Chest · Barbell
Barbell Pin Chest Press
How to do the barbell pin chest press, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Horizontal Press
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Set the safety pins in a rack to your chest level and lie back on a flat bench beneath the bar. Press the barbell up from a dead stop on the pins until your arms are extended, then lower it back to rest on the pins between reps. The dead-stop start builds pressing power off the chest.
- 1Feel your chest and triceps drive the bar up off the pins
- 2Keep your shoulder blades pinched back and your feet planted
- 3Squeeze your chest at the top before lowering the bar back to the pins
Common mistakes
- Do not bounce the bar off the pins; start each rep from a dead stop
- Avoid flaring your elbows wide or letting your shoulders roll forward
- Do not lock out so hard that your shoulders lift off the bench
Muscles worked
The barbell pin chest press mainly works the mid chest and triceps, with the upper chest, lower chest, and front delts assisting.
- Mid ChestPrimary
- TricepsPrimary
- Upper ChestSupport
- Lower ChestSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- LatsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
Kovo programs the barbell pin chest press for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More chest exercises
- How to do the archer push-up
- How to do the assisted dip
- How to do the resistance band chest flyes
- How to do the resistance band push-up
- How to do the barbell bench press
- How to do the paused bench press
Last reviewed June 2026.