoto presses, and dead stop work (like the dead bench) became better choices because they train starting strength - the most common weakness without gear.
Board pressing wasn’t wrong - it was just misapplied for raw needs.
The Misuse and Misunderstanding of Board Work
At the same time, the way many lifters used boards changed - and not for the better.
What started as a technical, strategic overload tool turned into a circus act in a lot of gyms:
Loading way past max to "feel big" and bounce the bar off a 4-board like a trampoline.
Sinking the bar into the boards as deep as possible to get fake stretch reflex.
Letting tightness collapse instead of using the board to build static strength.
It became ego lifting - not strength building.
The board press wasn't the problem. The lifters were.
When boards are used incorrectly, all you build is:
Sloppy technique.
Inflated numbers that mean nothing on the platform.
Bad habits that eventually backfire under true max efforts.
Naturally, a generation of newer coaches and lifters looked at the mess, shrugged, and said, "Board presses are pointless."
They were wrong - but it wasn’t entirely their fault.
The Rise of Spoto Presses, Dead Benches, and Off-Chest Variations
Around the same time, smarter raw lifters started favouring:
Spoto presses (pausing just off the chest to kill momentum and build tightness).
Dead benches (pressing from a dead stop at various heights).
Paused close-grip and comp-grip work to build starting strength.
These movements better targeted the bottom-end drive needed for big raw benches. They were stricter, more specific, and directly transferable to competition pressing.
Compared to some guy bouncing 250kg off a foam pad on a four-board, the Spoto press looked downright heroic.
In reality, both board presses and off-chest work have value - when programmed for the right lifter, at the right time. But the pendulum swung hard toward “pure off-chest” variations, and boards started gathering dust.
Changing Gym Culture: The Decline of Multiply and Old-School Methods
There’s another factor no one really talks about:
As multiply lifting shrank and raw lifting became the dominant form of competitive powerlifting, the gym cultures that built and maintained board pressing expertise started disappearing.
When every gym was full of shirted monsters smashing board work to build 300kg+ benches, new lifters learned by osmosis. They saw how boards were used properly. They understood the nuance - which board heights, why you paused, how to rotate them.
When that environment faded, so did the passing down of knowledge.
Now, in many commercial gyms or raw-centric facilities, board pressing looks foreign. At best, misunderstood. At worst, butchered beyond recognition.
And without multiply crews keeping the knowledge alive, board work quietly got buried under the avalanche of modern "raw only" programming.
The Truth: It Was Never the Board’s Fault
The decline of the board press isn't because the movement stopped being effective. It’s because the lifting environment changed, the dominant problems changed, and - frankly - many people forgot (or never learned) how to use the board press like a surgeon, not a sledgehammer.
Board pressing still has a place. It’s still one of the best partial range overload tools ever invented. It just requires understanding, not blind copying.
And that’s exactly what we’re going to rebuild next.
How to Board Press Correctly (and How People Screw It Up)
If you take nothing else from this article, take this:
A board press is only as good as your discipline.
Done properly, it's one of the most precise strength-building tools you can use. Done wrong, it becomes a circus trick that destroys your technique and feeds your ego instead of your total.
Let’s break it down.
The Right Way to Board Press
✅ Maintain Full Body Tightness
From feet to traps, you stay locked in exactly like a full bench press. Leg drive, glutes tight, lats engaged. The only difference is that the bar stops on a board instead of your chest.
If you loosen up just because the board “catches” you, you defeat the entire point.
✅ Controlled Descent - No Bouncing or Sinking
The bar should lower with the same speed and control you’d use for a paused comp bench. The board is a target, not a trampoline. Touch it - softly and with control - and pause briefly before pressing. No sinking the bar deep into the board. No bouncing to generate fake momentum.
✅ Press With Intent - No ‘Catch and Heave’ Mechanics
When you press off the board, the move should be snappy, tight, and aggressive. You should be pressing as if you’re trying to break the board in half (without losing tightness).
You’re training to build strength from a mechanical disadvantage - no relaxing, no soft rep-out pressing, no flailing into lockout.
It’s a paused, controlled, tight launch - not a wobbly push.
The Wrong Way to Board Press
🚫 Sinking and Heaving Into the Board to Get Extra Stretch Reflex
Some lifters - especially raw lifters who grew up bouncing every bench rep - instinctively drop the bar into the board and let it sink in, trying to generate a fake “pop” off the board.
This defeats the entire point. You’re supposed to remove the stretch reflex and train pure pressing strength from a static position.
Sinking and bouncing ruins that - and puts extra strain on your shoulders and wrists.
🚫 Bouncing and Destabilising the Shoulders
When you bounce off the board, you destabilise your shoulders, lose your lats, and collapse your tightness. You turn a precision strength movement into a loose, wobbly mess.
Once that happens, the carryover to your full ROM bench plummets - and you’re just wasting your time (or setting yourself up for injury).
🚫 Ego Loading Way Past Your True Working Weights
Another classic mistake: Loading 30–50kg more than your true working weight and bouncing it off a four-board just to say you "pressed 250."
If you can't hold the bar tight, control it down, pause properly, and drive cleanly - you didn’t lift it.
Board presses should be overloads, yes - but technical overloads. If your form would get you red-lighted in a comp, it shouldn’t count on boards either.
🚫 Consistently Using a High Board Height to Fake Strength
Some lifters get addicted to training high-board variations (2-, 3-, or even 4-board presses) because they can move massive weights. It feels good for the ego, but it comes at a cost:
You neglect full range of motion.
You let the chest and shoulders weaken relative to the triceps.
Your bottom-end starting strength atrophies.
This is a major reason why some "big board pressers" collapse two inches off the chest when attempting a real full ROM max.
Board work must supplement full ROM benching - not replace it.
Specific Warning: Strongman Competitors
There’s a historical trend in strongman training - especially in the mid-2010s - where many athletes overloaded triceps endlessly with 2- and 3-board work, while completely neglecting full pec range of motion.
Result?
Huge partial-range lockout strength.
Fragile pecs.
Disproportionate injuries when switching back to full ROM work for maxes or contests.
Strongman competitors need chest hypertrophy and full range control just as much as triceps drive - especially for events like log press, axle press, and heavy incline pressing.
Board pressing is useful, but if it’s all you do, you're setting yourself up for breakdowns later.
Use boards wisely. Balance them with full-range, pec-dominant work. And remember: strongman isn’t just about partial strength - it’s about all-terrain pressing ability.
The Gear: Wood Boards vs Foam Blocks vs BenchBlokz
Not all boards are created equal.
Depending on the material and setup you use, your board pressing experience - and its carryover - can change dramatically. Here’s how to pick the right tool for the right job.
Classical Wood Boards
This is the OG - and still the gold standard.
✅ Rigid, Traditional, Stable Proper wooden boards don’t give or squish under load. They provide a hard, consistent stopping point for the barbell - just like a competition touch on the chest should feel.
✅ True Overload with No Forgiveness There’s no free stretch, no cushioning, no margin for error. When you lower the bar onto a wood board, it demands precision:
Control on descent.
Tightness at the pause.
Aggression on the press.
This makes wood boards ideal for:
Max effort overload work.
Technical sharpening sessions.
Peaking phases where carryover to full range must be maximised.
If you want to simulate "hard touch" competition pressure while partial pressing heavier loads, rigid wood is unmatched.
Foam Boards
Foam boards have become more common in recent years - especially in commercial gyms and rehab settings.
✅ Slight Give, Easier on Joints The small amount of compression in the foam absorbs a little bit of the impact, which can:
Spare inflamed shoulders or elbows.
Make high-volume pressing work more comfortable.
Allow gradual overload without beating up connective tissues.
🚫 Difficult Not to Sink That slight give is a double-edged sword.
Without discipline, it’s very easy to sink into the foam, lose tightness, and effectively turn what should be a paused board press into a bouncing, heaving mess.
Foam boards are best used during:
Deloads or rehab phases.
High-rep accumulation phases.
Technique work where absolute rigidity isn't required.
They’re a useful tool - but they’re not a replacement for rigid boards when you need serious strain and discipline.
BenchBlokz and Similar Devices
BenchBlokz (and knockoffs) have exploded in popularity because they're incredibly convenient.
✅ Convenient, Adjustable
No partner needed.
No duct taping boards to your chest.
Snap the BenchBlokz onto the barbell, choose your height setting, and go.
✅ Practical for Solo Training If you're training alone or don’t have a reliable partner to hold boards for you, a BenchBlokz can keep board work practical and efficient.
🚫 Slightly Changes Bar Path and Feel Because BenchBlokz sit on the bar rather than on your chest, the bar path can feel slightly different:
The block moves with the bar instead of staying fixed.
It subtly alters touch dynamics - especially at heavier loads.
It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s worth being aware of. If you’re peaking for max carryover to a comp, rigid wood is still better.
Practical Tips: How to Work With What You’ve Got
Sometimes you don’t have boards, foam blocks, or BenchBlokz available. Here’s what you can (and should) do:
Large Foam Blocks on the Bar: Attaching a heavy foam block to the barbell itself (like the EliteFTS Shoulder Saver) can simulate a soft 2-board. Not perfect for max effort work, but great for general overload and rehab.
Under the Shirt/Strapped Boards: If training solo, you can tuck a board under your shirt or strap it to yourself with a light resistance band. Old-school, low-tech, effective.
🚫 What You Absolutely Should Not Do:
Wrapping a wrist wrap around the barbell and calling it a “1-board.”
I cannot stress this enough: If I see you wrapping a wrist wrap around the bar and claiming it’s a board press, I will be physically sick. It’s not a board. It’s barely a speed bump. It defeats the entire purpose of controlled pausing and static strength development.
Do it properly or don’t do it at all.
Board Thickness Guide (Real Measurements)
If you want to get the most out of board pressing, you need to understand exactly how thick each board height is - and why it matters.
There’s a real difference between touching a proper 1-board versus a lazy "foam pad" setup, and even small changes in board height can completely alter the training effect.
Here’s what you need to know:
Board Height | Approximate Thickness | Primary Focus |
1-Board | ~1.5 inches | Off-chest drive, early midrange strength |
2-Board | ~3 inches | Midrange strength, early lockout transition |
3-Board | ~4.5 inches | Pure lockout work, overload pressing |
4-Board | ~6 inches | Maximal tricep overload, heavy overload partials |
Understanding the Differences
1-Board (~1.5 inches): Barely off the chest. Ideal for raw lifters who want to build strength in that early sticking zone just above the chest without fully bottoming out.
2-Board (~3 inches): Cuts out most of the chest strain but still demands strong pec/tricep transition. Great for multiply lifters refining shirt work, or raw lifters focusing on midrange control.
3-Board (~4.5 inches): Heavy tricep emphasis. Best used for lockout reinforcement, heavy overload cycles, or rehab phases where chest strain must be limited.
4-Board (~6 inches): Near pure lockout pressing. Typically used only for extreme overloads (110–130%+ of 1RM) or early shirt break-in phases.
The bigger the board, the less chest involvement - and the more you hammer triceps, delts, and the upper back.
Bonus Tip: Why Measuring Boards Matters
In the real world, not every gym or lifter uses perfectly standardised boards.
Some places will double-stack thin wood planks.
Others use thick foam substitutes.
Some 2-boards feel like a 1.5-board. Some 3-boards feel like a 2.8.
The point is: Measure the actual thickness - especially if you're training at different gyms, travelling, or prepping for a meet.
A 1-inch difference might not sound like much on paper, but under 200–300kg of load, it can mean the difference between a solid press and an absolute train wreck.
If you can, physically measure:
Total board thickness.
Height from chest to bar.
How it feels relative to your full ROM bench groove.
This keeps your board work precise, progressive, and reliable - exactly how it should be.
Board Presses vs Pin Presses vs Spoto Presses: Key Differences
Board presses are fantastic. But they aren’t the only partial-range bench press variation worth using - and they aren’t always the best choice, depending on your needs.
To build a bigger, more resilient bench, you need to understand how board presses compare to pin presses and Spoto presses - and when each tool makes the most sense.
Here’s the breakdown:
Board Press
✅ Controlled Pause Onto an Object
In a board press, the bar physically touches and rests on a surface - the board - during the pause.
This provides a clear, repeatable stopping point.
You stay tight, pause under load, and press aggressively from a semi-static position.
✅ Best for:
Overload training (handling weights above full ROM maxes).
Practicing lockout mechanics under controlled conditions.
Breaking into new shirts (for equipped lifters).
Pinpointing midrange/lockout weaknesses with real bar contact.
✅ Bonus: You get physical feedback when the bar touches the board, which helps lifters maintain consistency and control - especially under heavy loading.
Pin Press
✅ Dead Stop from Motionless Pins
In a pin press, the bar rests motionless on the safety pins of a power rack at the start of the lift.
You start from a dead stop - no eccentric, no preload, no stretch reflex.
You generate force entirely from a static position.
✅ Best for:
Building pure concentric strength.
Eliminating any momentum from the eccentric phase.
Training maximal aggression and starting drive at specific points in the range of motion.
✅ Bonus: Pin presses are brutally honest. You either generate enough force to move the bar or you don’t - there’s no hiding behind stretch reflex, bounce, or sinking.
🚫 Downside: Slightly higher risk of shoulder irritation if setup is poor (because the bar can "jar" against the pins), and can feel less natural than board work for some lifters.
Spoto Press
✅ Pause Just Above Chest Without Contact
In a Spoto press, you lower the bar almost to your chest - but you pause it 1–2 inches above without touching anything.
You maintain total body tightness and bar control in the most vulnerable part of the lift.
Then you drive the bar back up without sinking or collapsing.
✅ Best for:
Raw benchers who miss just off the chest.
Building eccentric control and pause strength.
Teaching tightness, tension, and patience at the bottom of the bench press.
✅ Bonus: Spoto presses closely mimic the demands of a competition pause bench - without needing to actually bottom out and risk unnecessary fatigue during every training session.
🚫 Downside: Requires exceptional discipline. It’s easy to "creep" the bar closer to the chest or shorten the pause without realising it, especially when tired.
Quick Comparison Table
Variation | Pause Location | Primary Benefit | Best For |
Board Press | On a board | Overload, lockout strength | Midrange/lockout weaknesses |
Pin Press | On motionless pins | Pure concentric strength | Breaking through specific sticking points |
Spoto Press | In the air, just off chest | Tightness, control, off-chest drive | Raw lifters needing strong pauses |
The Bottom Line
All three are excellent tools - but they suit different weaknesses and training goals.
If you need lockout strength and confidence under heavy weights, board presses should be your go-to.
If you need to build pure static drive with no momentum, pin presses will expose your weaknesses fast.
If you’re a raw lifter struggling with tightness off the chest, Spoto presses will fix you.
Use the right tool for the right job - and rotate variations over time to stay balanced.
A lifter who can dominate all three can dominate any bench press challenge.
Strategic Uses: Finding and Attacking Weaknesses
A board press isn't just a variation you "throw in" when you're bored. When used properly, it’s one of the most targeted diagnostic and development tools in your entire pressing arsenal.
Here’s how you can use board presses strategically to find your sticking points, fix them, and keep building your bench press even when things go sideways.
Finding Your Sticking Point
One of the simplest - and most brutally honest - uses for board pressing is sticking point identification.
If you miss a lift onto the board (or just as you're trying to drive off it), it’s a crystal-clear signal: That’s where your strength breaks down.
Example:
Miss at 2-board height → Your midrange needs work (triceps, lats, shoulder tightness).
Miss at 3-board height → Your pure lockout strength is lacking (triceps, upper back).
Miss before reaching the board → Your starting strength (off the chest) is the real issue - and you may need Spoto or dead bench work alongside boards.
Tactical Tip:
Don’t just touch-and-go off the board.
Pause on the board for a deliberate count (1–2 seconds) to eliminate momentum, truly test your strength at that range, and teach yourself to strain.
You can build board presses into:
Max Effort (ME) Work: Heavy 1–3 rep board press variations to test true range-specific strength.
Dynamic Effort (DE) Work: Speed board presses to improve bar velocity through sticking zones.
Repetition Effort (RE) Work: Moderate rep board presses (5–8 reps) to build volume and endurance at weak points.
Overload and Confidence Building
Another major strategic use of board pressing: psychological and physical overload training.
Because the board shortens your range of motion, you can safely handle 110–120%+ of your raw full-ROM max - sometimes even more.
For example:
A lifter with a 150kg full bench might be able to triple 165kg to a 3-board.
Another with a 180kg max might be able to press 200kg off a 4-board.
This serves two huge purposes:
Physiological: Trains your joints, tendons, and nervous system to handle heavier loads without being crushed.
Psychological: Builds confidence under big weights, reducing panic or hesitation when it’s time to attempt new full-ROM PRs.
And it’s not just 3- or 4-board work:
Some raw lifters can still handle overload weights from a 1- or 2-board - especially if they have strong starting strength but lack top-end finish.
It’s not cheating. It’s training your body and mind to believe you belong under bigger numbers.
Rehab and Return to Heavy Work
Board pressing isn't just for strength building - it’s a lifeline during rehab phases too.
Personal Example: After suffering a sternal pec tear, I used a combination of:
A bow bar (to reduce shoulder stress and chest depth),
Along with carefully chosen board heights to keep pressing heavy without re-injuring my chest.
Early on: 3- and 4-board work - limited range, no full chest compression.
As healing progressed: 2-board, then 1-board, then eventually full ROM.
Without boards, I would have lost months of progress. Instead, I maintained pressing strength, rebuilt tissue resilience, and returned to full pressing faster and smarter.
Board presses are also fantastic for:
Managing shoulder pain - Limiting range to avoid impingement zones while staying strong.
Controlling pec strain - Reducing the extreme stretch at the bottom for inflamed or injured chest tissues.
Building back into full ROM without ego lifting or risking a fresh injury.
When programmed intelligently, boards aren’t a limitation - they’re a bridge back to full strength.
Bonus: Pro Tips and Common Mistakes
Board pressing might seem simple - but doing it well takes precision, patience, and a good plan.
Here are the most important pro-level tips to make your board work deliver maximum carryover - and the common mistakes that can turn it into an ego exercise.
Always Hold Tension at the Board
One of the biggest mistakes lifters make is relaxing when the bar hits the board.
Correct board pressing means you stay tight the entire time:
Lats locked.
Elbows tucked to your natural groove.
Core and glutes engaged.
When you touch the board, it should feel like a pause in high-tension suspension, not a collapse.
Soft Touch Board Presses: A Tactical Upgrade (or alternative)
If you want to level up your board work even further, practice soft touch board presses:
Lower the bar slowly and stop just at the board without bouncing or even letting it compress.
Pause for a 1–2 count while maintaining maximum tightness.
Drive up aggressively without losing tension.
This forces you to truly control the descent, stay engaged at the sticking point, and eliminate any dependence on passive contact or momentum.
Soft touch board presses are brutal - and brutally effective. They sharpen every part of your bench press mechanics under heavy load.
Use Proper Spotters
Board pressing with heavy weights demands reliable spotters.
You need someone to help with the handoff if you're working near max loads.
You need someone to keep the board steady (if you're not using BenchBlokz or a strapped setup).
You absolutely need someone ready to catch a failed rep if things go sideways - because failing onto a board isn’t always predictable.
A sloppy spotter can turn board work from a technical movement into a risky mess. Train heavy - but train smart.
Program Board Work Intelligently
Another common trap: Turning every board session into a 3-board AMRAP ego circus.
Board work needs structure and progression to matter.
Rotate board heights based on your sticking points and training cycle.
Wave your intensities like you would with full ROM lifts (heavy → moderate → heavy, etc.).
Don’t live on 3- and 4-boards just because you can move monster weights there - it's false progress if you neglect the full press.
Remember: Board pressing is a tool, not a replacement for complete pressing.
If you’re only ever hammering partial ranges with massive loads, your full ROM bench will stagnate or collapse over time.
Simple Mini-Templates and Programming Examples
3-Week Overload Cycle Using Board Work: (Example if you're peaking or building confidence with heavy weights.)
Week 1:
2-board press - work up to a heavy 5-rep max.
Week 2:
1-board press - work up to a heavy triple (around 95–97% of your full ROM 1RM).
Week 3:
3-board press - overload with 110–115% of your full ROM 1RM for heavy singles.
(Restoration/volume work like face pulls, tricep extensions, and pec flyes after each session.)
Sample Accessory Day Using Foam Boards After Heavy Pressing:
Heavy full-ROM bench or overhead press first.
Then:
3 sets x 6–8 reps foam board press (~70–75% of full ROM max)
Focus on slow descents, tight pauses, and powerful concentric drive.
Add band pushdowns, DB presses, and rotator cuff work after.
This lets you get volume pressing in without beating up joints - and reinforces tightness under fatigue.
Key Principle: Board pressing works best when it's part of a structured plan - not when it’s tacked on randomly to make you "feel stronger."
Use it as a strategic weapon - not a comfort lift - and it will actually move the needle on your bench press.
Board Pressing - A Tool, Not a Crutch
Board pressing isn’t dead. It’s just misunderstood.
When used properly, board work remains one of the most effective, precise tools a lifter can use to:
Smash through stubborn sticking points.
Build true overload strength.
Protect their body while pushing heavy progress.
Extend their lifting career far beyond what full-range-only training often allows.
It’s not about bouncing weights off boards. It’s not about ego lifting partials just to post bigger numbers online.
It’s about understanding the demands of your bench press - and attacking them with the right methods at the right time.
Board pressing still has a place in the modern strength game, whether you’re:
A raw lifter needing midrange reinforcement,
An equipped bencher breaking in a new shirt,
A strongman athlete rebuilding pec strength and lockout ability,
Or anyone chasing serious pressing longevity.
Done intelligently, board pressing can build bigger numbers, better resilience, and greater confidence under the bar - for years, not just a few lucky cycles.
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Your bench isn't finished. It's just waiting for the right tools. Let's get to work.
Bonus: 3-Week Equipped (or Overload) Board Press Progression
For those serious about building elite-level lockout strength - whether you're a full-time equipped bencher, a strongman competitor needing overload work, or a raw lifter wanting to break through stubborn plateaus - here's a proven 3-week board press progression you can plug directly into your training.
This method was originally developed to peak equipped benchers, but it works beautifully for anyone looking to:
Sharpen midrange and lockout performance.
Handle supra-maximal loads safely.
Build technical discipline under heavy strain.
3-Week Board Press Overload Cycle
Week 1: 3-Board Press - Heavy Triples
Loading: 90–92% of equipped 1RM (or ~110–115% of raw full-ROM 1RM)
Focus:
Control the descent smoothly onto the 3-board.
Pause firmly without sinking or bouncing.
Drive through the board aggressively while maintaining bar path discipline.
Goal: Build confidence under heavy loads while limiting range of motion stress.
Week 2: 2-Board Press - Heavy Doubles
Loading: 93–95% of equipped 1RM (or ~115–120% of raw full-ROM 1RM)
Focus:
Tighter pause - no collapsing onto the board.
Faster, snappier transition from pause to press.
Continue reinforcing shirt groove (for equipped) or mechanical efficiency (for raw).
Goal: Strengthen the press-off point where shirt tension starts to fade (or where raw lifters typically slow down).
Week 3: 1-Board Press - Heavy Singles
Loading: 97–100% of equipped 1RM (or ~120–125% of raw full-ROM 1RM)
Focus:
Exact meet groove control.
Smooth, deliberate descent to the 1-board.
Maximal force production from a dead pause with no soft touch or bouncing.
Goal: Simulate near-maximal meet-day demands. Solidify confidence under full meet pressure.
Execution Notes
Every rep must be paused - treat the board like a pause command in competition.
Use full meet-style handoffs and commands ("Start," "Press," "Rack") if possible.
Spotter discipline is critical: Ready to catch failed lifts immediately without interfering with good reps.
Do not chase sloppy PRs. If form deteriorates, drop 5–10kg and clean it up.
When to Use This Progression
Final 3–4 weeks leading into an equipped bench meet or mock meet.
Overload cycle after a strength plateau to force neural adaptation.
Recovery phase after injury to rebuild heavy pressing tolerance with controlled ROM.
Key Reminder: Board pressing - especially in an overload cycle - must always complement full range work, not replace it entirely.
Use it to sharpen your lockout, build psychological resilience under big weights, and walk into meet day or max testing with total confidence.
Now you’ve got the full system - it’s time to load the bar, pick the right board, and get to work.
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