How to Press: The Setup | STOP Doing This!

A couple of weeks back, we discussed the bench press setup, and in the near future, we’ll cover the squat setup. Today, however, we’re talking about the press setup and a common mistake that we see.

We’ve covered the press setup before in several articles and videos (some of which you’ll see throughout this article), but the major point of emphasis in today’s article is the timing of the setup. The press setup obeys the same rule as the bench press setup:

Everything that can be set up before you unrack the bar should be set up before you unrack the bar.

In other words, we’re not talking about the how of the setup as much as we’re talking about the when of the setup. Anything that can be tight, rigid, and correctly positioned before lifting the bar off the hooks . . . should be. In short, setting up for the press is a lot like pulling up your pants - be sure to do it before you walk out the door . . . not after.

figure 1: See this hideousness? these nasty elbows and wrists should have been fixed before unracking the bar.

If you find yourself having to adjust your elbows and wrists after you’ve unracked the barbell (Figure 1), you’re doing it wrong (and inefficiently), so let’s fix this.

To correctly and efficiently set up for the press, perform the following 5 steps (and watch the included video above for a demonstration of the process)

Before You Unrack the Bar

1: Grip
Take the correct grip - narrow, slightly pronated, and with the bar supported by the base of the palms.

2: Approach
Walk up to the bar - extremely close to the bar. If your chest touches the bar, you’re doing well.

figure 2: Better - note the elbows and wrists.

3: Dip
Squat down (dip down, really) as far as needed to ensure that you can rotate your elbows into the correct position - slightly in front of the bar - while keeping your wrists relatively straight (Figure 2). If you are fixing your elbow and/or wrist position after you’ve stood the bar up off the hooks, you’re doing it wrong, and this is exactly the problem we’re trying to eliminate. Remember - pull your pants up before you walk out the door - not after.

Unracking the Bar

4: Stand Up
Stand the bar up with your legs. That’s right, you unrack the bar with your legs, not your arms. Everything from your waist upward is frozen in place - it never moves again until you start the first rep.

5: Stay Close
Take 2 small half-steps back from the rack - one with your right foot and one with your left foot. Stay relatively close to the rack.

Now you’re ready to press without needing to make any adjustments to your elbows and wrists (which, under a heavy load, is a waste of time and energy).

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

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10 Signs That Your Press Is About to BLOW UP

Want to improve your press? In this short video, Phil provides 10 tips you can start implementing today.

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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.

Diamond Grip for the Press and Bench Press

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 02/11/22)

When learning to press or bench press, getting the correct grip can be tricky at first. A very common error is to take a grip that carries the bar back in the fingers (Figure 1).

Figure 1: This is no good.

Let’s fix this.

When we press or bench press, we’d like the barbell to be supported directly over the bones of the forearms, and to do this, we pronate our grip so that the bar sits on the heel of the palm. This provides for excellent force transfer between our arms and hands and the bar, whereas holding the bar back in the fingers with wrists in full extension creates a very weak and flimsy position.

Pronating your grip (Figure 2) simply means that you’re going to rotate your thumbs down toward your feet, and after that, you squeeze the bar tightly with your fingers (“crush the bar” is a good cue).

Figure 2: This . . . is much better.

With this said, new lifters sometimes screw up the pronation step, either rotating their hands the wrong way or spinning their hands on top of the bar (in the press). If this is you, take the “diamond grip” approach as shown in Figure 3:

Figure 3: The Diamond Grip approach

Step 1
Place your palms on the bar - palms will face the wall (not the floor) with thumbs below the bar and in contact with each other.

Step 2
Rotate your hands so that your index fingers are now in contact with each other (above the bar). The gap between your hands will make a diamond if you’ve done this correctly.

Step 3
Slide your hands away from each other until you reach the correct grip width - narrow for the press (about shoulder width) and about a hand-width wider than that for the bench press.

Step 4
Squeeze the bar tightly with your fingers.

Make a diamond with your hands and then slide your hands outward - it’s that simple.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

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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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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

STOP Bench Pressing VERTICALLY! How to Bench Press Correctly

Are you bench pressing in a nice, straight, vertical line? Well . . . don't do that. Phil covers how and why to bench correctly.

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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.

(3 MISTAKES) When Pressing with Your HIPS

There are 3 mistakes you might be making with your hips when you press - let's fix all 3 in under 3 minutes.

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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.

The FWYS Principle: If You Don't Change This, Your Press Will ALWAYS Suffer

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 12/24/21)

A common problem with new lifters and the press is achieving the correct start position for each rep - specifically, achieving the correct start position for every rep after your first rep.

After all, the correct start position for the first rep should be accomplished by correctly gripping and unracking the bar in the first place (watch the included video that covers this), but today, we're specifically talking about getting the correct start position for the rest of your set (e.g., your 2nd rep all the way to the end of the set).

Figure 1

The key is to finish the press where you start the press, so make sure that you start with elbows slightly in front of the bar, squeezing the bar tightly and with relatively straight wrists (technically, they will be slightly in extension) as you see in Figure 1. Then, after locking out the rep overhead, simply remind yourself to lower it back to this exact same position.

Figure 2: Don’t be like this fool.

Specifically, we do not want to lower the bar back to the position you see in Figure 2, where the lifter has his elbows behind the bar and wrists in severe extension. It’s a weaker position - it’s tough to support a heavy weight in this position, and now you’ve got to spend time and energy getting back to the correct start position.

Even worse, if you don’t spend that time and energy getting back to the correct position, it’s harder to press the bar overhead from this weak position. This poor position often contributes to a forward bar path on the next rep, which can easily be the difference between a successful rep and a missed rep at challenging weights.

Figure 3

Again, the key is to finish where you start (FWYS).

If you still find that lowering the bar consistently to the correct start position is difficult, try this mental picture (Figure 3) - imagine that you are standing very close to a wall with the bar locked out overhead. While lowering the bar, picture yourself dragging your elbows down the wall while keeping your fists (and therefore the bar) away from the wall.

Remember to aim for your nose with the bar on the way down as well as on the way up. This “elbows-dragging-down-the-wall” image is a slightly exaggerated picture of what we actually want to happen (watch the included video to see this in action), but a number of our members have found this very useful.

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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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?