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Kettlebell Double KB press to get stronger single arm press

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Matt L

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Hello Everyone,

I would just like to get your thoughts my idea that if I get stronger in double kb presses that I might get stronger in my single arm press. I recently bought a 32kg and my friend gave me his 24kg so now I have double 24kgs. I am not able to overhead press the 32kg but I am able to bent press it with both arms. will performing double 24 presses help me build up my strength to press the 32; or should I purchase a 28kg?


Thank you very much!
 
base on my experience, yes. In the past, i was able to press the 32 on both arm, but on the left side it was very ugly. After few month working with doubles, i tried to press with 32 and it was easy. Moreover, i pressed the 36 kg on the first time on right side. You just need to find a good double program and follow it, results will come.
 
In my experience double presses def improve your single press mores so than the other way round.
Personal example: being comfortable pressing 2x28, I could easily press 1x32.
 
That makes sense, since on the single arm press you can shift your body to get some mechanical advantage. The double press forces you to stand symmetrically and grind through less favorable angles with both arms.
 
Different strokes for different folks here I guess, but double pressing improved my "double pressing" not my single press!

I guess in my case I need to practice specificity for improvement.
 
You'd probably need to be able to press the 24kg for 9-11 reps before you could press the 32kg for 1 rep.

I'm intrigued by this. When I first managed to strict press the 40kg for two reps, there's no way I could have got 9-11 reps with a single 32kg. I had accrued serious volume with double 32s, but still maxing out at around 6 reps for a single set. A single I could maybe have got 7 reps.

As has been suggested above, my thought for the OP is to find a suitable double kb program and work on accruing volume.

@Matt L what are your numbers like with a 24kg currently?
 
I'm intrigued by this. When I first managed to strict press the 40kg for two reps, there's no way I could have got 9-11 reps with a single 32kg. I had accrued serious volume with double 32s, but still maxing out at around 6 reps for a single set. A single I could maybe have got 7 reps.

As has been suggested above, my thought for the OP is to find a suitable double kb program and work on accruing volume.

@Matt L what are your numbers like with a 24kg currently?

I havent tested my max reps on the double 24s yet, so far Im just doing ladders 1, 2, 3 for 5 sets on the clean and press since I am usually pressed for time when I workout. Im sorry I cannot give you a definitive answer on this right now
 
Whats a good double kb press program that I can utilize to train my body for the heavy presssing?
 
I'm intrigued by this. When I first managed to strict press the 40kg for two reps, there's no way I could have got 9-11 reps with a single 32kg. I had accrued serious volume with double 32s, but still maxing out at around 6 reps for a single set. A single I could maybe have got 7 reps.

As has been suggested above, my thought for the OP is to find a suitable double kb program and work on accruing volume.

@Matt L what are your numbers like with a 24kg currently?
24kg is 75% of 32kg, which is about a 10RM. So depending on someone's endurance, I'd guess they'd have to press the 24kg 9-11 times if they expect to be able to press the 32kg once. That's not always the case, however...

And for your ratio, 32kg x 7 to press 40kg x 1 makes sense. 32kg is 80% of 40kg, which would be a 6-8RM.
 
so I've found that a combination of skill acquisition mixed with getting stronger overall leads to better pressing. I practiced one arm pushups and pistol for a few months and when I got back I could press the 32kg for a double (couldn't press it before). by practicing the double jerk, I upped my one arm press to 32kg for 4 (after a few days of practice) so anything that makes you more proficient at moving with strength (tension, technique, speed and overall muscle mass) could improve your 1 arm press. give doubles a whirl and see if it works.
 
Different strokes for different folks here I guess, but double pressing improved my "double pressing" not my single press!

I guess in my case I need to practice specificity for improvement.


How is this possible, assuming you made significant double press strength gains? Not doubting you; just scratching my head on why there's no carryover.

If you had said the opposite, that you made one-arm press gains that didn't carry over to the double press, then I'd suspect a technique issue (for example, maybe you didn't get stronger but learned to cheat the bell up by turning it into a semi-bent press. And with double bells you couldn't do that.)

Maybe there's something to the double press that I don' know about?
 
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so I've found that a combination of skill acquisition mixed with getting stronger overall leads to better pressing. I practiced one arm pushups and pistol for a few months and when I got back I could press the 32kg for a double (couldn't press it before). by practicing the double jerk, I upped my one arm press to 32kg for 4 (after a few days of practice) so anything that makes you more proficient at moving with strength (tension, technique, speed and overall muscle mass) could improve your 1 arm press. give doubles a whirl and see if it works.

This gives me a diff perspective on getting stronger. I might incorporate some bodyweight exercises as a form of active recovery and neuromuscular training for the press.
 
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