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Kettlebell Losing pressing strength on S&S.

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Actually now that I think about it I see no reason to crush the handle for the sake of crushing when its not needed. When it gets heavy I'm crushing away.
 
@Anna C, I wish I could say I was smarter now than when I wrote that article. :(

There are some subtle points in there that help you feel like your moderate weights are light, and I feel this can help you feel like your heavy weights are only moderately heavy. It's the Easy Strength principle in action - when you can press a moderate weight without using some of our high-tension techniques, you know you've gotten stronger because when the same weight feels lighter, you _are_ stronger.

It should be stressed that this approach isn't for everyone. It's safer and yields more predictable results to keep one's form exactly the same and just adjust the volume control down for lighter weights, but the concept is worth experimenting with for someone trying to reach their SFG-II or other substantial pressing achievement.

-S-
 
Thanks for sharing that @Anna C and thanks for writing it @Steve Freides, some really great pearls there.
During my 6 months of S&S I didn't test my pressing strength, however, having a "bum" shoulder at the time, the stability that I had in my shoulder was vastly increased. I've shifted gears to GS training however following my first GS competition at the end of May, I'll begin prepping for the SFG I near where I live, so I have some ROP in my future with TGU on my variety days. Once that is done, it would be interesting to test my press then spend 3+ months on S&S then test the press again. Its all about having things to look forward to haha!
 
I start all of my TGUs with an unassisted floor press. Brought my tgu up from a shaky single with the 24 to a steady alternating 10 reps with the 40 over the past 3 months and I still can't overhead press the 32. I never train the press though so that must be it.
 
I start all of my TGUs with an unassisted floor press. Brought my tgu up from a shaky single with the 24 to a steady alternating 10 reps with the 40 over the past 3 months and I still can't overhead press the 32. I never train the press though so that must be it.
Exactly what I did once I started to introduce the 32. I could barely press it up, even with assistance from the other hand, so I did sets of floor presses with the 24 and always floor pressed every weight I used for the TGU.
Floor pressing one bell smaller than the current working weight and rack-/waiters carrys are a staple now in my S&S practice.
Before S&S I could do a single rep with the 24, after reaching Simple I could manage 7 reps. Heavy TGUs and floor presses seem to at least keep your pressing strength.
 
So floor press and waiter carries brought up your press with no direct work? Maybe its some kind of leverage issue. It might be that some people have proportions that make translating horizontal press gains to vertical press less of a leap.
 
In a way yes, but you need to keep in mind that I went from not being able to floor press the 32 to pressing it every time I do a TGU with it.
So floor pressing the 24 (higher volume) + floor pressing the 32(low volume) + waiter carries & TGUs with the 32 increased my military press with the 24.
 
I think the get up is a great exercise. However, I have found that for me with the exception of using push presses, strict pressing requires continuous practice and specificity. If I avoid overhead presses, I get weaker at them.
 
I've realized I'm still a ways off from owning the 40. It will feel light for 2 to 3 consecutive days, then on the 3rd or 4th day I'll miss reps. Then I'll have to back off with the 32 for a couple of days before I can handle the 40 again. This has been happening like clockwork for the past couple of weeks. With each cycle the 40 feels a little easier. I suspect when I've completely mastered it I might be able to press the 32, we'll see.
 
Like a DB benchpress but whilst laying on the floor. You would relax momentarily at the bottom so your upper arms are resting on the floor. This breaks the eccentric/ concentric chain.
 
@T2725, one can elect to relax at the bottom of any press, or not - the floor press can be done staying tight the entire time. If there's a tendency to relax the tension when one is floor pressing, that's something I'm not aware of.

-S-
 
S&S is obviously a great program but it is not a pressing program, I would expect to lose some pressing strength on it even though there is clear carryover between a get up and a press. Imagine doing a 6 month program where the only pull was a power clean and being surprised that your max deadlift isn't what it was
 
@Cattleballs A Get up is a support. A press, and a support are very different. In a get up you are supporting the weight on the structure of your locked out arm, and packed shoulder. In the press you are dynamically moving the weight with your muscles, and leverage.

I did like the side pressing get ups as assistance, or warmup, when I trained the bent press a lot. I did a side rack press at each stage of the getup, and down. Great strength, or flexibility drill depending on how much you load it.
 
@T2725, one can elect to relax at the bottom of any press, or not - the floor press can be done staying tight the entire time. If there's a tendency to relax the tension when one is floor pressing, that's something I'm not aware of.

-S-
@Steve Freides, you are right that there is always a choice. Louise Simmons has written about the benefits of relaxing momentarily on the, typically he refers to using a bar but also DBs.
 
@T2725, I learned about this approach when I worked with Marty Gallagher. We'd do it with dumbbell bench press - light weights, maximal range of motion, complete relaxation at the bottom, then the next set with heavier weight, a little less ROM, and perhaps a pause but no exhale, and so on, working up to a heavy weight with just a brief pause.

-S-
 
Un update to this.

I was talking to Anna C. yesterday and the subject of bottoms up presses came up and she showed me a video of Harald Motz and his impressive pressing. So I got curious and checked mine.

First up was bottoms up with 16kg, easy as pie. Next up was the 24 bottoms up, also fairly easy once I figured out that I needed more tension.

Then I tried the 32 doing a standard press and it looks like some of you were right, my pressing strength is back to where it was.
 
Then I tried the 32 doing a standard press and it looks like some of you were right, my pressing strength is back to where it was.

Meaning that you were trying to press while you were, "loosey goosey"? And, that the bottoms up press reminded (or taught) you to construct a firm platform from which to press?
 
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