When Your Press Feels Off, Try This One Small Cue Instead
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As anyone who presses knows, the press is supremely dependent on the bar path. If that barbell is just a bit out of the correct groove on a heavy press, your attempt is toast.
It’s possible to miss a press by pushing the weight too far back, of course, but it’s certainly far more common to struggle with a bar path that is forward of where you want it to be. With this in mind, if you find yourself leaving the bar out front on your presses, try this cue . . .
Aim for your face.
Don’t worry about hitting your face. Remember that, as you reach your hips forward, your shoulders and head will naturally counterbalance by moving backward slightly. As a result, you can cue yourself to aim for your face since your face won’t actually be there anymore by the time the barbell gets there.
“Aim for your nose” and “throw it back” are similar cues and ones that we use often, but if you find they’re not working for you, you’ll find that “aim for your face” drives home the concept a bit more aggressively, and that might just do the trick.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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