Press Form Check

[Nicholas Rega]

Anybody got any cues to help me keep my abs braced?
Nicholas R on Instagram: “Today’s featured lift - the press. I have such a love-hate relationship with this lift. I find it to be so technically difficult. Here…”

[Charlocity2]

Well, cues are usually 2-3 words, seldom 4, so: "take a punch", meaning, brace your abs as if you were about to absorb a blow to your gut.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hi,

personally, I find easier to tighten up if my feet are not too far apart, although I would not be able to provide an explaination. I think your stance might be a bit too wide.

Also, I think keeping the bar so far away from where it should ideally be (resting on delts/clavicles) is a double-edged sword; it clearly makes raking and holding the bar easier (or maybe at all possible). On the other hand, during the hip-thrust phase of the lift, it makes it difficult to keep the bar in a fixed position relative to the torso/shoulders. In other words, the thrust you generate with your hips has to go through an extra lever to reach the bar.

Hope this helps,

IPB

[Nicholas Rega]

@Charlocity2
Thanks I’ll try that cue.

@IIPrincipeBrutto
I’ll try narrowing my stance slightly.

As far as where I hold the bar, I completely understand where you are coming from with the other lever. In the past I had trouble getting my elbows forward with the bar on my chest. I might try it again though if narrowing my stance and using the pinch cue prove to be ineffective. I think that it would indeed help with your perspective, but Coach Racculia didn't make that change when I saw him.

Thanks for the response guys!

[Nicholas Rega]

Thanks for the help guys! I’m pretty happy with these presses tonight. What do y’all think?

https://youtu.be/Jhb-bANEC14

[funits]

The bar should be rested on your shoulders.

[funits]

That's wrong, I made a mistake

[Charlocity2]

Looks better. Now that you have the abs cue you wanted, what you need is not flexing your hips backward, before your hip extension.

Mind you, it's less here than it was in your prior video. Look for an older video here on the press with Brent Carter where he talks about this. Also, the new platform video on the press is excellent.

If you video again, from the side might be instructive.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

What do y’all think?

The look better. You still appear a bit floppy in the legs and maybe in the hips. You really need to lock both hard and tight, to give your pressing a solid base.
Also, you should think about moving the bar really fast in those first two inches. Clearly, as the weight increase it's not going to move that rapidly, but the volitional effort to do so will help you. I'll exaggerate a bit, but that bar really needs to be shot upwards with all the force and intensity you can get.
Which is where all that tightness in the legs and abs comes useful.

Keep going, hope this helps.

IPB

[Nicholas Rega]

funtis, during a previous run at training, I had trouble getting my elbows forward of the barbell while keeping the bar in contact with my shoulders/chest with a grip that facilitated vertical forearms. Likely has to do with my anthropometry. I am curious if I can maybe somehow get the bar in contact with my torso, but I’ll save experimentation for after my lp.

Charlocity2, I’ll have to watch my hips more.

IIPrincipeBrutto, I’ll agree about the legs. Intraset, I was noticing I was forgetting to get tight in there. I’ll try to move the bar faster at the beginning, but I don’t foresee any improvement in speed.

Thanks everyone! I’ll upload a side view clip the next time I press.