Barbell Strict Press - Tips from Ryan

All right, you guys, now we're moving on to the barbell strict press. Very similar to the dumbbell press, but we have to worry about our head position, our wrist and shoulder position as well, while we move that bar in a nice bar path. So hand start, same grip as our back squat or front squat, about a thumb's width off on the knurling, or where that grip starts. We're going to walk ourselves underneath that bar and bring that bar high on our collarbone, nice and level with our shoulders. Now we want to be in the active rack. Active rack means my wrists are almost straight, my elbows are slightly in front of the bar, and I'm pushing forward with my shoulders and locking my lats into place. Not the passive, because we don't want to have to roll the bar to the middle of our hand. So from here, my head's going to move first. I'm going to pull it back, creating that double chin. That bar is going to pass right next to my nose, and as I go overhead, reaching as high as I can, my head comes back to neutral. On the way down, elbows come in front, head comes back again, straight down to high on that collarbone. Now it's going to be a very common mistake for people to let that bar come below the collarbone and sit back on their hands, which puts a lot of pressure through the wrists and is not the best position for us to press it. So when in doubt, straight wrists, still wrap those shoulders and lats, head comes back, driving it through. Give it a shot or come see us.