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Kettlebell My strong side struggles to bent press

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SuperGirevik

SuperGirevik

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I've been alternating between Simple & Sinister and snatches/bent presses for over a month now. I feel like my stronger side is able to perform the bent press correctly (or at least better) but my strong side struggles. The whole movement feels a bit awkward and I tend to feel a little soreness in my front deltoid. Also while doing the BnP with my left arm, my right hamstring feels tight/sore. Yet I feel none of these things when doing a BnP with my right arm :confused: FYI, I did suffer from a De Quervain's syndrome over 6 months ago on my left wrist and have been nursing it back to health (doing KBs has actually helped my wrist get stronger and more stable).

Here is a video of me attempting a 32kg bent press...



I noticed on my strong side (aka left) that my arm seems like it leans back and that could be causing my deltoid soreness. I can try to force my arm to lean more towards my chest but it feels like I might loose balance.

Annotation-2019-07-09-184315.jpg


From the video I took, I'm starting to think I lack mobility. My torso isn't rotating enough I think and it's causing my arm to over compensate by moving back to reach the center.

I'm currently doing 2 x 32kg + 3 x 40kg TGUs and I feel great doing them. So I'm tempted to drop the bent press but... I really admire the movement and would like to learn it.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my post :)

p.s. I'm using a GS style clean for now.
 
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the video doesn't seem to work anymore, however based on the picture you have there I'd agree that there is some mobility limitation in your thoracic spine rotation, and you're making up for it in your shoulder joint. ultimately this will lead to other problems, but I don't see a need to eliminate it from your program rather address a mobility limitation with a mobility solution. if you are training the bent press I assume you are incorporating arm bars, and bent arm bars in your program? if so video this and see if the same mobility limitation is present there. hopefully you're incorporating the arm bar/bent in the warm up and cool down if this limitation is present. also remember an asymetrical mobility limitation doesn't need to be trained symmetrically, i would recommend limited side, non-limited side, limited side when training the mobility drills.
I would also recommend dropping the load, try something easy like 5x5 with a 16kg. something that causes absolutely no stress and make it a practice, focusing on where you can look. try moving your line of sight up along your arm, past your kettlebell to the ceiling. as in look past the bell not forward. this should help with the rotation, and also give you an external cue to let you know just how much you are rotated.
good luck.
-Noah Maxwell SFG TL
 
@Noah, welcome to the StrongFirst forum. Everyone, Noah Maxwell is a StrongFirst Team Leader and one strong hombre! Noah, you'll see it now says Team Leader under your name.

-S-
 
I'm no expert and can only see your picture, but your shoulder looks a bit compromised there. Your stance seems very "squatty" which is fine if that's how you feel comfortable, but maybe more thoracic work will help. Along with mentally putting more emphasis on the hinge.
Brettzels have helped me tremendously.
 
Try playing in the arm bar and bent arm bar positions. It could help you learn some of the alignments needed to be proficient at the bent press and help thoracic mobility issues like @Noah suggested.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies! Sorry about the video, I went ahead and uploaded it again.

@Noah I wanted to welcome you first to the forum and thank you for that detailed reply. To be honest, I've never done arm bars or it's bent variation. I've performed several TGUs and Windmills (up to 40kg).

I'm definitely going to try arm bars now.
 
i wouldnt let the elbow of the unloaded arm float but park it just above the knee so you can let the weight lean on your structure rather than using musculair strength.
 
To me it looks like more of an alignment issue than a mobility one.

When you come down, the opposite heel and knee should line up with the downhill shoulder, in a line across to the uphill shoulder and on to the load.

When I make the drop, I stuff the back of my downhill shoulder/tri area hard against the inside of my knee - you should feel like you could hang out for a long time in that position if need be. You appear to be floating between the hips and that's going to force a lot more shoulder mobility to keep the load centered, compared to aligning your torso to the opposite thigh.

Edit to add: I found it to be a big help when learning Bent Press to do sets with a relatively light weight to near full blown failure (a 16kg for sets of 20+). Once the muscles get sufficiently fatigued, your body will attempt to continue supporting the load using skeletal advantage as much as it can, while you can still muscle it you might be using all manner of inefficient mechanics.

At 1:20 you can see what I'm trying to explain.

 
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@North Coast Miller Thanks for the tips and the video!

When my left arm is loaded with the weight, I notice I struggle to hinge back. It doesn't feel natural. I notice the my right hamstring will feel stretched or tight as I try to hinge back. Yet none of this occurs when right arm is loaded.
 
@SuperGirevik
Probably the best thing you could do right off the bat is keep your loaded-side leg more straight during the initial drop, more like a windmill. This will naturally guide you toward the bent leg rather than between the hips. If your hip mobility is OK with a Windmill you can learn the BP.

Is OK if it is bent a little, but the load bearing hip should be much higher than the downhill one. When you begin, the line of support runs straight down the forearm through the hip and to the floor. As you pivot over, the line of support drifts over to the opposite leg at the knee - more or less straight line from shin through shoulders and up the straightened arm.

This is the video I initially patterned my BP after:
 
North Coast Miller said:
I found it to be a big help when learning Bent Press to do sets with a relatively light weight to near full blown failure (a 16kg for sets of 20+). Once the muscles get sufficiently fatigued, your body will attempt to continue supporting the load using skeletal advantage as much as it can, while you can still muscle it you might be using all manner of inefficient mechanics.
Click to expand...
If memory serves, one of the recommendations in the original RKC book was similar - do military presses until your triceps are toast, then work on your bent press.

-S-
 
Hello everyone,

This discussion is an occasion for me to ask a question about an aspect of the bent press that troubles me.

I have a hard time keeping my spine perfectly straight. With the torsion come some lateral flexion of the spine (it's almost invisible with clothes). I may lack some hips and T spine flexibility, so I'm working on these points.
When I look at some picture of old time strongmen, or at some videos, I can see that some people have a little bit of lateral flexion of the spine in the bottom position. So my question, for the BnP experts is : Is it a non-negociable point to keep the spine perfectly straight during le BnP (like the neutral spine during a squat, but with a rotation) ?

(@SuperGirevik , do you keep your spine like a straight line ?)

Thank you in advance !
 
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