Are Pressing Ability and Cleaning/Snatching Ability Related?

[David Kirkham]

Rip,

Are pressing ability and cleaning/snatching ability related in terms of power?

As I look over guys' press numbers throughout the forums (including SSOC Facebook) I think I'm seeing a trend that guys with lower press numbers tend to have lower clean and snatch numbers as well. Some guys have stout squats and dead lifts, but their press seems to be relatively weak. I've always wondered about that.

While reading Starr's "Quest For a Stronger Overhead Press"

https://startingstrength.com/article...ress_starr.pdf

this quote struck me, "When a lifter utilized the new [Tony Garcy] style, the bar would explode off his shoulders and be locked out in a nanosecond. It was extremely difficult to judge." (italics added).

Contemplating Newton's 1st Law, "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion," led me to think of my own press. When I get it just right, it's magic. I literally don't feel the weight until the bar it is over my head--only then do I feel like I actually start pressing.

Because there is minimal stretch reflex in a press, the bar is a bitch to get moving. Explosive athletes can accelerate the bar up and past their head quickly--which makes it far easier to continue the motion all the way to lock out. Typically, the further up we press through the range of motion, the easier it is to lock the press out which is why most of us can pin press far more than we can actually press.

Taking this one step further...the greater the initial bar acceleration (just like a clean or snatch) the easier it will be for the athlete to get back under the bar--if timed correctly--to execute a double layback . The double layback allows the athlete to gain even more arm extension and hence, greater mechanical advantage.

Finally, this makes me wonder if perhaps this is part of the reason women generally press far less than men?

[Mark Rippetoe]

All excellent points. Explains why huge presses are as rare as 36-inch SVJs. That, plus the fact that nobody trains them heavy from the start of training in the teenage years like they did in the 60s.