Press Form Check

[DavidG]

After getting stuck at 135lbs, I reassessed my grip width thanks to one of Coach Rippetoe's older great videos just about that. Here is third working set at 125lbs: video Yes, that is a fig tree in the foreground.

Thank you in advance,
-David

[Hayden-William Courtland]

Set your grip (before takeout) so that your middle knuckle is pointing up (so, more straight wrists) and elbows slightly in front of the bar. Get nice and tight, with tight armpits before you take it out. Then don't rush the reps. If you do them touch and go like that you risk the bar path going all over the place and pushing the bar away (which happens on some reps). Pause at the bottom, take a breath and get tight (ribs down, abs tight), and then do the next rep.

[DavidG]

Thanks for your quick response, Coach Courtland! I will try your suggestions. Is it ok if I post a follow-up video Monday?

I had been aggressively watching all of the Starting Strength training videos, and this is the one where I saw Coach Rippetoe call out "bounce out". I was a bit surprised at first, but then I recalled he trains squats in a similar way, leveraging stretch reflex.

Thanks again,
-David

[Hayden-William Courtland]

Yes, you can post a follow-up. That is a very old video. The bounce is now typically taught as a stretch reflex that you get from sending your hips forward aggressively in the Press version 2.0. You are doing more of a 1.0 here, and with just regular momentum you will get some bounce, but you need to be careful to not have so much speed that you lose tightness and bar path control.

[mpalios]

Is press 2.0 also breathing at the bottom also? Or still at the top? (I have the blue book, 3rd edition, hard cover)

[Mark Rippetoe]

Bottom. Hard cover edition is obsolete.

[DavidG]

Hi again, Coach Courtland. Here is my attempt at press 2.0 at the same weight as the previous video: video. I apologize that I can't seem to mentally string together a layback into a press (although I sort of tried on the first rep of the third set), not to mention my apparent inability to count to 5.

Thanks so much for your help,
-David

[Hayden-William Courtland]

Speed and control is better today, but see my earlier comment for setup that you need to fix with knuckles, elbows, armpits, etc. You don't have to do a layback to Press.

[DavidG]

Thanks again for your quick reply, Coach Courtland. I will work on the chest up, armpit tightness. I am have trouble keeping my wrists neutral at this weight, however. I will review the book on this. Is it possible the weight isn't sitting low enough in my palm?

-David

[Hayden-William Courtland]

Hi David,

Review the instructional video for how to set there grip here:

Rip Fixes Your Press Grip - YouTube

It likely isn't sitting quite right now and will probably feel a bit weird once you do it this way, but it will be more stable and efficient in the long run. You can also use wrist wraps to help keep your wrists from bending back.