Why Do So Many Lifters Press with Their Hips Wrong?
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There are three mistakes that lifters often make with their hips when pressing, so let’s identify them and fix them quickly.
To see these three errors in action as well as how to solve them, check out the video below (as they say, a video is worth three billion words.)
Mistake #1: Winding Up
At the start of the press, you might be committing the error of reaching back - or “winding up” - with your hips.
Remember that at the start of the press, the first movement of the hips should be forward - never backward. Reaching back with your hips causes the barbell to go forward, and you don’t want any unnecessary horizontal movement of the bar when pressing.
To fix this, take a big breath and get tight as usual, then pause for a very brief moment in that upright position. Cue yourself “push the hips forward” and then do exactly that.
A final note on this error - if you’re making it, you probably aren’t aware of it, so be sure to video yourself the next time you press and check for this mistake.
(To see this error and its solution demonstrated, check out the short video below.)
Mistake #2: Reaching Back with Your Shoulders
When pressing, you push your hips forward, but you might be throwing your shoulders backward instead. If you are committing this error, your balance shifts to your heels and you don’t get a nice bounce or “throw” from the hip movement, and as a result, you have a weaker, less inefficient press.
Make no mistake, when you push your hips forward, your shoulders and head will automatically move backward slightly as part of a natural counterbalancing movement, and an advantage of this is that you clear space (by getting your head out of the way) for the bar to travel in the correct path. However, you should not try to throw your shoulders back as it will ruin the hip action (i.e., the bounce) in the press.
You’ll notice this error on camera, but you’ll also notice it by paying attention to your feet. If you feel your weight shift onto your heels as you start the press, you are incorrectly throwing your shoulders backward. If, on the other hand, you feel your weight shift briefly to the balls of your feet when you push your hips forward, you’re performing the lift correctly.
With this in mind, to correct this error, you can cue yourself to “get onto the balls of the feet” as you prepare to push the hips forward.
(To see this error and its solution demonstrated, check out the short video below.)
Mistake #3: Timing
If you press the barbell upward at the same time you push your hips forward, your timing is off, and you’re losing out on the bounce (i.e., the “throw”) provided by the hip action.
The bar should not go up when you push the hips forward - rather, the bar should momentarily dip downward when you reach with your hips. This is the beginning of the bounce created by the movement of the hips.
To correct this error, remind yourself to “make the bar dip” or that “the bar goes down” at the start of the press.
(To see this error and its solution demonstrated, check out the short video below.)
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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