Weak off the Chest in the Press (NOT bench press)

Yes, he's trying to get them to use the olympic press technique. Some olympic lifters went to extremes with it, thats why the press was dropped. None of them in that vid did it exactly right though. It goes in this order.
1. lean back slightly
2. pop the hips back and the shoulders forward to initiate the press(its mostly horizontal movement but there is a small vertical movement that jump starts the press)
3. lean back slightly to press through sticking point.
4. move head through and in front of bar to complete the lift.

The guy in the navy blue shirt was doing it backwards, popping the hips forward to launch the bar. The woman did it best, but didn't do the second lean back.

This is what it should look like, minus the exaggerated lean back.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3nJrYPVJ88M&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3nJrYPVJ88M&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Now that IS a way of "cheating" without technically breaking the rules of what a press is. So you have to decide if you're comfortable with that or if you just want to increase your pure, strict pressing strength. Most people fail at the start of a press. The best thing to do is press, maybe focus on pausing on the chest for every rep.
 
JPC said:
Yes, he's trying to get them to use the olympic press technique. Some olympic lifters went to extremes with it, thats why the press was dropped. None of them in that vid did it exactly right though. It goes in this order.
1. lean back slightly
2. pop the hips back and the shoulders forward to initiate the press(its mostly horizontal movement but there is a small vertical movement that jump starts the press)
3. lean back slightly to press through sticking point.
4. move head through and in front of bar to complete the lift.

The guy in the navy blue shirt was doing it backwards, popping the hips forward to launch the bar. The woman did it best, but didn't do the second lean back.

This is what it should look like, minus the exaggerated lean back.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3nJrYPVJ88M&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3nJrYPVJ88M&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Now that IS a way of "cheating" without technically breaking the rules of what a press is. So you have to decide if you're comfortable with that or if you just want to increase your pure, strict pressing strength. Most people fail at the start of a press. The best thing to do is press, maybe focus on pausing on the chest for every rep.
Click to expand...


i basically crapped my pants the first time i saw that video.
 
JPC said:
Yes, he's trying to get them to use the olympic press technique. Some olympic lifters went to extremes with it, thats why the press was dropped. None of them in that vid did it exactly right though. It goes in this order.
1. lean back slightly
2. pop the hips back and the shoulders forward to initiate the press(its mostly horizontal movement but there is a small vertical movement that jump starts the press)
3. lean back slightly to press through sticking point.
4. move head through and in front of bar to complete the lift.

The guy in the navy blue shirt was doing it backwards, popping the hips forward to launch the bar. The woman did it best, but didn't do the second lean back.

This is what it should look like, minus the exaggerated lean back.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3nJrYPVJ88M&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3nJrYPVJ88M&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Now that IS a way of "cheating" without technically breaking the rules of what a press is. So you have to decide if you're comfortable with that or if you just want to increase your pure, strict pressing strength. Most people fail at the start of a press. The best thing to do is press, maybe focus on pausing on the chest for every rep.
Click to expand...

The thing that blows me away most about that video is that he used NO leg drive. It seemed like he generated all the power through his hips/core. INSANE.
 
that's amazing...that's some crazy layback but still....502lb is insane esp with no leg drive...plus it's likely that this was not even his max....his gym lift was probably higher....
 
Sweet.

Rippetoe says that, for strength training purposes, a good press is somewhere in between a strict military press and the crazy Olympic presses of old. I think I would agree with that.
 
Whatever you do, make sure you log it. Being weak off the chest myself, I'm looking forward to seeing what works for you. :D
 
^Will do.

You know, I think what impresses me post about that vid was not just the press, but the clean. He power cleaned it, looked like he dropped down like 4in to catch it. That's amazing.
 
XTrainer said:
^Will do.

You know, I think what impresses me post about that vid was not just the press, but the clean. He power cleaned it, looked like he dropped down like 4in to catch it. That's amazing.
Click to expand...

Serge Redding was probably the strongest olympic weightlifter ever. Even Alexeyev admitted that Redding was stronger than he was (Alexeyev had better form in the jerk and snatch).
 
I am no expert but I will offer my two cents anyway...besides the chains/bands idea which is very useful for increasing lifts....what are your warmups like? I would recommend light lifts for tri's and lats for sure and probably a light core workout. With the lats and tris I would work on developing an insane pump prior to pressing. Having taut aux muscles is critical to any lift and if you think about it, the area where you are having trouble could be supplemented greatly by pumped, strong triceps and lats that hold the weight w/o full use of the shoulders per se. Also, I've seen some power lifters work in restricted ranges with light weight. So you could put four bars in a squat rack, 2 on each side, in the range that your having trouble with and train in that range. Light weight, focused on form and recruiting all the neurons available to fire appropriately as needed.....again with all aux muscles on board. Just my 1/2 cent.
 
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7erVblY7aiU&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7erVblY7aiU&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Here is Alexeyev breaking the record Redding set just above. With the side view you can see the Olympic press form very clearly and in exagerated form to understand what Rippetoe is talking about. I compare it to using a big arch in bench: Not necessary for general strength development, but if you want to move the biggest weight possible you need to learn how to do it.
 
^^Has that record been broken? Thats incredible!
 
They dropped the press after that Olympics, so Alexeyev's record will probably be forever. Redding's lift was much cleaner, and many argue that Alexeyev clearly unlocked his knees and used some leg drive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,237,088
Messages
55,466,897
Members
174,786
Latest member
plasterby

Share this page

Back
Top