Have you ever wondered why you’re performing a certain lift? In an attempt to explain, I’m going to take you back to the first moment when someone had utter contempt for the barbell, and thought of new and ingenious ways to get those #gainz. (In saying that, if you mentioned #gainz to Ed Zercher back in the day he would probably have punched you in the face in his lifting cave for bringing disrespectful to his insane training methods. Think of him as the Nikola Tesla of lifting, and you’re Thomas Edison.)  We’ll get to Zercher later in the series, but first let’s hit one of the fundamental lifts, the strict press.

The press originated back in the day when drinking and lifting were synonymous. Bars had a room out the back where patrons could crack out a few sets whilst putting back some beers. How could you test your strength compared to the bloke next to you? How about a feat of brute strength without overly complex form, which could deteriorate after a few pints? The strict press came about as a result, and continues to be an indicator of pure strength.

How do you perform the press? The starting position for the press is with your feet at a maximum width of forty centimeters apart with the barbell rested on your chest and your eyes forward. From that point, you keep the body rigid by taking a breath in and squeezing your glutes. The barbell is then pressed overhead to the full length of your arms. In the pressing motion, the head moves back slightly in order to allow the bar to maintain a straight path and returns to its original position once the bar has cleared the head. In the finish position, the ears, shoulders and bar should be in alignment.

Why do you do a strict press? It is a jerk variation that can be used to target certain weaknesses. According to Glenn Pendlay (Head Coach at Team MDUSA), “if an athlete has trouble getting the bar behind his or her head at the lockout of the jerk, or displays shoulder flexibility problems, do the press.” Jim Schmitz, the US Olympic Weightlifting Team Coach from 1980-1992, says, “I think a lot of Olympic-style weightlifters don’t do enough overhead presses and I really believe they should to strengthen the shoulders and elbows.”  There you have it. Not only is it a great way to strengthen your shoulders and elbows, but the strict press can help correct some faults in your jerk.

Whilst we are on quotes, let’s kick it back to one of the all time greats, Max Sick (Maxick), an old-school German lifter that hit a 104kg clean and jerk at a bodyweight of 65kg back in 1909: “An excellent performance in [the strict press] would be one and a half times the lifter’s body weight.” A strict press at 1.5 times the lifter’s bodyweight will only be achieved by a few, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to smash this lift as much as possible.

Variations of the strict press:

–   Military press – This variation requires that you keep your together, and that the barbell is held at the start of the rep (not racked).

–    Savickas press – Sit down on the ground with your legs stretched out (grounded L-sit) and the bar in the rack. Then press the bar overhead while remaining seated.

–    Klokov press – Essentially, a Klokov press is the behind-the-neck snatch grip press, but with a badass name.

–    Schrödinger Press – When the quantum superposition exactly ends and reality collapses into one possibility or the other, are you alive or dead after pressing?

Part 2 will be posted next week.