all posts post new thread

Barbell Power to the People

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Barbell side press is very underappreciated. Too unusual and weird compared to the military press. Not as sexy and exotic as the bent press, with a lower poundage potential and without the bent press's olde tyme strongman cachet.

How many people who have run cycles of PTTP for DL have used the side press as well? Probably a small percentage.

But I'm a big fan.
 
@Harald Motz, PTTP was my introduction to the world of strength - I had asked on a running newsgroup about ways to become stronger without gaining weight and PTTP was recommended.

After about six months, I found myself on the forum on the old company's web site and saw everyone talking about a kind of weight I'd never heard of, so I asked, "What's a kettlebell?"

@Steve W., I did PTTP with only a barbell and did Pavel's version of the side press.

(Historians and purists should take note the the traditional barbell side press is a little different - in that, both knees must remain locked. The USAWA rule book is even more restrictive about bar position and other things. If anyone wants to read those rules, just Google "USAWA rulebook" and search the resulting PDF on "Side press" with a space in the middle as I just typed it.)

-S-
 
@Steve Freides I love the USAWA - what a coincidence - I was just reading the rule book today. As for side press, old-timers did about 4 different types of side press.
 
@Pavel Macek, I've competed several USAWA meets although not in the last 2-3 years or so. I keep trying to get to a meet I did one October but each year, something different came up that required my presence here. I will try again this Fall.

My memory of the traditional side press is that it's knees locked, and a wider stance.

-S-
 
From the USAWA rule book:

Side Press

This lift is performed using only one arm. The bar may be taken to the shoulder in any manner. This may be done with a one arm clean, or with two hands, or stood on end and taken onto the shoulder using one or two hands. The bar will then be gripped in the center by one hand only. Once the lifter is in a standing position, with the bar motionless across the shoulder perpendicular to the body, an official will give a command to press the bar. The lifter is allowed to bend at the waist, away from the bar. However, the legs must remain straight during the entire lift. The non-lifting arm and hand must not touch the body or the bar during the lift. The heels of the feet must be within a 12 inch base. The toes and heels must not rise during the lift. The bar is allowed to have a slight tilt as long as it is under control by the lifter. The bar must be maintained at a 90 degree angle to the body. Once the bar is overhead motionless, the arm straight and elbow locked, and the lifter has returned to an upright standing position, an official will give a command to lower the bar. The lift ends when the lifter returns the bar to the platform under control. It is acceptable to use two hands to lower the bar.

And interesting description from Calvert's The Truth About Weight-Lifting (1911) from my archives:
FullSizeRender 23.jpg
FullSizeRender 24.jpg
 
Great thread guys.

I'm just practicing side-press occasionally trying to slowly become half-competent. What a lift!

Just a 7ft barbell on it's own is hard. far trickier than the weight would suggest.
 
The Side Press was my next lift, after the get up, in growing my interest in Oldtime Strongman. I used all the overhead pressing and Shouldering variations in preparation to Bent Pressing. Then I read PTTP and enjoyed practicing the program.

I enjoyed heavy Barbell Shouldering and that lead to a chunk of time devoted to the Steinborn Squat. I enjoy the play aspect of figuring out the more obscure lifts from writing and pictures.
 
I came to the side press unintentionally. Was to weak to military press, but ended in a strong side press and I am pleased with my finding. Old & Odd lifting rocks.

I enjoyed heavy Barbell Shouldering and that lead to a chunk of time devoted to the Steinborn Squat. I enjoy the play aspect of figuring out the more obscure lifts from writing and pictures.
Playing iron games for the joy of it. Quite some time, I did Steinborns but thought about them in the past days another great one.
 
Since I came to the side press through PTTP, I've never observed the USAWA (or Alan Calvert, as posted by @Pavel Macek) locked knees requirement. One of the things I like about the side press is that it ISN'T as strictly defined as a military press or bent press (or maybe it is, but I don't feel constrained to do it "by the book," since I learned it from a different book).

In practice, I think of the side press as a press with an exaggerated "wedging" action (pressing yourself away from the weight). When doing multiple reps, I often raise and lower the weight in the same groove, without fully standing straight and squaring up in between. This may not be the textbook way of doing it, but it feels really good and natural to me.

Another unconventional variation I use with my side presses is starting the first rep from the top. I generally take the bar off a rack at shoulder height and push press it overhead using the off hand to assist (with a lighter weight, I will usually one arm snatch the bar overhead). Then I actively lower the bar into position for the first rep, building up the tension. I find this makes for a tighter, stronger starting position than taking the weight off the rack directly or shouldering it from the floor.

One big key I've discovered is to find the right gripping point on the bar. Don't center the middle of your hand. Center a point closer to the pinky side of your hand (thumb side closer the collar). Once you find the right balance point, the bar will be very stable and won't wave around. You can even press with an open hand -- the bar just sits there and goes up and down without rocking at all. It's actually a much more stable than a short bar or dumbbell.
 
I am one of the ones guilty of going straight for MP instead of side press. I think it might be my next PTTP cycle.
 
Last edited:
A lot good stuff here! I'm a fan of the barbell sidepress. I do these more than dears. I'm actually not aware if i bend a leg or not.

I'm also a fan of starting from the top. I like to rip the bar off the ground in a snatch that I catch standing straight with arm locked out.

Shouldering is a lot of fun. I enjoy shouldering heavier than I can press to onenshoulder and walking.
 
@TravisDirks Many old timers performed it like this, e.g.. dumbbell/kettlebell press - one-arm overhead swing/snatch, lower to the rack and press from there. Pavel's ROTK - same thing.
 
Thanks for the video!! Last year I began cycling the side press with dumbbells into my routines and I didn't really know how I should clean it from the floor. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I used the same technique he did.
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom