Press and breathing patterns

[RobCor]

Rip,

Re-reading the press section of SS 2nd ed. last night I came across your brief summary of the two methods of breathing during the press. I've been using the breath at the top method since the start, taking advantage of the stretch at the bottom.

At what point would you suggest switching to breathing at the bottom? You mention that breathing at the top is helpful for novices, but as I move toward intermediate numbers (using your strength standards as a rough approximation) I assume I should switch. I get the feeling that this will set me back some weight since I won't be able to rely on the stretch.

Also, in the same section you have two sets of pictures describing the starting position: one with a young man and one with a woman. I was being yelled at by an angry girlfriend to turn the light off, but it seemed like these pictures showed very different positions. The young man seemed to have his elbows shoved far forward such that his forearms would look angled from the side, with the bar on his deltoids, whereas the woman seemed to just be holding up the bar and not resting it on her deltoids at all. Did I miss something?

Thanks in advance.
Rob

[Mark Rippetoe]

The first rep of every set will start from the dead-stop. When you get more advanced you may choose to do some of your work with the rebound and some from all reps dead-stopped.

In both cases the forearms are vertical. Different forearm lengths at the same grip width will have the bar in different positions relative to the deltoids.