Improve Your Fight Gone Bad Score – Push Press

Improve Your Fight Gone Bad Score – Push Press

The push press is one of those exercises where the bar seems to get heavy rather quickly as you pump out the reps. You’ve just completed the box jumps and your legs are then required to dip and drive the bar more efficiently. Coach Geoff has been known to put some big weight above his head, so who better to talk to regarding the push-press:

Geoff’s Push-Press Tips

1. For starters, it helps to have a good solid overhead position and the shoulder mechanics to achieve this

• Set the shoulders in a good position – if your elbows flare out to the side as you extend your arms overhead it’s a sign that you did not set your shoulders in a strong position before pressing, or you’re not generating enough torque (tension and stability) in your shoulders. This can be a sign that you are missing range-of-motion in your shoulders or a combination of thoracic mobility, anterior shoulder/Lats, chest, elbow and/or wrist.  You need to do your best to mobalise these areas and increase the range-of-motion to achieve the best position possible.

• Where’s your head at – I’m not talking about playing Basement Jaxx while pressing!  You need to be confident that you are not going to knock your head off with the bar as it passes your face. It’s common to see athletes keeping their head back behind the bar, as they are worried that they might hit themselves in the face. Many coaches (guilty as charged) often cue their athletes to push their heads through the holes to correct this fault.  The problem is a lot of athletes overcompensate by pushing their heads as far forward as possible and pushing the bar bells backward behind their heads. This places a lot of pressure on the shoulders and compromises midline stability.

The correct technique is to move your head back just enough to let the bar clear your face, and then move underneath the bar as you press the weight overhead; keeping your torso and head aligned and aiming to have your wrists, elbows, shoulders, and hips all stacked nicely on top of each other.

2. Start as you mean to go on – don’t be temped to strict press the first dozen reps and then try and get your legs involved as you tire out. Immediately after the box jumps you might think about resting the legs, but your poor little arm muscles are not going to be able to move this weight efficiently for long. Use those legs, dip and drive as hard as you can until you reach your required rep target (see Momentums Tips to Improve your Fight Gone Bad Scores)

3. Jumping mechanics apply to push-press – “position is power” and we need to apply our jumping mechanics to the dip, drive and catch of the bar.  Squeeze you glutes (butt) and push your knees out as you go into the dip phase of the lift.  Keep your heels on the ground and do not pause at the bottom of the dip, we want to use the elastic potential of the muscles to help accelerate the bar above our head.  As we drive up we aim to squeeze out glutes, drive our knees back by contacting the quads as hard as possible.  This will help to create a strong overhead position (point 1) and deliver maximum force into the bar. As the bar comes down you need to have the speed and coordination to begin your next dip again.  Linking the up-and-down motion is a skill that needs to be practiced.

4. Drive the chest into the bar before extending the arms – The aim is to drive the bar up as much as possible before using your arms to complete the press out. You need to make sure the bar is touching your chest and anterior delts (front of the shoulder) as you extend your knees and hips. The force generated by the lower body is delivered into the bar only if it is in contact with your body. If your shoulders are tight or you are being lazy and the bar doesn’t sit comfortably in the rack position, you are losing power. Work on your mobility and improve the shoulder position (refer to point 1).

5. Don’t drop the bar until you’re done – FGB requires that the bar starts on the floor and you clean it into the front rack position.  If and when you do get tired do not drop the bar back to the floor.  It’s an expensive time and energy waste getting it back up off the floor and starting again. If you have a good overhead position you can rest with the bar overhead, alternatively rest with the bar in a front rack position.

6. Find a rhythm and stick to it – if you get your timing and rhythms right you can make some good numbers.

Fight Gone Bad Tips continued.

By now you’re starting to feel the Fight Gone Bad punches and kicks, you only have the rower to master and then you can have :60seconds rest.