10 Best Bench Press With Chains Alternatives for Limited Equipment
If you can’t use bench press with chains, choose exercises that replicate the accommodating resistance and horizontal pressing pattern to load the pectorals. Use band-resisted bench, dumbbell bench, floor press, or incline barbell press. Cue: retract scapula, press through the chest while keeping elbows 45° and a braced core.
Original Exercise: Bench Press With Chains
How to Perform Bench Press With Chains
- Adjust the leader chain, shortening it to the desired length.Place the chains on the sleeves of the bar.
- Lying on the bench, get your head beyond the bar if possible. Tuck your feet underneath you and arch your back. Using the bar to help support your weight, lift your shoulder off the bench and retract them, squeezing the shoulder blades together. Use your feet to drive your traps into the bench. Maintain this tight body position throughout the movement. However wide your grip, it should cover the ring on the bar.
- Pull the bar out of the rack without protracting your shoulders. Focus on squeezing the bar and trying to pull it apart. Lower the bar to your lower chest or upper stomach. The bar, wrist, and elbow should stay in line at all times.
- Pause when the barbell touches your torso, and then drive the bar up with as much force as possible. The elbows should be tucked in until lockout.
Pro Tips
- Category: Powerlifting
- Force: Push
- Movement type: Compound
Best Bench Press With Chains Alternatives
1. Barbell Bench Press - Medium Grip
99.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Lie back on a flat bench. Using a medium width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
- From the starting position, breathe in and begin coming down slowly until the bar touches your middle chest.
- After a brief pause, push the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out. Focus on pushing the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms and squeeze your chest in the contracted position at the top of the motion, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: Ideally, lowering the weight should take about twice as long as raising it.
- Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
- When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.
2. Bench Press - Powerlifting
99.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Begin by lying on the bench, getting your head beyond the bar if possible. Tuck your feet underneath you and arch your back. Using the bar to help support your weight, lift your shoulder off the bench and retract them, squeezing the shoulder blades together. Use your feet to drive your traps into the bench. Maintain this tight body position throughout the movement.
- However wide your grip, it should cover the ring on the bar. Pull the bar out of the rack without protracting your shoulders. Focus on squeezing the bar and trying to pull it apart.
- Lower the bar to your lower chest or upper stomach. The bar, wrist, and elbow should stay in line at all times.
- Pause when the barbell touches your torso, and then drive the bar up with as much force as possible. The elbows should be tucked in until lockout.
3. Barbell Wide Bench Press
97.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
- Grasp the barbell with a wide grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Lift the barbell off the rack and hold it directly above your chest with your arms fully extended.
- Lower the barbell slowly towards your chest, keeping your elbows slightly flared out.
- Pause for a moment when the barbell touches your chest, then push it back up to the starting position.
4. Barbell Bench Press
97.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
- Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Lift the barbell off the rack and hold it directly above your chest with your arms fully extended.
- Lower the barbell slowly towards your chest, keeping your elbows tucked in.
- Pause for a moment when the barbell touches your chest.
5. Barbell Wide Reverse Grip Bench Press
95.1% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
- Grasp the barbell with a wide reverse grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Lift the barbell off the rack and hold it directly above your chest with your arms fully extended.
- Lower the barbell slowly towards your chest, keeping your elbows tucked in and your wrists straight.
- Pause for a moment when the barbell touches your chest, then push it back up to the starting position.
6. Barbell Guillotine Bench Press
93.1% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
- Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Lower the barbell slowly towards your neck, keeping your elbows pointed outwards.
- Pause for a moment when the barbell is just above your neck.
- Push the barbell back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.
7. Dumbbell Bench Press
89.7% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand, with your palms facing forward and your arms extended above your chest.
- Lower the dumbbells slowly to the sides of your chest, keeping your elbows at a 90-degree angle.
- Pause for a moment, then push the dumbbells back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
8. Barbell Incline Bench Press
89.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Set up an incline bench at a 45-degree angle.
- Lie down on the bench with your feet flat on the ground.
- Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Unrack the barbell and lower it slowly towards your chest, keeping your elbows at a 45-degree angle.
- Pause for a moment at the bottom, then push the barbell back up to the starting position.
9. Bench Press - With Bands
89.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Using a flat bench secure a band under the leg of the bench that is nearest to your head.
- Once the band is secure, grab it by both handles and lie down on the bench.
- Extend your arms so that you are holding the band handles in front of you at shoulder width.
- Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. This will be your starting position.
- Bring down the handles slowly until your elbow forms a 90 degree angle. Keep full control at all times.
10. Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip
89.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Lie back on an incline bench. Using a medium-width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
- As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on you upper chest.
- After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: it should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
- Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
- When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.
Why You Might Need a Bench Press With Chains Alternative
You may substitute bench press with chains because of equipment limits, shoulder pain, setup time, or a need for a different strength curve. Chains add ascending resistance and change the force-velocity profile; alternatives let you reproduce that stimulus or reduce joint stress. For example, band-resisted bench mimics the rising load to overload lockout and increase high-threshold motor unit recruitment, while floor press shortens ROM to protect the gleno-humeral joint. Cue: during alternatives keep the sternum high and drive from the mid-chest to preserve horizontal adduction and scapular stability.
How to Choose the Right Substitute
Match the substitute to the training goal, available equipment, and joint health. If you want accommodating resistance, use bands or variable-resistance machines to replicate the chain’s ascending load; cue: use a controlled tempo and feel tension peak near lockout. For hypertrophy favor dumbbell or incline presses to target sternal and clavicular pectoralis fibers and allow full ROM. If shoulder irritation occurs, pick floor press or reduced-ROM variants to limit humeral elevation and impingement; cue: maintain scapular retraction and avoid flaring elbows beyond 60° to reduce shear on the shoulder.
Frequently Asked Questions
What muscles does Bench Press With Chains work?
Bench press with chains primarily targets the pectoralis major (sternal and clavicular heads), with secondary loading of the anterior deltoid and triceps brachii. Chains increase resistance through the concentric range, shifting activation slightly toward lockout-phase triceps recruitment and high-threshold motor unit involvement; cue: keep scapula retracted to maintain chest-dominant pressing mechanics.
What is the best bodyweight alternative to Bench Press With Chains?
A progressive push-up variation like deficit push-ups or archer push-ups best replicates the horizontal adduction and stretch under load for the pectorals. Cue: keep a proud chest and drive palms to the floor while controlling descent to emphasize pec stretch and concentric horizontal adduction.
Can I build muscle without doing Bench Press With Chains?
Yes—you can build chest muscle using progressive overload, varied pressing angles, and full range of motion with dumbbells, bars, or bands. Focus on tempo, volume, and ensuring peak tension (for example, slow eccentrics and controlled lockouts) to recruit the same motor units and stimulate hypertrophy.
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