So far I’ve searched the site on technique info on shoulder presses and I haven’t come across anything very detailed, even in Poliquin’s “Lost Art of Overhead Pressing”.
Luckily I’ve taken care of my weakpoints (lower back, abdominals), but I’m still lost as to techniques of unracking, racking, and hand position on the bar for the overhead press. My questions are:
How should you go about racking/unracking the bar?
What is the proper way to grip the bar (grip width, overhead width, starting position, etc)?
This would be a great help to me, as right now overhead pressing is going well, but I want to avoid injuring myself on something stupid that could of been avoided.
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How should you go about racking/unracking the bar?[/quote]
IMO rack and unrack from the ground. Yup clean the weight. I just feel that if you cant clean it you have NO good reason to be putting it over your head.
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What is the proper way to grip the bar (grip width, overhead width, starting position, etc)? [/quote]
Well the position that works best for you and causes NO PAIN. Using as full an ROM as possible within the parameters as well. I find that shoulder width or slightly less is right for me If I go WIDE I start to aggrevate the shoulders in a NOT good way. I bring it to rest across chest/clavicle and press it to loack out.
Practice up. get those cleans down, vary reps sets loads even doing clean and presses with HEAVY loads if/once your clean can allow it.
you do not need to clean it just to overhead press it, especially if you do not know how to clean. Starting out w/ dumbbells as stated in that article is also a good idea.
I agree with Phill. There’s something about cleaning the weight that sets you up for a good press. I use the same grip-width for pressing as for the clean – about a thumb’s distance from the edge of the knurling. Dumbbells and kettlebells are also very good to use.
i just started reading the article about the lost art of overhead pressing and i found this little quote…
"1. Whether you’re doing front or behind-the-neck presses, make sure that your dominant leg is about 10 to 12 inches forward to the other foot. This diminishes pressure on the lower back compared to the standard feet-aligned technique. "
now, how do you tell which leg is the dominant one ? Sry for the dumb question.
[quote]bruinsdmb wrote:
you do not need to clean it just to overhead press it, especially if you do not know how to clean. Starting out w/ dumbbells as stated in that article is also a good idea. [/quote]
I familiar with the clean, and should have no problem cleaning my OHP weight. Just never thought of doing that, I usually just leave it on the rack, I’ll try the cleaning next workout. =]