PRESSing problems

[confuzzl3don3]

See the pun there ;) Anyways i've always been having trouble with my upper body lifts, but i was just wonderinng if any of these would be considered a decent press, or are these all too heavy for me with too much leaning back and that i need to drop the weight.

Press - 42.5kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqZiLOcVTKM

And i've dropped deadlifts down to once a week. Hit 128kg today and damn it felt hard. Just hoping for some critique of it.

Deadlift (only got the first 3 reps because then the camera ran out of memory)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9-xCp5NSEE

[milesdyson]

definitely not too much, but it might help you to try getting under the bar faster. all of your head movement doesn't have to come from lean back, either, meaning your head does not have to stay still with respect to your upper body.

imagine trying not to lean back at all. you'd have to crank your head far back in order for the bar to clear your chin. i'm using this as a visual and not a technique recommendation, but you get the idea. try incorporating a little of this into the start of your lift, and see how you like it.

[confuzzl3don3]

I get what you mean about moving your head back without necessarily moving your whole body back, and i've just tried doing that now but it seems to require a lot of thought because when i want my head to move back, my back naturally follows.

[milesdyson]

it's not something you'll just incorporate perfectly the next time you lift (what is?), so that isn't surprising. i'm sure you go to further lengths before writing something off, right?

anyway, here's a video of me pressing. watch the 5th rep, which i fail. i still get my head back under the bar even though it just stops right above my dome. you aren't getting back under the bar on some of these reps until it's almost locked out overhead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rD12XIZ-gs

[confuzzl3don3]

I see what you mean. You move your head back quickly while i take way too long to come back under it. I'll have to work on it. I always fail with the bar in front of me rather than over me because i neverget back under the bar fast enough.

Btw 195lbs. Sick.

[tennisgod]

With all your videos over the past few months, I've been in your bedroom more than my girlfriend's...

Just kidding you. Keep up the great work.

[Force Production]

Would be helpful to be able to see your whole body. Think you could move out of your room and film somewhere else?

[confuzzl3don3]

With all your videos over the past few months, I've been in your bedroom more than my girlfriend's...

Just kidding you. Keep up the great work.

Haha if only i had a girlfriend :D


Would be helpful to be able to see your whole body. Think you could move out of your room and film somewhere else?

True, i'll see if i can get a shot from further away, maybe a front view of that would be possible.

[Tim]

I'm at about your deadlift (pulled 130kg today) and I've been finding that it helps a lot to look down more, like keeping my head in a normal line with my spine as I pull. Form looks great to me otherwise, as a fellow noob at least. Are you using hook grip?

[Raskolnikov]

I have the exact same problem with my press, confuzzl3don3. I'm super slow getting back under the bar, and the problem only gets worse when things get "heavy." I got stuck at 135 for about 3 weeks before I finally fixed things -- it's amazing how much more explosive you feel once you figure it out -- and I still have to constantly remind myself to get under the bar or I quickly revert back to my old habit. I think "forward" as soon as the bar comes off my shoulders. And I've really had to focus on pushing my head back rather than leaning back, and I make sure to lift my chest as high as possible (thoracic extension) without leaning back too much at the hips.

[confuzzl3don3]

I'm at about your deadlift (pulled 130kg today) and I've been finding that it helps a lot to look down more, like keeping my head in a normal line with my spine as I pull. Form looks great to me otherwise, as a fellow noob at least. Are you using hook grip?

Ok i'll try looking down a bit more. As per usual, when i think UP, my head follows. And i'm using a mixed grip. hook hurts too much :P


I have the exact same problem with my press, confuzzl3don3. I'm super slow getting back under the bar, and the problem only gets worse when things get "heavy." I got stuck at 135 for about 3 weeks before I finally fixed things -- it's amazing how much more explosive you feel once you figure it out -- and I still have to constantly remind myself to get under the bar or I quickly revert back to my old habit. I think "forward" as soon as the bar comes off my shoulders. And I've really had to focus on pushing my head back rather than leaning back, and I make sure to lift my chest as high as possible (thoracic extension) without leaning back too much at the hips.


Yeah. Hopefully i can get the hang of it and can actually stack up some weight on my press.

[tescott]

You're pausing for a long time at the top. One thing that helped me a lot was trying to speed up my sets: Lock it out, take a short, sharp breath, and quickly bring it down as-fast-as-you-can-while-staying-tight, bounce it back up there, and repeat. That way, you're using far less energy to simply hold the weight.

This is especially pertinent for the press, since it takes a lot of abdominal stability to hold the weight above your head for longer, and so you'll get fatigued abs before the set is finished.

[TomC]

anyway, here's a video of me pressing. watch the 5th rep, which i fail. i still get my head back under the bar even though it just stops right above my dome. you aren't getting back under the bar on some of these reps until it's almost locked out overhead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rD12XIZ-gs

Those are some legit presses. You do an excellent job of getting your head and shoulders under the bar as early as you can. Impressive.

[Squatson]

it looks to me like you don't really press "hard" until you get to that sticking point...it is going to be hard, you know it is going to be hard, press hard the whole time.

good points made about getting the bar around your head smoothly and earlyly.