coachvik.com

The Overhead Press

 

Lifting something heavy and straight overhead has to be the grand daddy of all pressing movements and is the perfect partner to the previously articled ‘King of Pulling Movements – the Deadlift’. The Over Head Press (OHP) is truly a pressing movement which really does build and emphasise raw upper body strength.

 

Back in the pre steroid, sleeveless tops and cut off jean era – your buddies wouldn’t ask  “Dude! How much you benching!?”  but  instead, how much can you press! The OHP builds upper body strength and a concrete core whilst teaching the lower and upper body to work in unison to support the heavy loads as they are driven skyward. All without overdeveloping the pec’s into female like breasts.

 

The press is mistakenly thought of as solely an arm and shoulder developer, where as you’d have a tough time finding a better exercise for this purpose, make no mistake, this old school lift is a whole body athletic movement – made more so by the insistence for us to perform it standing.

 

The arms and shoulders may appear to be doing all the work but the abs, obliques, costals and the back are are stabilizing the body and assisting the hips and legs to lift and support the upper musculature in driving the weight into loclout position overhead.

 

How to Over Head Press Video

 

Heres what you’ll see in this video;

 

- Mobility/movement primer (shoulder circles)

- Stance set up

- Grip style and width

- Explanation of the 7 key components in relation to the overhead press

- Bar placement in palms

- Bracing of the core to protect the back (power breathing)

- Concentric faze

- Eccentric faze

- The ‘sway’ back movement performed whilst pressing

- Why shoulder pack

- Physical landmarks whilst the bar is in full lock out to ensure correct alignment

- Compensatory movement – to decompress and rebalance the body by working the functional opposite movement.

 

 

Special Considerations:

If you have immobile shoulders or have adopted a posture where the shoulders are  rounded (due to our desk sitting lifestyles) you MUST invest extra time in correcting this. In an effort to raise your arm overhead (weighted or otherwise) you will hyper extend your back giving you the illusion of full mobility and instead just you will be preparing yourself for a world of back pain usually and mistakenly associated with the OHP.

Having tight Lats, Pec minor, and/or Teres Major etc. are all contributing factors as of why ANY overhead movement will be greatly inhibited. Taking a peak into your local commercial gym will give you an insight in to how and why – (pseudo-bodybuilders) who can not get there arms fully extended above their heads - loss of motion due to partial ROM Lat exercises, partial ROM shoulder exercises, too many abdominal crunches, as well as simply never attaining full ROM overhead.

One of the major reasons people take time off work in (in the UK at least)  is because of lower back pain. No doubt related to the excessive amount of time spent sitting in a chair or and and lack of correct core function. Due to this, I recommend and emphasise the importance of a tight core to protect it. Again, the power breathing is employed here as your trying to cause a large amount of intra-abdominal muscular pressure. Together with the contraction of the abs/gutes ‘bracing’ is achieved.  Believe me when I say you don’t want to be hoisting large loads over your head without your lumbar spine having some support (literally) from its muscular cousins of the core.

Finally the sway back movement. Why, you may ask. Its quite straight forward really. You want to lift the heavy loads in the shortest and safest route, which in this case is in a straight line overhead. Unfortunately your head/face is in the way so you’ve got to move it by swaying! If you don’t perform this movement, you are in danger of pushing the weight out in front of you like some sort of weird standing incline press which will only spell trouble when lifting serious poundages.  On the flip side, you don’t want to excessive sway back either – the movement is subtle and is just enough for you to move out of the way without the bar smashing into you beak!

Enjoy and get strong!

 

The Deadlift

 

It seems I’ve stirred up a lot of interest with the GPP and especially the Powerlifting articles.  A few  people had forgotten the advantages of building a substantial strength base and appreciated  sophistication of the “tri-ring” formula applied to the important conventional movements.  In the following series, I’ll be addressing the queries on the application of the Circular Strength Training  protocols to the seemingly primitive but unparalleled strength building movements.

 

We’ll start with what I consider the king of all powerlifting movements – the Deadlift.  I honestly think that this is the daddy of strength training. Whereas the pec’s, abs, biceps are what not get you laid; the back, tri’s, glutes and hamstrings will get you paid!  Yes, despite what conventional fitness modalities would have you believe, humans are rear wheel drive,  our power is primarily from the posterior chain.  Nothing will develop the backside of your body in a more functional movement pattern than pulling a heavily loaded bar off the floor as in the Deadlift.

 

The brutish strength, confidence and just flat out alpha type feel you get from ripping monstrous poundages off the floor with your bare hands is just hard to match.

 

The Deadlift, being a compound movement, utilises nearly every major muscle of your body:
• Spinal Erectors
• Quads
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Lower Back
• Middle and Upper Trapezius
• Abdominals and Obliques
• Lats
• Calves

 

Manning up (even if you are a woman) and  getting properly acquainted with this movement will ensure you’ll be doing away with 60% of the machinery in your local gym!  Wave goodbye to your leg press and smith machine and shake hands with your new found crushing grip strength with the pulling and lifting strength developed through diligent practice of this incredible lift.

 

This lift is so great that it will even affect you on the bio-chemical level.  The multi joint, compound lifts such as this have been shown to stimulate release of testosterone and growth hormone, the two essential chemicals, if an increase in lean muscle, strength and fat loss is your goal – as it should be!

 

I personally have a lot to thank the Deadlift for.  Years ago, I was plagued with patellofemoral pain and a host of other problems at the knee, hip, ankle, and lower back; the worst being an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear which required a replacement ligament from my hamstring.  This, I later discovered, was a general weakness in the posterior chain and in particular my bicep femoris (hamstrings).  I spent time with the good old leg curl machine, but make no mistake my friends – although this piece of seemingly suitable apparatus looks like a perfect fit for my needs, it does not require a co contraction of the glutes and hamstrings, works in the open chain and occurs in a fixed line of motion.  Our bodies are a little smarter than that and crave the closed chain, truly functional movement like the deadlift (and its variations) over some piece of selectorised equipment!  My knees have been pain and injury free since – even post-surgery!

 

How to Deadlift Video

Here is what you’ll see in the video:

 

Mobility/movement primer

 

Explanation of the 7 key components in relation to the Deadlift

Conventional Deadlift stance

Distance from bar

Hip placement / posture

Hip fold movement

Power breathing causing bracing, intra-abdominal pressure

Grip (over/over and over/under) considerations

Concentric phase

Eccentric phase

Head posture, where to keep your gaze during the lift

 

Compensatory movement – down dog – to decompress and rebalance the body by working the functional opposite movement.

 

 

 

 

 

Extra tips

 

Footwear

When deadlifting, resist the urge to wear your favourite Nike Max or any other shoe that looks like an astronaut should wear it.  Instead, opt for a shoe that gives you the ability to actually feel the floor and get some kind of feedback on correct weight distribution, foot position and placement. Flat, thin soled footwear like Chuck Taylor’s, wrestling shoes, UGS (Universal Grappling Shoes) or Vibram Five Fingers – like the ones I wear in the video – are the way to go.  When you start lifting some serious weight, you’ll be glad you are not doing so from and unstable, thick soled platform!

 

 

Do NOT use gloves!  Your swanky weight lifting gloves will inhibit the reflexes in your hands stopping you from gripping the bar as hard as you normally would and prevent you from recruiting the maximum amount of muscle fibres throughout the body.   They also look ridiculous. You want to grip the bar better? Then invest in some chalk.  If you want to complain about rough and calloused hands – I don’t want to hear it!

 

As for the weight belt – just don’t do it to yourself. The job of the core is to contain the pressure you create through your use of correct power breathing and in turn, stabilise the spine. Wearing the belt will be robbing your midsection of its responsibilities whist making you look silly in the process. Consistent use of the belt will teach your body to function incorrectly and become reliant on its use. Unless you walk around all day wearing one…..which is not cool.

 

Special considerations

Maintaining the correct back position – a tight arch in the lumbar spine – is imperative to efficient and safe performance of the Deadlift.  Rounding of the lower back is not permitted during this movement and has been the reason for many a destroyed back.  If you cannot maintain correct alignment in the spine then may I suggest strengthening the back with an exercise like the Good Morning.  Failing that, search out a good coach and get to the root of the problem.  This is a great exercise ONLY when performed properly!

 

Now go and get beastly strong – enjoy!

 

Saturday the 12th Feb, saw the first Sambo for MMA seminar held at Fight Science Gym, Aldershot! This fantastic facility is run by UK MMA champion and all around good guy Nick ‘The Headhunter” Chapman. He was kind enough to invite yours truly down to conduct a small workshop on the style of Sambo taught to me by my coach, World Champion and Master of Sport Scott Sonnon. I had a great time showing the intricacies, differences and advancements of our style of Sambo which was well received by the ‘The Headhunter” and his team. I must say that as well as owning an amazing 20.000 ft facility, fully loaded with all the tools and toys a budding martial artist could ever want, Nick and his team also possessed incredibly humble attitudes and an amazing work ethic. It was truly a honor and a pleasure coaching these warriors for the day – and they all tapped in a very manly fashion. No screaming!!

 

 

Below is a testimonial from the man himself:

“I have been grappling and cross training martial arts for many years including, BJJ, Wrestling, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, K1, Muay Thai, all for MMA. I have developed my skills enough to secure a British MMA Title, but always looking for ways to improve my chances of success in the cage. I have known Vik Hothi for many years, but never knew until very recently that he has achieved black belt status in Sambo. He is humble and never one to brag. I have heard about this art and the devastating leg locks, so naturally i was keen to find out more. I asked Vik if he would hold a seminar at my gym Fight Science. He agreed and we were all completely amazed. He is a fantastic instructor as well as being an awesome practitioner of the Sambo art. I am now on a quest to reach the black belt grade through Viks instruction. Amazing guy, amazing coach, very inspirational and someone whom i would fully recommend.”

Nick “The Headhunter” Chapman, Managing Director at Fight Science Limited, UK      MMA Champion.

The following article contains information on how Scott Sonnon’s patented Tri-Ring Integration system and CST’s (Circular Strength Training) 7 key components can be applied to creating a more sophisticated, safer and efficient approach to a power lifting workouts and its specific movements.

 

There’s a lot of misinformation about powerlifting and its main movements such as the deadlift, squat, bench press barbell rows. I believe that these have come from uneducated trainers, people looking at the SPORT of powerlifting and the athletes involved in that, weak people who want an excuse to not be strong or new age yogis.

 

Just like with ANY training protocol there are chances of injuries and over specifications – especially with training programmes asking for increased loads over a training cycle. At the beginning stage of powerlifting, the movements are performed with relative ease and a low level of skill in order to see and feel progressions in physique and strength.  As the neuromuscular system and the body get strong quite quickly when powerlifting (perhaps more than most exercising protocols) the ego gets massaged and the excitement coupled with the alluring promise of Herculean strength ensures the inevitable – over training and injury soon follow as the athlete attempts to match the previous weeks success.

 

Make no mistake, this will happen with bodyweight, kettlebell and even clubbell movements if workouts are not structured properly – it’s just a lot more obvious when you are attempting to lift your bodyweight over your head, such as in an overhead press or ripping triple your bodyweight off the floor with a deadlift.

 

Correct cycling within a routine, rep range, times under tension etc. Is incredibly important to continual and injury free progress during a powerlifting cycle.  Knowing when to push the poundage is not nearly as important as knowing when to push yourself AWAY from it.  Cutting back on your poundage in order to work your way back up and exceed your previous best lifts is an essential skill learnt through trial and error or taught to you by a knowledgeable and thoughtful coach.

 

I’ve also heard the ill-informed mention that the movements are unnatural for the human body and “excessive” weight bearing is bad for our joints and structure.  That the “performance breathing” will cause horrible internal injuries, so it’s best to keep using your colour coded Ken & Barbie kettlebells in “functional” movement patterns in order to get the body and the athleticism you you’ve always wanted.  Try telling that to your ancestors.  I wonder, if they couldn’t cut down and pick up materials (weight bearing squats, pressing), throw spears hunting and picking up boar or dear (pressing,lunges and squats), would  those same “experts” still be around today to advise the public not to perform the movements that ensured the continuation of their bloodline!

 

Power breathing also has its place.  Whereas I think it’s totally overused in workouts nowadays (I’ve personally seen gym goers hissing away while pulling away on a pink Dynaband!), power breathing when performing heavy lifts ensures the rise in intra-abdominal pressure, creating a ‘virtual weight lifting belt’ which braces the core and protects the spine.  Imagine pressing your body weight or more over your head without a strong and sturdy core – it would give you a one way ticket to my osteopath.  And he charges a lot!

 

After figuring out how you are going to cycle your workouts, rep ranges, etc. We can now move on to performance of the workout and the individual exercises in a safe and progressive manner.

 

(Ring 1) Starting the workout with movement(s) to specifically prime the joints and movement pattern for the individual exercise has been found to aid significantly in the prevention of injury and prepared the athlete (physically and mentally) for the work ahead.  This will ensure that the correct and safe ranges of motion and form can be maintained for that particular exercise.  This is very different to stretching the muscles before performing power lifting movements, as stretching will destabilize the joints. You want to be mobile but not loose.

 

(Ring 2) Next will be the actual performance of the individual exercises.  Despite the powerlifting movements looking brutish and basic in nature (and they kind of are at the beginner stage of training) there must still be quite a few technical points for you to adhere to to ensure the safe passage to the island of strength.

 

The best, easiest to assimilate and safest way to proceed is to use the 7 Key components. The 7KC were taught to me by one of my coaches, Scott Sonnon, who uses this as a measure for good quality athletic movement. Any time you see good quality movement, you’ll be able to identify them by noticing the following:

 

The 7 key components from the ground up are:

 

-Leg drive (pushing away from the earth with the legs)

-Hip recruitment (making sure to drive through with the hips)

-Core activation (by power breathing)

-Crown to coccyx alignment (top of the head to tail bone)

-Shoulder pack (keeping the arm “sucked” in to the shoulder socket)

-Elbow position/lock

-Grip confirmation/wrist alignment.

 

The final piece of the puzzle is the decompressing and compensating of the weight bearing movements.

 

(Ring 3) Working the body in the functional opposite direction is a lot different from merely performing a couple of random stretches after a heavy set.  Specifically designed or assigned yoga movements can be used here.  The selected exercises are performed not by merely holding the pose but actively working in the functional opposite movement pattern for strengthening it, whilst the worked movement pattern is forced to “relax” off and decompress.  Following this process will also ensure that your joints will stay lubricated and mobile after being compressed by the weight.

 

Adhering to the 7KC will have you performing PB’s (personal best) lifts like a pro safely and efficiently.  The joint mobility and yoga movements will mobilise and rebalance the body ensuring that the athlete doesn’t experience the over specification so feared by the functional trainer.

 

Keep these points in mind when performing these primal but important lifts and create a solid foundation of strength and general physical preparedness that your future sophisticated programs can truly build upon.

 

Note* power breathing has been shown to increase blood pressure, so do get checked by your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you to perform the lifts and use this breathing technique.  Also, weightlifters sometimes suffer from Valsalva retinopathy. This is a haemorrhage of the retina caused by holding your breath while “pushing”.  While the damage isn’t usually permanent, it’s still something to think about.  If you have vision problems after an intense lifting session, you now know the reason.