Fix Your Press - Part 3: TWO Ways to Fix Your Stance

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 02/10/23)

This is the third article in our series on helping you improve your press. Today’s topic - the correct stance. In this article, you’ll also find a couple of videos related to this issue.

Since the press is performed while standing, the stance is rather important, so let’s quickly fix two aspects of your stance.

First, when you unrack the barbell to start pressing, take two small steps back from the rack. There is no need to back up a long way from the rack, and indeed, it’s a waste of energy to do so. “Two half steps” is a solid way to think of the situation - a half step with the right foot, then a half step with the left foot - and you’re good to go. Stay close to the rack, and watch the included video (“Fix Your Stance…”) for a quick demonstration.

Second, take a relatively wide stance when pressing, and in fact, your squat stance serves pretty well for a pressing stance. If you’d like to go a bit wider than your squat stance, that’s fine too, but don’t take a narrow stance - again, watch the video above for a demonstration of what to do as well as what not to do. Remember, the press already starts a long way from your balance point (i.e., the middle of your foot), and it finishes even further from the balance point (i.e., up over your head), and as a result, the press is very susceptible to deviations in the bar path. It behaves almost like an Olympic lift (i.e., the snatch or clean-and-jerk) in this respect, and indeed, the press actually used to be part of Olympic weightlifting.

Because it’s so sensitive to bar path deviations, taking a wider stance (as compared to a narrower one) gives you a more stable base from which to press. Full disclosure - the wider stance doesn’t do a lot to help with front-to-back balance, but it at least helps eliminate any side-to-side balance issues, and every little bit helps in the press.

The toe angle of the stance is not as big of a deal as the width of the stance - again, your squat stance will serve pretty well. Some lifters will point their toes out a bit more than that as this can help reduce the likelihood of knee bend in the press, and this is fine. However, it’s a game of trade-offs here - remember that if you point your toes much further out than you do in your squat stance, you’ve started to effectively shorten the length of your feet from front-to-back, and this can negatively affect your balance.

In summary, stay close to the rack, and take a relatively wide stance. As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

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Fix Your Press - Part 2: Your Hideous Wrists

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 02/03/23)

This is the second article in our series on helping you improve your press. Today’s topic - the correct positioning of the wrists. In this article, you’ll also find a couple of videos related to this issue.

You’ve read the book, you’ve watched the videos, and you’re ready to press. You walk up to the bar and take a nice narrow grip - you’ve even pronated your hands slightly to make sure that the barbell is being supported on the base of the palms (i.e., over the bones of the forearm). On top of this, you’ve got relatively neutral wrists - roughly 10-15 degrees of extension - which is great.

And then it happens. You rotate your elbows forward and under the bar, and somehow, you end up with your wrists bent backward in extreme extension or, on the opposite end of things, you try unracking the bar with your wrists flexed over the top of the bar (watch the “Fix your Weak Wrists…” video to see examples of each error). Both are inefficient positions from which to press, and the latter position makes it practically impossible to even support the bar.

Let’s fix this.

The first solution is to remember that once you’ve grabbed the bar with neutral wrists, you must make your wrists behave as if they’re in a cast. Don’t let them change shape after this point - treat them as if they don’t exist anymore - that joint has been permanently fused into its current shape, and you’re going to hold that shape as you unrack the bar and while you press.

The second solution is to allow the bar to rotate when you bring your elbows forward and under the bar. You’re rotating your elbows forward, so be sure to let the bar rotate in the rack as well - the bar should rotate with you as you prepare to unrack it. Dip down with your legs as low as you need to so that you’ve got room to rotate your elbows forward and under the bar while maintaining those “frozen” wrists (again, watch the video above to see these solutions in action).

If you notice that you’ve still allowed your wrists to change shape, don’t unrack the bar. Fix the wrist position now - before you’ve unracked it - because fixing it while supporting a heavy bar in your hands is much tougher to accomplish. Once the wrists are correctly positioned, you can then stand the bar up and back out from the rack to begin pressing.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

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(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Fix Your Press - Part 1: The Awful Timing of Your Hips

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/27/23)

Today’s article is the first in a series of articles designed to help you improve various aspects of your press. Today’s topic - the timing of the hips movement.

The problem of incorrectly timing the hips movement shows up quite a bit with lifters as they’re learning the press. You’ve read the book, you’ve watched the videos, you’ve even done a couple of reps pretty decently, and then something suddenly gets off with the timing of your lift. What gives?

When we initiate the press, the hips should go forward first, and then they simply bounce back into place, i.e., we reach forward with our hips and then stand back up again. As we stand back up again (as the hips come back into place), we want to then use that upward momentum to start driving the barbell upward as well.

In other words, the hips should bounce first, and then we press, but the mistake we often see is that of reaching with the hips and trying to press upward at the same time (watch the video above for an example of this as well as how to do it correctly). When this happens, it will usually feel extremely weird, but it can be difficult to figure out what’s actually happened unless you have a coach watching, so this is where recording yourself on video can be a useful approach.

To solve this timing problem, simply cue yourself, “Hips then press,” or if that doesn’t work, you can remind yourself that the bar needs to go down first (not up) as you start the movement. In other words, we want the bar to dip downward a few inches as the hips reach forward, and the mistake you’ve made is that of trying to press it upward as the hips reach forward, so simply cue yourself “The bar goes down first.”

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Use This Grip for a BIGGER Bench Press and Press!

What is a compression grip, and why should you use it for the bench press and the press? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains in the first video in our series on the correct grip for each lift.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 09/26/22)

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Shakira and the Press: Hips Don't Lie

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 12/09/22)

A common problem in the press is that - instead of reaching forward with the hips and using the rebound this creates - a lifter will accidentally reach backwards with the shoulders. The two movements - reaching forward with the hips and reaching backward with the shoulders - look almost the same, but one makes for a stronger press while the other absolutely hinders the press.

To see this in action as it’s being explained, check out one of the short videos included in this article.

Reaching forward with the hips helps us in two ways - first, that nice rebound out of the hips gives us a nice launch at the beginning of the movement. Second, it helps clear our face back out of the way of the barbell (a natural countermovement).

However, if you reach backward with your shoulders instead, you’ll still clear your head out of the way of the bar, but you won’t get any sort of launch or rebound from the hips, and indeed, it will actually make for a much harder and weaker press.

In the photo at left, Becky correctly reaches forward with her hips. In the photo at right, Becky incorrectly reaches backward with her shoulders. For comparison, check the position of the bar with respect to the squat stand in the background.

To check whether or not you’re making this error, ask yourself, “Where am I feeling my balance?” when you reach forward with your hips. If you feel your weight shift momentarily to the balls of your feet, you’re on the right track.

However, if you feel your weight shift to your heels, then you know that you’re accidentally reaching backwards with your shoulders instead of forward with your hips.

Remind yourself of this the next time you press. Simply make your balance shift briefly to the balls of your feet as you reach with your hips, and you’ll be off to an excellent start.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

PS Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The Press: Make the Bar Go DOWN?!

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/25/22)

Not sure about the hips movement in the press? Maybe you can “reach and bounce” just fine without the barbell, but when you add the bar to the movement, everything turns to garbage. Perhaps you just don’t know what it’s supposed to look like. Let’s fix it with a simple cue.

Becky in the start position (note the bar’s position relative to the horizontal barbell in the background)

Bar Cue vs Body Cue
Cueing yourself to “reach and bounce” with your hips is a perfectly good approach, but if the timing of your hips and pressing is still off, trying using a bar cue instead of a body cue, i.e., try telling yourself what you want the bar to do, and let your body figure out the rest.

Becky demonstrates the initial downward movement of the bar (again, note the bar’s position relative to the horizontal barbell in the background)

The Bar Goes DOWN First
When the hips reach forward, you get a bit shorter (since you’re no longer standing up straight), and since you are getting shorter - briefly - the bar should go down, so remind yourself of this. Simply tell yourself to make the bar go down before it goes up.

When the hips go forward, the bar goes down, and as the hips bounce back into place (i.e., as you stand up), the bar starts to go up. The cue is: “Make the bar go down.” More simply, you can cue yourself: “Down-then-up.”

Try this out the next time you press and see if it helps. Additionally, watching this motion in action can be very helpful, so I’d recommend watching the video at the end of this article. In the meantime, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?