How much weight should the chains add?

Most lifters start with chains that make up a modest share of the load at lockout, roughly 10 to 20% of the total, and add more only once every rep stays fast and controlled. Chain weight per link varies a lot, so weigh your chains or check the stated weight rather than counting sets of chains.

Do chains build more bench press strength than straight weight?

Not clearly. In Division II baseball players, nine weeks of bench pressing with chains as the entire load improved strength about as much as training with plates. Chains are best used as a tool for speed and lockout work alongside regular benching, not as a replacement for it.

Should I use chains or bands?

Both make the top of the press heavier than the bottom, but bands also pull the bar down faster on the way down, which adds stress and soreness. Chains are the gentler option and are usually the better first step into accommodating resistance; try the Banded Barbell Bench Press once chains feel familiar.

How high should the chains hang?

Set them so a few links still rest on the floor when your arms are straight and a large part of each chain piles up on the floor when the bar touches your chest. That keeps the chains from swinging at the top and makes the bar noticeably lighter at the bottom.

How should I log the weight?

Record the bar weight and the chain weight separately, and keep the chain height the same each session. The true load changes through the rep, so the bar weight plus the full chain weight overstates what you lifted at the bottom, but logging both consistently keeps your sessions comparable.

Barbell Bench Press with Chains

What Are Barbell Bench Press with Chains?

Barbell Bench Press with Chains is a compound exercise that primarily targets the chest and also engages the shoulders and triceps. It is an advanced-level movement in which heavy chains hang from each end of the barbell, so the load changes during every rep. As the bar comes down, more links pile up on the floor and the bar gets lighter. As it rises, the links lift off the floor one by one and the bar gets heavier, reaching its heaviest load at lockout.

This is called accommodating resistance. In a regular bench press, the hardest point is near the chest and the top of the rep is comparatively easy, so a weight you can just get off your chest never challenges your lockout. Chains match the load more closely to that strength curve: the bottom stays manageable while the top demands more force, and you have to keep pushing hard all the way to straight arms instead of coasting through the last few inches. A study of professional rugby league players found that when part of a load of about 75% of one-rep max came from chains draped over the bar, mean and peak lifting speeds were around 10% higher than with the same total weight in plates.

Chains are a staple of powerlifting and conjugate-style programs. Westside-style dynamic effort days use them for sets of 3 fast reps with a moderate bar weight, and lifters with a slow lockout use heavier chains to overload the top half of the press. The chest does most of the work off the bottom, while the triceps take a larger share as the load climbs toward lockout. Unlike bands, chains do not pull the bar down faster on the way down; they only add or remove weight as they leave or touch the floor.

The lift suits intermediate and advanced lifters who already have a consistent, well-grooved bench press and want a new stimulus for speed or lockout strength. If you are still learning the movement, build it first with the Barbell Bench Press and the Paused Barbell Bench Press, because the shifting load exposes any wobble in your setup or bar path. When you start with chains, keep them to a modest share of the total weight and log the bar and chain weight separately so your progress stays comparable from week to week.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Pectoralis Major: Primary
Deltoid: High
Triceps Brachii (Lateral Head): High
Triceps Brachii (Medial Head): High
Triceps Brachii (Long Head): Medium
Latissimus Dorsi: Low
Serratus Anterior: Low
Rectus Abdominis: Minimal
Rhomboid Major: Minimal

Instructions

Drape a chain of the same weight and length over each sleeve of the loaded barbell so both hang evenly beside the plates.
Check the chain height: with the bar at arm's length, a few links on each side should still rest on the floor.
Lie flat on the bench with your eyes under the bar and your feet flat on the floor, knees bent.
Grip the bar overhand, slightly wider than shoulder width, and pull your shoulder blades back and down into the bench.
Unrack the bar with straight arms, with a spotter's help on heavy sets, and move it over your shoulders. Let the chains settle before the first rep.
Lower the bar under control to your lower chest, keeping your elbows angled slightly in toward your sides. The chains pile up on the floor and the bar gets lighter as it descends.
Touch your chest lightly without bouncing.
Press the bar up and slightly back toward your shoulders, accelerating as the chains lift off the floor and the load increases.
Finish with straight arms over your shoulders, keep the bar level, then repeat for the planned reps and rerack.

Common Mistakes

Uneven chains
Hanging the chains at different lengths makes one side of the bar get heavier first, so the bar tilts and drifts as you press.
Chains that never touch down
If the chains hang clear of the floor even at the bottom, they add a fixed weight and the bar never gets lighter near your chest.
Too much chain
Loading so much chain that the top of the rep becomes a slow grind defeats the purpose of training speed and lockout and raises the risk of a missed rep.
Bouncing off the chest
Letting the bar drop fast because the bottom feels light turns the touch into a bounce that jars the chest and shoulders.
Easing off at the top
Slowing down as the chains lift off the floor wastes the extra load at lockout; keep driving the bar hard until your arms are straight.
Losing the shoulder-blade position
Letting the shoulder blades spread apart as the load changes shifts stress onto the front of the shoulders and makes the bar path inconsistent.

Injuries

Barbell Bench Press with Chains is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The front of the shoulders and the chest take the most stress near the bottom of the press, while the elbows and wrists carry the heaviest load near lockout, where the chains are mostly off the floor. Because the chains are mostly off the floor while the bar sits in the rack, the unrack is one of the heaviest moments of the set, so a fumbled lift-off is a real risk.

Set the chains up identically on both sides so the bar stays level, and use a spotter for heavy sets to help with the lift-off and to step in if a rep stalls. Keep your shoulder blades pulled back and your elbows angled slightly in toward your sides rather than flared straight out. Control the descent instead of dropping the bar because the bottom feels light, and never bounce it off your chest. Choose a chain weight you can still lock out with good speed; chains so heavy that every lockout grinds add strain without adding any benefit.

If you are new to the bench press or returning from a shoulder or elbow problem, go back to the Barbell Bench Press or the Dumbbell Bench Press with straight weight. To progress, add chain weight in small steps or raise the bar weight while keeping the chains the same. The Barbell Board Press is another way to overload lockout without changing the load mid-rep.

Stop the set if you feel sharp pain at the front of the shoulder, in the chest near the armpit, or at the elbow, or if the bar starts tilting toward one side because the chains are uneven.

Overview

Primary Focus: Chest
Equipment: Barbell, bench, and other
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much weight should the chains add?: Most lifters start with chains that make up a modest share of the load at lockout, roughly 10 to 20% of the total, and add more only once every rep stays fast and controlled. Chain weight per link varies a lot, so weigh your chains or check the stated weight rather than counting sets of chains.
Q: Do chains build more bench press strength than straight weight?: Not clearly. In Division II baseball players, nine weeks of bench pressing with chains as the entire load improved strength about as much as training with plates. Chains are best used as a tool for speed and lockout work alongside regular benching, not as a replacement for it.
Q: Should I use chains or bands?: Both make the top of the press heavier than the bottom, but bands also pull the bar down faster on the way down, which adds stress and soreness. Chains are the gentler option and are usually the better first step into accommodating resistance; try the Banded Barbell Bench Press once chains feel familiar.
Q: How high should the chains hang?: Set them so a few links still rest on the floor when your arms are straight and a large part of each chain piles up on the floor when the bar touches your chest. That keeps the chains from swinging at the top and makes the bar noticeably lighter at the bottom.
Q: How should I log the weight?: Record the bar weight and the chain weight separately, and keep the chain height the same each session. The true load changes through the rep, so the bar weight plus the full chain weight overstates what you lifted at the bottom, but logging both consistently keeps your sessions comparable.