Barbell Guillotine Bench Press

Also called guillotine press, neck press and guillotine bench.

Works

Chest, plus shoulders and triceps

Equipment

Barbell

Level

Intermediate

Type

Compound

How to do it

Setup. 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 your neck with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.

1. As you breathe in, bring the bar down slowly until it is about 1 inch from your neck.
2. 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 and squeeze your chest in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
3. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
4. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Cues

• Use light weight and a spotter.
• Elbows flared, bar toward the neck.
• Stop an inch above the neck.
• Press straight back up.

Common mistakes

• Going heavy.
• Bouncing the bar.

Where to start

A starting point, not a law. Pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than the top of the range. Tempo is seconds down, pause, up. When every set hits the top of the range, add a little weight.

Go easy, or pick an alternative, if you have a sore shoulder. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

Easier

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