How to Unrack the Press: Use Your Legs!
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Figure 1: Becky demonstrates how NOT to unrack the press.
(This is a Blast from the Past article originally posted on 10/08/21.)
A common problem with new lifters and the press is the act of unracking the press. They will often pick up the bar using their arms and their shoulders - in other words, they’re using their upper bodies to unrack the press, which is inefficient and difficult at heavy weights. Let’s fix this.
When you unrack the bar by incorrectly using your arms and shoulders, it looks like what Becky is demonstrating in Figure 1. Notice how she reaches out, grabs the bar with her arms, and tries to pull it back into position.
Also, note that she has her wrists in pretty severe extension (i.e., they are bent backwards), which we don’t want, and her elbows are behind the bar, which we don’t want either. In addition, it’s simply difficult to pick up a heavy press in this manner.
If this was actually a heavy weight instead of the empty bar, Becky might not be able to unrack it at all in this manner, and even if she did, she’d be in a weak position from which to start pressing.
Remember: When you unrack a press, you unrack it with your legs.
Use the following steps:
1. Take your grip. (Figure 2a)
2. Walk right up the bar - your chest may actually touch the bar. (Figure 2b)
Figure 2a (left) and Figure 2b (right)
3. Squat down far enough that your elbows are slightly in front of the bar and you’ve got relatively straight wrists. (Figure 3a)
4. Stand the bar up with your legs. (Figure 3b)
Figure 3a (left) and Figure 3b (right)
Figure 4
5. Step back and establish your stance. (Figure 4)
Remember - unrack the press with your legs. As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!
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The HIDDEN ERROR in His Press | Two Minute Tactics!
/He's ruining the start position of his press, and it's not why (or where) you think. Find out more and improve your own press.
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Why Your Press is WEAK: Fix Your Unrack and Grip with this Simple Mnemonic Device
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A common problem in the press is a terrible unracking process, and we've covered this before in both videos and articles, but here’s a different take - a simple mnemonic device - that just might help you out.
The Problem
You know you want a neutral wrist when pressing. It shouldn’t be completely straight (although we might use the overcue “straight wrists” at times), but it certainly should not be bent backward in full extension, either. The problem of full extension is the more common of the two errors and is the situation we’re addressing here. For a video demonstration and explanation of this problem as well as how to solve it, be sure to watch one of the included videos.
When It Happens
You’re setting up to take your grip for the press - your grip is relatively narrow, you’ve pronated your hands slightly, and although you know you’re supposed to maintain a rigid, neutral wrist position as you approach and unrack the bar, it’s at this point that everything goes in the crapper. Somehow, as you approached the bar, you allowed your wrists to bend backward into full extension - which is a very weak and inefficient position from which to press - and now your coach wants to gouge his eyes out. Let’s prevent this.
The Culprit
You simply didn’t get low enough to allow yourself to maintain a neutral wrist. Remember that the legs are responsible for unracking the bar correctly - in a manner of speaking, you pick it up with your legs, not your arms. You need to dip down low enough so that you can keep your wrists neutral when approaching and unracking the bar. A decent pair of wrist wraps can help maintain neutral wrists, but they won’t cover up the root problem of not dipping down low enough with your legs.
A Simple Mnemonic Device
“Chest to bar, chin to bar.”
When taking your pronated grip, be sure to squeeze the bar tightly - crush the bar, if you will - then walk your chest up to the bar with your feet directly under the bar. This “chest to bar” aspect ensures you are close enough to the bar. Next, squat down - you’re actually just bending your knees - until the underside of your chin touches the bar.
By doing this, you’ve dipped down far enough that you’ve given yourself sufficient room to maintain a neutral wrist. If you don’t dip down far enough to create that space, your wrists will have to bend backward into extension to allow you to pick up the bar (because bending your wrists backward makes your forearms artificially shorter), and this is what you’re trying to avoid.
That’s all there is to it - simply walk your chest up to the bar, dip down until your chin touches the bar as you rotate your elbows slightly in front of the bar, and then stand the bar up while maintaining that nice, neutral wrist.
As a side note, some people won’t need to dip that far down; “chin to bar” will be overkill in these cases, but it will still work for pretty much everyone.
As always, 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.)
If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.
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He Stopped Pressing Like This. You Should Too.
/Many lifters use their hips incorrectly in the press and don't even know it. Do you? Let's find out and fix it.
At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.
7 Ways You're Ruining Your Press: Part 2
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You’ve read Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, you’ve watched the videos, and you are endeavoring to press correctly. Yet . . . you still have problems. Let’s fix them.
In Part 1 of this series, which went up last week, we covered several common press mistakes. In today’s Part 2, we wrap things up by addressing a few more errors as well as how to fix them.
Mistake #5: Ridiculous or Nonexistent Focal Point
When pressing, pick a spot on the wall directly in front of you (at about eye height) and stare at that point the entire time. Stare at it before your first rep, through and between each rep, and until you’ve racked the bar.
Don’t let your gaze wander, and certainly don’t press with your eyes closed, no matter how hard you’re struggling through a particular rep. Focal point contributes mightily toward balance, and the press is very balance-dependent.
Mistake #6: Awful Knees
Don’t let your knees bend when pressing. This is the press, not the push press, and if your knees bend, the lift doesn’t count. To fix this issue, flex your quads before starting the rep and keep them flexed during the entire rep. You can cue yourself to “pull your kneecaps up” or simply tell yourself to “keep your knees tight,” but don’t let your knees get loose when pressing.
Mistake #7: Comically Bad Hip Timing
Remember, the timing is “hips-then-press” - your hips reach forward and then slam back into place, i.e., it’s when you stand back up that you launch the bar upward. The mistake we’re talking about here happens to almost every new lifter when learning the press at some point, especially if you are teaching yourself how to do it.
Here’s what happens - you get a few solid reps, and then you simply get the timing wrong on the next rep. You accidentally reach forward with your hips and try to press the bar upward at the same time. It feels awkward, and if you record yourself on camera and watch afterward, it makes you want to throw up mentally - just a bit - because something isn’t quite right.
The timing is the issue - you did “hips-and-press-at-the-same-time” when you meant to do “hips-then-press.” And, in fact, that’s exactly how you solve the problem, simply tell yourself “hips-THEN-press,” and you’ll do just fine.
As always, we hope these tips help you get stronger and live better.
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