Articles Written by RKC Martin Farrell

Bent Press:

Articles Written by RKC Martin Farrell

Bent Press:

I thank Adam Hinson as the photographer and Karen Nashatker as the
weight(109 lbs)
She was harder then I thought cause she would not stop moving:) I thank you
for the eye. I would like to put in a clause "don't try this at home".







   
























Bent Press: The old-time
strongmens' tool

By Marty Farrell

You will almost never ever see anyone working out in commercial gym performing the
bent press. There was only one time when someone outside Dragondoor.com, a
personal trainer looked at me and asked. “Sandow?” For some reason or another it is
out of style. The main reason is that most people just don’t know about it. In that
sense, I’m glad I’m not like most people.

For those that do not know, a bent press is a standing exercise where you press a
weight with one arm. Sounds simple right? Wrong. There are so many factors of
positioning, body type and training that I will only cover the fundamentals of what I
believe to be important ground rules.

Rule 1: Safety First

a.        As Pavel preaches and so do I, always respect the weight. Whether it is 10 lbs
or 110 lbs treat it the same.
b.        Secondly, a bent press should be done where you can throw the weight down
if there is a problem: on rubber mats or outside. The RKC book mentions this.
c.        Common sense. If you want that PR and the numbers indicate that you should
but you don’t feel up to it then don’t do it.  Your body is telling you something.

Rule 2: Form

a.        The main area of movement in this exercise starts with the weight at a Clean
level. That means that you are holding the weight at your shoulder ready to press.
There are many different ways to get the
  weight to this position. Observe














b.        When starting to press you’ll find that the weight has to challenge you
somewhat to really feel this
  exercise properly. Be mindful that this exercise originally had been meant for overall
one shot power.  
  In short, use a weight that you will find challenging.  Observe


















Now you are ready:

c.        There are two major ways to press. You can twist your trunk and then begin
or twist as you lean forward. Your latissimus should be flared out and taking on most
of the weight. Eyes on the weight















d.        The crux of it is: you get under the weight as it seems to not move. (You’ll find
in grinding power
 movements that the weight seems to not move at first. The magic is that more and
more muscle fibers
 flex harder and harder creating more and more tension. Thank your nervous system
for that.) Eyes on   
 the weight.  


















Your upper back muscles stabilize the weight until you glide under it to lock your arm
out. Now you’re half done.

e.        The second part of the movement is to keep the arm locked and slowly
straighten up. That is the
  positive movement of what is known as a windmill. Back stays straight as you glide
from a standing  
  bent to the side position to a standing upright position. Keep your arm locked while
performing the
  second step. Observe Finish from last

























Through out this entire exercise keep the eyes on the weight.

Now that we have gone through some basic fundamentals lets move on to goals and
some subtle training tips.

Arthur Saxson had been one of the strongest men of all time due to this exercise, the
bent press.  You’ll notice that if you choose to cheat this exercise one of two things
could happen. One: you get injured or two your results are poor.

Form is everything. You’ll learn form not through reading but with every time you do
perform.
The only way to learn is to do.

Some cycling Suggestions:



Most pressing exercises yield small progress unless mass is added. The bent press
you can add a lot to. I went from 75 pounds to 125 pounds in 6 months as I came to
discover this marvelous exercise. You can too. The reason being, bent press is
probably the only exercise that uses the total body and hence more muscles, hence
more to work with creating a wider margin of success.  

Do this exercise within 85%-95% of your max twice a day for 3 –4 days a week. I
typically ramp from a lower weight first. .

If your having trouble with the form or you plateau then use pull ups, chin ups, or
some kind of upper back exercise to maintain proficiency and you’ll come back at
least as good as when you left.

My latest PR immediately followed 3 weeks of no training of any type including bent
press.  The bent press is such an overall strength exercise that it is good to do it less
frequently especially when you’re doing other things. It will quickly overtax your
nervous system.

Subtle Tips that are Critical

Bend the wrist. Ouch! We are not supposed to do that!  For our purposes it is ok,
recommended even.

There is a spot on the base of the palm (where the wrist meets the palm) on the pinky
side that recruits more muscle fiber. Before I knew this I instinctively did bend my
wrist. The weight should be directly over the wrist sitting on the base of the palm.
(That is why I favor bent pressing Kettlebell’s. The thicker the handle, the easier it is
to hold.)

The forearm is perpendicular to the ground. Bending the wrist is more pronounced
when lifting an object like a waitress’s tray or a sandbag. If you’re not sure then test
the theory on an abnormally shaped object. It can be a balancing act but balancing
can only help.  Try bottoms up bent pressing a Kettlebell. Try a Sandbag. You get the
message. Use your imagination.  80 lb salt bags are the heaviest I could find.








                                                                          











Folks, for those of you that are stuck with bent press goals take what I’ve said and
apply it. For those of you who do not do them then do them. Believe bent press
works based on your own experiences in junction to what I’ve suggested. Apply
proper lifting and tension techniques as always. You can’t go wrong.  In the end you’ll
be stronger then you set out to be.

Power to You!