Push press.

It's mainly for Bully, but I couldn't be bothered to find his original
post, so let's start a new thread.

Well, I think I know why your push press (or mine, for that matter too)
isn't good. First I think that you aren't able to transfer much of leg
drive into the bar. Without really strong front squat rack position it
will be hard for anyone to do that. If you look at Oly lifters
recovering from a heavy clean, the bar often jumps up to their nose
level or at least to the chin level without them even trying to do so.
That's some leg drive. Second, I think that you may be slow with
getting your head under the bar. Pushing your head between your arms
fast is important. So to fix your push press, you'd need to vastly
strengthen your rack and work on transferring more leg drive into the
bar; and quite possibly work on getting your head under the bar faster.
Then, to work on flexibility more, I'd recommend to work on lockout by
doing partials. You press the bar up, then unlock your elbows and
lower the bar a bit and lock it out back. Several lockouts for every
press should help after a while.

Or, you may sidestep all that and simply do behind the neck jerks. No
problem with leg drive, they will take care of your flexibility too.
Pudz finished his BTN Jerks with 210 kg, just for reference. ;-)

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R

Andrzej Rosa wrote:
> It's mainly for Bully, but I couldn't be bothered to find his original
> post, so let's start a new thread.

Thanks Andrzej, seems I missed this amongst the dross !

>
> Well, I think I know why your push press (or mine, for that matter
> too) isn't good. First I think that you aren't able to transfer much
> of leg drive into the bar. Without really strong front squat rack
> position it will be hard for anyone to do that.

Which could partially be explained by my lack of wrist flexibilty? When I
hold the bar, it is "held" rather than "racked" in the front squat position
[make sense?]

> If you look at Oly
> lifters recovering from a heavy clean, the bar often jumps up to
> their nose level or at least to the chin level without them even
> trying to do so. That's some leg drive. Second, I think that you may
> be slow with getting your head under the bar.


> Pushing your head between your arms fast is important.
> So to fix your push press,
> you'd need to vastly strengthen your rack and work on transferring
> more leg drive into the bar; and quite possibly work on getting your
> head under the bar faster.

I think I'd prefer to practice this with a relatively light weight !!!

> Then, to work on flexibility more, I'd
> recommend to work on lockout by doing partials. You press the bar
> up, then unlock your elbows and lower the bar a bit and lock it out
> back. Several lockouts for every press should help after a while.

OK, nice one.

>
> Or, you may sidestep all that and simply do behind the neck jerks. No
> problem with leg drive, they will take care of your flexibility too.
> Pudz finished his BTN Jerks with 210 kg, just for reference. ;-)

Sure that's kg not lbs !

Above advice aside...
I actually haven't done any BTN work for years, neither pulldowns nor press.
I saw a guy using the Smiths yesterday doing BTN press and decided I needed
to try it out this week to see whether it will help my shoulder flexibilty.
I guess the band work will help as well. Looks like 2007 needs to be the
Year of the Flexible Shoulder [and Wrist] for me!

--
Bully
Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Dnia 2006-12-07 Bully napisa³(a):
> Andrzej Rosa wrote:
>
>> Well, I think I know why your push press (or mine, for that matter
>> too) isn't good. First I think that you aren't able to transfer much
>> of leg drive into the bar. Without really strong front squat rack
>> position it will be hard for anyone to do that.
>
> Which could partially be explained by my lack of wrist flexibilty?

I think so.

> When I
> hold the bar, it is "held" rather than "racked" in the front squat position
> [make sense?]

That's what I thought. Your arms can't transfer your leg drive into
the bar as well as an upper chest can.

[...]
>> Pushing your head between your arms fast is important.
>> So to fix your push press,
>> you'd need to vastly strengthen your rack and work on transferring
>> more leg drive into the bar; and quite possibly work on getting your
>> head under the bar faster.
>
> I think I'd prefer to practice this with a relatively light weight !!!

It's more important with jerks, but even push-press shouldn't be
similar to high incline bench press. If you prefer to stay with your
current style, make a conscious effort at contracting your abs. It
will take the stress out of your spine.

[...]
>> Or, you may sidestep all that and simply do behind the neck jerks. No
>> problem with leg drive, they will take care of your flexibility too.
>> Pudz finished his BTN Jerks with 210 kg, just for reference. ;-)
>
> Sure that's kg not lbs !

Sure, they are kilos. And when I thought about the way he did pull-ups
I don't think he was bad a them too. Number was low, but he was
gripping those ends of the bar which slope downwards and which one is
supposed to use for behind the neck pull-ups, and he touched his pecs
to the bar with every rep. It's not so easy this way.

Besides, he trains 10 times a week. Most powerlifters I've seen
discussing his training loads don't seem to be impressed, but they
train way less volume, so they are much fresher and can attempt higher
intensity. He's battling with fatigue, though.

> Above advice aside...
> I actually haven't done any BTN work for years, neither pulldowns nor press.
> I saw a guy using the Smiths yesterday doing BTN press and decided I needed
> to try it out this week to see whether it will help my shoulder flexibilty.

It will help. Just be reasonable with what you demand from your body.
In case you can't do this stuff properly right now, ease up into it
progressively.

> I guess the band work will help as well. Looks like 2007 needs to be the
> Year of the Flexible Shoulder [and Wrist] for me!

For me it looks like I'll have to take care of these things from now
on. I'm getting older with every year, I noticed. ;-)

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R