November 9th, 1922 - July 5th, 2003
More by Morris Weissbrot here:
That one's in five parts.
"Once upon a time there lived a handsome young prince . . ."
As youngsters, when we used to see this kind of opening sentence, we knew immediately that we were reading a "fairy tale" . . . something that existed only in the imagination of the author . . . something that was not "for real."
Now we're all grown up, but we're still confronted with fairy tales from time to time . . . only now we read them in the International Rule Book of Weightlifting, and they go something like . . . "There shall be no exaggerated lean back of the trunk under the bar, and no bending of the trunk by flexion or extension."
Now, those of you who have read the rules of the game will recognize the sentence in quotes as Rules 5 and 6, under the Two Hands Clean and Press in our rule book.
And, you will also know that nobody . . . BUT NOBODY! . . . follows these rules in actual practice. The Press has been much maligned in its usage, so much so, in fact, that there has been talk in high circles of dropping it completely from International competition. We've all been to contests, and have seen some pretty awful interpretations of what used to be a beautiful lift.
The modern "press" doesn't even remotely the old Military Press any more. My ol' buddy Bob Crist of Virginia . . .
. . . calls what the fellows are doing today the "two hands clean and convulsion" . . . and that about describes it in a nutshell.
Please don't understand me, fellows. I'm not advocating the return of the old-fashioned Military Press. But I do feel that our lifters should learn the technique of the modern press so that their performance may at least be judged within the framework of the existing rules. Make no mistake, boys . . . the judges are starting to tighten up!
At the World Championships in Tehran, many of our favorites were ruled out on their presses. Men like Vakhonin of Russia and Fukuda of Japan failed to make totals because of tight officiating in the press.
There was a time when the so-called Russian style was in vogue, and everyone started off with a large-sized lay-back, doing what amounted to a standing incline. Then Tony Garcy went one step further . . .
. . . adapting the layback into a sort of catapult action, whipping the bar up and then laying back a second time to lock the arms . . . and then coming erect again to finish the lift.
The harassed officials are trying to judge the amount of back-bending by the degrees of inclination from the vertical. At one time a bend of 41 degrees was allowed . . . now they're talking about 27 degrees as the minimum. But the judgement on this lift is too subjective a thing to try to determine such exact measurements.
The latest style in the press now utilizes a more erect starting position and a short, violent hip thrust to shoot the bar overhead from which position it is then comparatively easy to lock it out.
When this style is handled by an expert, the lift looks good, VERY GOOD! BUT, it must be done SMOOTHLY. The pictures I took in Poland show this style very clearly. You'll find that just about every one of the better lifters in the world is now pressing this way.
It's up to the individual lifter to develop a good basic style . . . one that will pass anywhere, without question. This style is the one he should use for his first attempt. Then, for the second attempt, he can increase the intensity of the hip action. The big mistake most fellows make . . .
I'll take a guess here: the big mistake fellows make is putting winning a competition above the degradation and destruction of a sport on their wee list?
Nope.
The big mistake most fellows make is in trying to use a knee kick, or a bounce off the chizette, oops, to get the initial drive. Both of these methods will result in getting more weight overhead . . . but the infractions are so obvious that the lift will be turned down.
Once in a while, though, we get a set of officials who get a little too generous . . . and then all kinds of funny looking lifts get passed. BUT DON'T DEPEND ON IT! I've seen three officials pass a perfectly awful looking press with knee kick, back-bend, the works . . . and then turn around and fail another guy who'd doing exactly the same thing! The only thing I can say in a case like this, is that the judges are only human, after all, and once in a while they goof. And, with the way lifters are pressing nowadays, it's quite easy for them to goof!
[Right! Over and over again for the same lifters, the same countries, etc. Hey, it's competition on a high level, so expect the filth of human nature's unchecked and overwhelming desire to "succeed" at that level to do just about ANYTHING to achieve a few back pats, new home for your Mom, money, more duh better drugs, shoe sponsorships or clueless ego-bloated mug on a cereal box or supplement bottle.]
Now that I've painted such a black picture of what's wrong with the press, let's see what we can do to IMPROVE THE LIFT!
Besides "adjusting" the officiating, I mean.
How can a lifter build up his Press?
How do you train on the Press?
Rather than go into any involved discussion of techniques at this time, I think I ought to run through some of the basic exercises that can be used to build up the lift. It would be very easy to say that all you have to do is press, Press, PRESS [see top photo, your left], but there are many assistance exercises for this lift, and you should take advantage of them at some time during your training.
Here's a rundown in briefs:
Followed by a brief rundown:
1) Dumbbell presses:
One hand, two hand, alternate, standing, seated.
2) Incline presses:
Use a fairly high incline, 60-75 degrees.
Note: standing incline BB press works great for this.
3) Bench press:
Use a shoulder width grip, low reps and heavy weight.
4) Seated press, barbell.
5) Press behind neck:
Seated and standing.
6) Press on Isometric rack:
Set the pins at varying heights, to practice the start, middle position (sticking point), and finishing lockout. You can also use the rack to do partial bench presses.
7) Push jerk, or jerk press:
For handling heavy weights overhead.
How often should you train on the press?
How many sets?
How many reps?
Again, this depends on the individual. I'd say that some form of pressing movement should be included in every workout.
The actual exercises can be varied. Take your pick from those I've listed. In a regular pressing workout, don't be afraid to work anywhere from 8-15 sets of 3's.
It is not necessary to press heavy all the time, because the assistance work will take care of the strength building.
But it IS necessary to practice the TECHNIQUE of the lift. This is just as true for the press as it is for the other quick lifts.
Yes . . . I said "other quick lifts." Let's face it, men, the press is a quick lift now! You must train for the press very much in the same manner that you train on the snatchand the clean & jerk.
Let's look at some of the illustrations I've included with this article. Most of them are self-explanatory.
On the sequence shots, you will notice quite a bit of forward and backward movement of the knees. Here's where many fellows, including the judges, mistake this lateral or horizontal displacement for knee-kick. You can move the legs, in the knee area, back and forth a good six inches without the knees bending one bit. The action is all in the hips in the modern press. The short, violent thrust of the hips sends the bar up past the face, in a straight line, so there's not as much back bend necessary in order to finish the lift.
I know that a lot of die-hards are going to oppose this style of pressing, but if it is accepted all over the world, then we must follow suit for our own preservation as a "power" in International weightlifting.
There's an old Chinese proverb which, rather freely translated, says, "If three men say you're drunk, then you must lie down and sleep it off."
Confucius, known for his drunken revelry, often sang with fellow funlovers in public, a very well known fact. Strap one on, get that damn shirt off and bloody well sing and live . . . onward, upward and outward before going under, Sirs!
Maybe some day they will discontinue the Press as a competition lift and put an end to all this quibbling. [I await a comment informing me that they have. And that Yates or some other awesomely intelligent bra-loader with pecs to his freakin' knees thanks to boatloaded drugs "always pressed strictly for one set and used a machine.]
Until then, however, I say we must teach our lifters to press the same way all the other countries are pressing.
Let's not handicap our men any more than they're being handicapped now!
Enjoy Your Drunken Singing, and remember to Whistle While We Lift!
Snow White will be so happy.
Snow White will be so happy.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
"On the sequence shots, you will notice quite a bit of forward and backward movement of the knees".
ReplyDeleteThere's a good set of sequence photos of Tony Garcy's pressing style on your blog to show this:
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/10/russian-pressing-style-bob-hoffman.html
Thank You, John! That makes it clearer, good stuff.
DeleteI'm informing you that The Press was discontinued.
ReplyDeleteCirca fifteen years ago, when The Governing Body of Rotator Cuffs unanimously banned it, together with all variants, in an impressive yet repressive and depressive sanction condemning "any and all patronizing of bars exceeding 18" in length; effective immediately; regardless of how upright their use was formerly deemed, or how inclined the patron is toward their use, or how supine the patron may be about the need to discontinue."
Not that the olympic-level of accumulated damage was undone. But, at least, there's never again been any fretting nor debating about "lean back".
Thanks for the outstanding and upright update, Joe! I ain't a dumbbell but my training often said otherwise. Nine out of 10 shoulder girdles agree . . . the older the lifter, the shorter the bar.
Delete