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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