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Thread: Press Check

  1. #1
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    Default Press Check

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    Hey guys as you know i'm just coming back from a cut, and so i deloaded by 10% on all my lifts. I'm approaching my last 5RM again on the press (it was pretty much 51.5kg) and so today was at 51kg. I managed to get 5/5/4 but i find this crap really taxing on the back. I don't want to resort to throwing on a belt again, but i think it may help yet i feel that i am not lifting enough weight to warrant using it. Anyways i only got a vid of my last set on which i failed the last rep. I know why i failed it (bar got stuck going up, i tried arching my back more to help, and it got too far out front that i couldn't bring it back in) I'm not sure whether to attribute this to weak abs, or a weak back but either way it sucks and i don't know what i should do about it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-7OvkSA8x8

  2. #2
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    Hi,

    just a 2p suggestion: maybe you could try to move the bar as if you wanted to hit your nose. It looks to me like the initial path is a bit too vertical, which means you have a long way to go to dip under the bar. Keeping elbows just a tad more in front might help too.

    IPB

  3. #3
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    Isn't the bar path meant to be vertically up?

    And also i've been having questions that i've been meaning to ask for a while in regards to the grip of the press. I know that you should aim to get the bar back in the palm of your hands rather than the fingers. Do you do the same thing as the bench press in terms of placing the bar in the base of your hand and then rotating your elbows externally slightly before gripping the bar (it's the bit in SS about setting up the grip for the bench)? Or do you just grip it straight on without that bit of elbow flare? (I hope you guys understand what i'm trying to describe here)

    And similarly when coming back down on the press, do you guys think about bringing the elbows back to in front of the bar, or similarly to the bench, kind of think about "tearing the bar apart" but not to as much of a degree so that your elbows seem to end up being more directly under the bar? (Again i hope you get what i'm trying to describe here)
    Last edited by confuzzl3don3; 08-26-2010 at 05:22 AM.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by confuzzl3don3 View Post
    Isn't the bar path meant to be vertically up?
    Touche', it was a poor choice of words.
    Let me try to explain myself better.
    When I press my mental cue is to push the bar into my nose. Thinking about moving the bar diagonally into my face seems to help me into getting an actual path that is vertical. It also helps me to focus on the position of my elbows.
    I hope I explained myself better this time.

    IPB

  5. #5
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    Man, just wear the goddamn belt. If it helps, keep it, if not, don't.

    Also I think you should think about a faster eccentric and being more explosive off the bottom.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by LudwigVan View Post
    Man, just wear the goddamn belt. If it helps, keep it, if not, don't.

    Also I think you should think about a faster eccentric and being more explosive off the bottom.
    I was thinking both of those things myself.

  7. #7
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    I've had problems with my back hurting on presses too. Concentrate on tightening your abs HARD throughout the movement but especially at the bottom. This will keep your lumbar spine from hyperextending (helps with pain) and makes the whole spinal column more rigid (so you won't dissapate pressing force).

  8. #8
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    Some good advice already. You are leaning back a little too much on the last two reps and it's getting away from your face (always think about keeping it close(r) to your face); leaning back excessively is also stressful for your lumbars. Everything needs to be extremely tight on the way down. +1 on being more explosive off the bottom, you should hit that part very aggressively.

    About your grip, grip it the same way as you bench, rotating the elbows out a bit to get it down closer to your wrist. But before you unrack it, rotate your elbows back down while keeping it in the same place in your hand. I dont think elbows pointing out works well on the press. At the bottom of the press, elbows return to in front, same as the first rep.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by misspelledgeoff View Post
    I've had problems with my back hurting on presses too. Concentrate on tightening your abs HARD throughout the movement but especially at the bottom. This will keep your lumbar spine from hyperextending (helps with pain) and makes the whole spinal column more rigid (so you won't dissapate pressing force).
    I have really struggled with maintaining back position on the press, and last time I pressed, I had an epiphany which really helped me out. I had been tightening up my back first and THEN tightening my abs against that, with varying degrees of success; in general, it was a struggle to maintain enough ab contraction to hold the back position. My epiphany was to contract my abs FIRST, then tighten up my back against that. Basically, tightening the back first tilted my ribcage back a little, which lengthened my abs, which made it harder to maintain their contraction, as they were already stretched out a little. The new method keeps the abs short and burly, and just sort of locks the back down in a nice advantageous position.

    I hope that makes sense, because it feels great.

  10. #10
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    Your first 3 reps looked fine. Your form degraded on the last 2. You've been getting plenty of perfectly good advice on form, but sometimes form just deteriorates when you are near the limits of your strength. I think your diet may be the most likely culprit.

    That said, I agree with everyone who suggested trying a belt. And, I find that weighted abdominal exercises help - give them a try if you haven't already.

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