There’s a lot of confusion about what the right groove is for your Press.
Do you push your KB up and away from you in an arc?
Do you push yourself away from the KB?
Do you press in a straight line?
Does your palm face out away from you at the top and what does it mean if you can’t do this?
How do you use your Lat, really?
Seems like there are a million questions surrounding the Press.
And many of the answers *seem* to contradict each other.
So how then do you REALLY find YOUR Press groove?
The answer is surprisingly simple:
Grab your kettlebell by the handle and clean it but don’t let it flip over – that’s right – a “Bottom’s Up” Clean.
Now press it.
That’s right – a Bottom’s Up Press (BUP).
If you’ve never done these before they’re a challenge. You really have to grip the handle tightly to keep it from falling out of position.
When you do, you’ll notice a couple of interesting (and important) things:
1. Your forearms are contracting much harder than they do during a normal press
2. That means your biceps and triceps are too
3. And that also means that pesky lat of yours which is so hard to feel on a normal press is contracting too.
4. As a result of 1-3, your shoulder is automatically “packed”
Now it’s time to press – so Press! But do so slowly and under control.
** *KEY POINT* – Unlike the way you might have been taught to Press, you should never take your eye of the KB during a BUP. You want to see where that thing is at all times in case you lose your grip! **
What you’ll find is that you’re so focused on keeping the KB from tipping to one side or the other, that your forearm stays almost perfectly vertical and perpendicular to the ground the whole way up – until the KB is over your head.
Now pull it back down and you’ll find the same things -
1. You have to squeeze the KB incredibly hard
2. While doing so your lat is firing on all cylinders
3. Hey – what’s that cramping feeling in your side – Oh Yeah! Those are your obliques!
After doing 2 or 3 reps of the BUP, shake out the tension and grab a slightly heavier bell and do a normal KB Press with it.
Try to replicate the sensation in your body that the BUP made you produce and then apply that to your Press.
Do 3-5 reps that same way.
You should find your Press is significantly improved, and you should finally have found YOUR groove.
Spend a couple of Press sessions working back and forth between your BUP and your traditional Press so you can really cement in that
groove.
Once you’ve got it, run a Press specialization cycle or at least a cycle like “Upper Body Blast” from “Kettlebell Express!” that not only includes the Press, but works your pressing muscles with other exercises to help re-enforce the “feel” of your new Press groove.
Talk soon.
Geoff
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