Wrist position during press
Hi Coach Rip,
Studying the pictures and drawings in SSBBT2 I am not sure about the extension of the wrist regarding the starting position and the lockout position over head in the press. Figure 5-10 as well as 5-13 clearly shows a bended wrist. 5-15 shows the lockout position with a straight wrist-line. Me myself I realized that I can lift more weight using a bent wrist (not to mention that for me it is necessary to bend my wrist so that the barbell rests on my anterior deltoid). In spite of that figure 5-16 shows a relative straight wrist being in the starting position. Whenever I use this wrist-position I am not able to use as much weight as with the aforementioned wrist-position, not at all.
So my question are:
1. Am I right that the starting position in the press uses a (quite) bent wrist, the lockout a straight one thus the wrist straightens during the upward movement? Or should the wrist be more like in the bench press throughout the whole movement (figure 3-13).
2. Is there an ideal wrist-straightening process interdependent with the ideal bar movement upwards (if at all)? Or is this more of an individual thing?
3. The fact that I can lift far less weight with a straight wrist in the starting position makes me wonder why. Or am I built wrong? ;-)
Regardless of the wrist position:
4. The lats, in which position am I to bring them: should I pull my shoulderblades back (bench press) or perhaps push them out (sth. like to emphasize the lat's V-shape - figure 5-8 indicates the V shape ?!?)? ... I don't know how to describe this, hope you get my point. (I am aware of the fact that I have to lift the chest. I can do this in either way.)
5. I am curios about the contribution of the clavicular in the overheadpress.
I hope my decriptions are clear enough. English isn't my mother tongue.
Help and explanations much appreciated. Thank you.