Flawless Press Form…If You’re Filming a Blooper Reel
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Are you making this mistake when you press? Well, let’s not.
Today’s topic is an error in the start position of the press - but we are specifically not discussing the start position for the first rep. You already know how to unrack the barbell - using your legs - with elbows slightly in front of the bar and neutral wrists, i.e., not totally straight, but certainly not bent back in extreme extension.
figure 1: becky demonstrates a solid start position.
You’ve got the start position (Figure 1) for the first rep down, and if you don’t, check out the video below.
Today’s error has to do with an incorrect start position for every rep after the first rep.
Don’t Be a Bum
This is an extremely common problem in the press - you lock out the rep overhead, and then you lower the bar back to a position wherein the elbows are behind the bar and the wrists are bent back in full extension (Figure 2).
In other words, you’re lowering it like a lazy bum.
figure 2: don’t lower it to this position.
And you will pay the penalty for it. Now you have to waste energy resetting your elbows and wrists to the correct position. At best, this wasted effort makes for a more exhausting set, and at worst, it can be the reason you miss a rep and can’t successfully complete the set.
Supporting the barbell between press reps already takes effort - don’t make it worse by adding adjustments that shouldn’t have to be made in the first place.
How to Fix This
Lower the bar right back to the position from which you started. To put it simply, finish where you started (Figure 3).
(Technically, the finish position for the press is the lockout at the top, but for today’s purposes, we’ll treat the “finish” as where you are after you lower the bar to prepare for the next rep.)
figure 3: much better
First, you can cue yourself “elbows in front of the bar” as you start to lower the bar back to the start position. Second - and this goes nicely with the first cue - remind yourself to aim for your nose (or “shave your nose”) on the way down.
(Check out the the video below to see this in action.)
These two cues together help prompt you to keep the bar close to you while simultaneously keeping the elbows in the correct position.
Elbows forward, shave your nose, and finish where you started. You’ll save time, you’ll save energy, and you’ll have a stronger press because of it.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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