Many of us do more and heavier bench presses to build a bigger chest. Even though these methods are important for building solid slabs of muscle and maximizing growth, doing them repeatedly can lead to overtraining and joint problems. Instead, add movements like the plate pinch press to your chest routines to improve muscle hypertrophy and make the pectorals look chiselled and defined. They can also help prevent and limit anterior shoulder pain and overuse. In this article, we’ll talk about plate press chest workout, discuss the key benefits and value that this simple and effective accessory move can offer coaches and athletes who want to build their chests as much as possible.
Table of Contents
How does a plate press chest workout works?
The plate press is a chest exercise where you pinch a weight plate between your hands while doing a bench press. As a result, it’s also known as a plate pinch press or plate squeeze press.
This exercise is usually done with a single weight plate weighing between 5 and 45 pounds. But you could also put two plates together and squeeze them together to make the exercise even harder.
What Muscles Do Plate Presses Work?
The plate pinch press focuses on the pectoral muscles. It is a great way to limit secondary muscles that are often used when doing other popular chest exercises like bench pressing, dips, and even push-ups. Here are the most important muscles that get worked when you do plate pinch presses.
- The pecs (chest)
- Triceps muscles (lateral head primarily)
- At the front of the Deltoid
How To Use The Plate Press Machine Properly
You’ll need a weight plate and a flat or customizable bench to do this exercise. I think you should start with a lower weight, something you can easily control until you get the hang of keeping the plate balanced between your hands.
- Hold the plate between your hands vertically, like you’re making claps.
- Sit back on the bench and extend the plate to arm’s length.
- Keep pressing down on the plate as you do the bench press.
- Do the number of reps you want and carefully set down the plate.
Chest Plate Press Form
Here are some more tips to help you activate your inner chest as much as possible.
- Squeeze your elbows forward to constrict your inner chest when you reach the peak of the exercise.
- Lower the plate until the outer edge touches your sternum or lower chest.
- Keep your elbows close to your sides at the bottom of the move.
Variations of the Plate Press Chest Press
Depending on which part of your chest you want to work on and what equipment you have on hand, you can do this exercise differently. Here are the best
Inclined Plate Press
When you do an inclined bench press, the angle between your arms and your body changes, when the angle is steeper, the upper chest is used more. So, an inclined plate press works your upper chest and inner chest. Perfect for doing that split in the shape of a “Y,” as shown in the image above.
For this exercise, set a bench to move up or down at an angle of about 30–45 degrees. This angle strikes the upper chest without contacting the anterior Deltoid.
Hex Press with Weights
A hex press is similar to a plate press, except that dumbbells are used instead of a weight plate. And since the dumbbells have handles, you don’t have to be as stable. So you can use a bit more weight.
Dumbbells should be held together during this workout to always be touching. For dumbbells with six sides, the flat sides will touch. That’s why it’s called “hex press.”
Close Grip Push-up
Lastly, if you’re working out at home with few tools, you could do a close grip push-up instead. Start this exercise by lying down on the floor with your face down. Now, put your hands close to your ribs and tuck your elbows into your sides. From this starting position, do a normal push-up.
If you have two dumbbells, you can put them next to each other to do push-ups with a hex press grip. You can even put a resistance band over your back to make it even more difficult.
The Unilateral Plate Press
The unilateral plate press is a great alternative that adds asymmetry to the workout. By doing the exercise one side at a time, you work your stabilizer muscles harder, which makes your balance and core muscles stronger. For this variation, you can lie down on a flat bench with a single dumbbell or plate in one hand and press it up while focused on staying stable. Switch sides to make training more equal.
The Eccentric Plate Press
People often forget about eccentric training, but it has a lot of promise for building muscle and getting stronger. The eccentric plate press puts the most emphasis on control and time under stress during the lowering (eccentric) part of the exercise. Start with a weight you can easily press over your head, then focus on slowing down the lowering part to a count of three or four seconds. This long eccentric movement puts more stress on the chest muscles, which stimulates more muscle fibers and makes the muscles grow bigger.
The Stability Ball Plate Press
Adding an uneven surface to your plate press can make your core work much harder and help you stay stable. By doing the exercise on a stability ball, you make it less stable, which makes your core muscles work harder to keep you from falling over. This version not only makes the chest stronger, but it also makes the body more stable and in control overall.
Advantages and Drawbacks of Plate Press Chest Workout
The plate press is one of the best chest press exercise to add to your chest workout to help you get the size and shape you want for your pecs. But keep in mind that this exercise is not the best for building up your chest as a whole.
Pros
- Builds inner chest
- Takes some of the pressure off the shoulders
- Puts more weight on the triceps
- Takes some of the pressure off the shoulders
Cons
- It’s not the best way to build muscle mass or strength all over.
Here are seven things that coaches and athletes can expect to get out of chest workouts, including the plate pinch press. Note that this exercise doesn’t have to replace bench pressing, but it can give us a different and more balanced way to develop our chests and arms.
7 Best Benefits of Plate Press Chest Workout
The plate press is an easy exercise that just requires minimal devices. It’s an outstanding choice for newbies or those that intend to avoid larger, such as weights and dumbells exercises, because of its ease-of-use nature! Moreover, the decline bench press is an excellent alternative for those who wish to evade weight training over their head as well as shoulders. It also puts much less pressure on you than various other chest workouts like pushups or even shoulder presses! The plate press is a fantastic exercise for enhancing stamina and also power. Furthermore, acquiring your muscle mass throughout the motion can be used to require even more blood into those locations of our body that we normally do not get sufficient of to attain maximum advancement!
1. Increased Tension Time
The plate pinch press had a low amount of resistance because the lifter usually only used two or three 5–10 lb plates at a time. The goal of this exercise isn’t to move as much weight as possible but to maximize tension and contract the pecs as hard as possible throughout the entire range of motion. To force muscle recruitment and fatigue, you can do sets of repetitions for a set amount of time or until you are completely exhausted. Most sets last 45–90 seconds.
2. Separating the Chest Muscles
Bench presses, dips, and other popular chest exercises are great for building strength and muscle size. However, doing these exercises repeatedly can cause shoulder and elbow pain in some people. The plate pinch press works the pectorals the most by isolating the chest muscles and reducing the use of larger muscle groups like the lats, triceps, and shoulders, which all help with normal pressing movements.
3. Do Exercises Around the Injury
Shoulder, elbow, and even wrist injuries are common when doing chest exercises like the bench press, dips, and push-ups. These exercises put a lot of stress on the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. However, it is possible to utilize a combination of isometrics and load-loaded isolation exercises to assist injured muscle regions heal while still providing enough stimulus to allow athletes to maintain their muscle “pump.”
4. Requires Little Equipment
The plate pinch press needs two to three plates and is often done with 5 to 25 lbs (per plate). While stronger presses are possible, the pressure and tension caused by pinching plates between hands are what get the muscles to function the most effective. The plate pinch press is a go-to move for lifters of all levels and resources because they can get a good muscle pump with a heavy load and little equipment.
5. The Load Must be Low
One of the best things about the plate pinch press is that you don’t have to put much weight on it. But this exercise is great for the chest muscles and makes them bigger and stronger without making you lift a heavy weight.
Unlike the incline bench press or other shoulder presses, the plate pinch press is much easier on the joints, ligaments, and tendons.
6. Needs Few Skills
Additionally, the plate pinch press does not necessitate a high level of technical expertise to operate. For the plate pinch press to work, you don’t need to know a lot about complicated equipment or workout moves.
This also means that the plate pinch press doesn’t take a lot of practice or training to get good at, and you can see results much more quickly.
7. Time for a Tight Chest
One of the best chest exercises you can do is the plate pinch press. It has all of the advantages we’ve discussed. As a result, you’ll constantly be working your chest muscles.
Your muscles will be tense for 60–90 seconds if you perform a plate pinch push. Then, this exercise will isolate your chest muscles for a longer time.
When should the plate press be used?
It would be best if you didn’t do this instead of the wider grip barbell bench press or the dumbbell bench press. Rather, you should use the plate press as an extra exercise to add to your normal chest workout.
Because of this, I think you should do a normal pressing movement first when your strength is at its highest. Then, as a second move, do the plate press.
Use a lighter weight to get the most muscle growth and do 8–12 reps. Or, do it at the end of your workout to tire yourself out.
Last Advice
You can add Plate presses to your shoulder and chest workouts to the next level. Luckily, all you need to get started is a weighted plate. Despite their similarities, the normal plate press chest workout emphasizes the shoulders more than the chest, whereas the plate pinch press emphasizes the chest muscles. Both workouts are simple to master, need minimum gear, and do not entail lifting huge weights. These workouts are excellent complements to bigger lifts, such as chest and shoulder presses. It is feasible to incorporate them into the midst of your workout or to use them as a way to end a workout by performing as many repetitions as you can. If you haven’t previously, you should definitely try the plate press.
FAQ
1. How often can you do chest presses?
Yes, you can bench press every day if you want to get better at it, break through a plateau, or put it ahead of other lifts for a while. But a lifter shouldn’t bench press every day if they are prone to injuries or can’t train seven days a week consistently.
Even though not everyone should do bench presses every day, it might be a good idea for you. If you want to improve your bench press, you might need to train by doing bench presses every day.
2. How often should you work out your chest each week?
Do chest presses twice or three times a week as part of your workout. Give your muscles at least one day of rest between workouts to keep them from getting too tired.
To counteract the effects of chest exercises, you need to do some shoulder workouts. Using this prevents you from injuring your shoulders when lifting large objects.
Don’t work out harder than you can handle without pain, stress, or strain. Stop working out if you’re in a lot of pain, and rest until your body is fully healed.
3. What is the ideal number of chest presses you should perform each day?
Ensure that your chest training volume (the total number of working sets) stays between 12 and 16 reps per week. If you’re doing more than 20 sets per week, you’re probably doing TOO MUCH and hurting your body’s ability to build muscle.
4. Is chest press an effective workout?
One of the most effective workouts for increasing upper-body strength is the chest press. Exercises like pec deck, cable crossover, and dips are also beneficial. By strengthening your pecs, shoulders, and triceps, the chest press helps you gain muscle and strength.
5. Does chest press involve pushing?
It’s different from push-ups. Aside from the fact that they are very different exercises, the incline bench press only works your chest, while the push-up works your whole body and works your chest muscles as well as the rest of your body.
6. How to use the chest press at the gym?
Start by putting your arms at your sides with your elbows bent and pointing out. Slowly let out your breath and raise your arms above your chest. Inhale, and slowly move your arms back to the starting position, which is by your sides. Keep pulling yourself up.
