Equipment setup
Training without a bench
A bench is the most-skipped piece of equipment in home gyms. RepRoute substitutes floor presses, standing presses, and tempo push-ups while keeping the strength stimulus.
Floor presses skip the lower-third of the bench press ROM but train almost the same musculature. Many strong benchers actually prefer floor presses for triceps work.
Without a bench, dumbbell pressing benefits from a chair, ottoman, or stability ball substitute. RepRoute handles these explicitly.
Standing landmine pressing, push-up variations, and dip work all keep upper-body pressing strong without requiring a flat bench.
Sample 3-day week
| Day | Focus | Exercises |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Push (floor + standing) |
|
| Day 2 | Pull + legs |
|
| Day 3 | Repeat with intensity bias |
|
Example exercises
Floor Press
chest · triceps
Push-up
chest · triceps
Standing Landmine Press
shoulders
Dumbbell Floor Press
chest · triceps
Pike Push-up
shoulders
Z Press
shoulders · core
Overhead Press
shoulders · triceps
Dip
chest · triceps
Common questions
Some — floor press transfer to bench is meaningful for the triceps lockout and overall upper-body strength. The setup-specific motor pattern needs reacclimation when you get a bench.
RepRoute treats a chair or ottoman as a bench equivalent for dumbbell pressing only — not for barbell work (stability and width are wrong). Chair-based dumbbell pressing is fully supported.
Helpful but not required — two sturdy chairs or a kitchen counter often work. RepRoute's DIY mode treats this as an option.
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