Genghis Fitness · Chest Workouts
Larsen Press: The Bench Press Variation Serious Lifters Use to Fix Their Weak Point
Updated 2025 · By Team Genghis Fitness
The Larsen press takes everything difficult about a standard bench press and makes it harder on purpose. Feet off the floor, no leg drive, no arch assistance, nothing except your chest, shoulders, and triceps working against the bar. It sounds brutal because it is. It also reveals exactly where your bench press is weak and builds the kind of strict pressing strength that transfers directly to bigger competition lifts.
This guide covers the mechanics, the benefits, who should use it, and how to program it alongside your main bench press work.
What the Larsen Press Does That Standard Bench Press Cannot
The standard bench press allows and even encourages leg drive and spinal arch to maximize the weight you can lift. In competition powerlifting, this is entirely legal and strategically smart. In training for raw strength, it can mask weaknesses in the upper body pressing chain.
The Larsen press eliminates both variables by having you extend your legs straight out in front of you and keep them off the floor. Without leg drive, every pound on the bar has to move through pure upper body pressing strength. Without arch, the range of motion increases and the chest, anterior deltoid, and triceps work through a longer stroke. The result is a more demanding movement at any given weight and a brutal identifier of weak links in your pressing.
How to Set Up and Execute the Larsen Press
Setup
Set up on the bench exactly as you would for a standard bench press: grip width, bar position over lower chest at the bottom, upper back tight and retracted. The only difference is your leg position. Instead of planting your feet flat on the floor for stability and drive, extend both legs out straight in front of you. Some lifters keep their legs on the bench itself, others let them float free. Both variations eliminate leg drive and both are acceptable depending on your comfort.
Protect your wrists on this movement. Without the stability assistance of leg drive, the bar path can drift and wrist position becomes more critical. Wrist wraps are recommended for working sets above 60 percent of your max.
Execution
Unrack the bar and lower it to your lower chest with a controlled 3-second descent. Touch the chest (do not bounce), pause for one full second, and press the bar back to the start position. The pause at the bottom is critical. It eliminates the elastic energy stored in the pec at the bottom of the movement and forces a dead-stop press from a disadvantaged position. This is exactly where most bench press weak points live.
Programming the Larsen Press for Bench Press Improvement
The Larsen press works best as a secondary bench press movement, performed after your main bench work when you are still strong but have already accumulated some fatigue. This mirrors the conditions under which you need strict pressing strength during a long competition session or a high-volume training day.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak point identification | 3 | 5 | 75 to 80% bench max |
| Hypertrophy | 3 to 4 | 8 to 12 | 65 to 75% bench max |
| Strength carryover | 4 to 5 | 3 to 5 | 80 to 87% bench max |
Run the Larsen press for four to six week blocks, then return to your standard competition-style bench with arch and leg drive. Most lifters find their competition bench improves noticeably after a Larsen press block because the strict pressing demands developed real pressing strength that their technique was previously compensating around.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Larsen Press
Will the Larsen press help my competition bench press?
Yes, specifically by developing strict pressing strength that removes reliance on technique compensations. Lifters who use the Larsen press as a training variation typically see their competition bench improve because the supporting musculature is genuinely stronger rather than strategically positioned.
How much less can I lift on the Larsen press vs regular bench?
Most lifters find the Larsen press is 15 to 25 percent harder than their competition bench at the same weight. Expect to use significantly less weight than your standard bench press max when first introducing this variation.
Is the Larsen press good for building chest size?
Yes. The extended range of motion from the flat back position and the elimination of momentum from leg drive means the pectorals are under tension for a longer range of motion per rep. For hypertrophy purposes, this is a meaningful advantage over arch-assisted pressing.
PROTECT YOUR WRISTS ON HEAVY BENCH DAYS
18-inch cotton wrist wraps for every heavy pressing session.
SHOP WRIST WRAPSHow Removing Leg Drive Changes The Bench Press Mechanics
The Larsen press removes the one element most competitive benchers spend years developing: leg drive. When you lift your feet off the floor and extend your legs straight out in front of you, the entire leg-to-hip-to-lower-back force chain that generates a significant portion of your bench press power disappears. What remains is purely upper body pressing strength, meaning the chest, anterior deltoid, and triceps have to do the work that leg drive and arch normally assist with. This is exactly why the Larsen press is so valuable as an accessory movement, and why it tends to feel significantly more difficult than a traditional bench press at comparable loads.
The strict positioning of the Larsen press also forces a more neutral spine and a flatter back than an arched competition bench setup. For powerlifters who maintain a large arch, this is a direct way to train the pressing muscles through a range of motion that their competition technique deliberately shortens. Accessory work in a longer range of motion builds strength at positions where the competition lift is strongest, which has a positive carryover to the full arched press when loads approach maximum. The pause Larsen press, where the bar stops dead on the chest for a one to two second hold before the press, eliminates any bounce or stretch reflex and places the entire load demand on pure concentric pressing strength. This variation is one of the most honest assessments of where your chest and tricep strength actually stands.
Programming The Larsen Press For Maximum Transfer
The Larsen press works best as a secondary bench movement placed after your primary bench work has been completed. Three to four sets of six to ten reps at 60 to 70 percent of your regular bench press working weight is a reasonable starting point. The load will feel heavier than these percentages suggest because of the absent leg drive, and the longer range of motion will fatigue the pec and anterior delt more than an equivalent percentage on a standard bench setup. Progress the Larsen press as its own movement over a four to six week block, adding small increments to the working weight each session, then return to emphasizing your primary bench variation. Athletes who run this rotation consistently for several months almost universally report that their flat bench feels significantly stronger when they return to it after a Larsen press block. Wrist wraps are worth using on heavier Larsen press sets. The lack of leg drive means your upper body manages the entire load, and the wrist extension stress of a full-range bench press without the stabilizing effect of a strong leg drive creates more demand on the wrist joint than your standard competition setup.
Certified strength and conditioning specialists with over 10 years of combined experience in powerlifting, nutrition coaching, and evidence-based fitness content. Based in New York City, the Genghis Fitness team tests every protocol in the gym before writing about it.
PROTECT YOUR CHEST AND LOCK YOUR WRISTS
The Larsen Press demands strict wrist positioning. Wrist wraps lock the joint and elbow sleeves keep your tendons warm through every set.
Wrist WrapsElbow Sleeves