Very bad pressing

[Angela Pereira]

My press is going nowhere fast.
36yo female, 70kg, nlp. 10% deload due to break from lifting over holidays now back at my PR(!) of 30kg 5x3. Had aimed to try 32.5kg in this session as last time 30kg felt easy. It did not go well. Failed 3rd rep of warm up set at 30kg due to left elbow pain I tend to get with any pressing movement when I lose tightness. So I repeated 30kg and got the other sets fine. I admit to a paranoid fear of taking off my nose with the bar, perhaps this is affecting bar path so much the whole thing gets screwed. Help..?

4th and 5th sets of 3
YouTube
YouTube

[Charlocity2]

The bar path does seem farther from the face than it should be.

One of the reasons for the hip extension is getting the face out of the way of a vertical bar path.

Speaking of hip extension: do you see yours coming more from your knees, rather than your hips?

I hope others weigh in that are more qualified than me.

[Angela Pereira]

Do you know a cue I could try to get more hip involvement? I am thinking about ‘hip thrust’ when I do it...

[Ryan Arnold]

It does seem like you are getting a little knee bend here. Think about squeezing your quads tighter and reaching your belly button out further in front. Do you have microplates? 2.5 or even 1lb jumps would be ideal. Also wearing a belt might help with overall tightness

[Jeff Illingworth]

There's a little bit of a timing glitch in there, too. The best timing was on the 3rd rep of the fourth set - see how the bar "drops" as you snap the hips and then starts going right back up? That's more what you're aiming for. In addition to wearing a belt for tightness, you can clean up the unracking process as well. Get a breath and set your valsalva before you unrack, step back, set, and press all on the same breath. It removes a lot of the wobble. If you can find a way to press so you aren't looking into the mirror, that might help a little, too. I think pressing looking into a mirror is even more of a distraction than squatting looking into it.

[Angela Pereira]

Thanks all, will try to incorporate this week. I have loads of microplates! Just got carried away with quick progression following holiday reset, should have known better. Unfortunately only one rack out of three is mirror free at my gym, it really does bother me to have the mirror there. Briefly considered pressing with eyes closed but then imagined myself over balancing and ending in a heap on the floor. Oh well the struggle continues!

[Jeff Illingworth]

If you need, tape piece of paper to the mirror where you will look.