[vulturesrow]

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When the press was an olympic lift the lifters fired their heads back to create an explosive bounce out of the front rack, then leaned far back, recruiting as much muscle as they could, and then popped their head back through violently forward. It all seemed to create momentum on the bar. The problem was that no one felt confident whether they were cheating-- so they may not be a good model, and yet provide something to learn from...



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IIRC, that is exactly why the press is no longer an Olympic lift. So a little lean is probably ok but the farther back you get, the more other muscles you are recruiting. I dont see that as a necessarily bad thing, it just depends on what you are looking for from that press, and I suspect that most people are trying to isolate muscles doing presses, and not to get a compound lift type effect. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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The press is a compound lift, although I think I understand and agree with your point. I don't see why Rippetoe and company should have any more success, ultimately, grading the press (though I like it in their total).

My point is that the head gets out of the way of the bar on the way up and then helps complete the lift when/by coming back through. This seems awkward at first for some reason, but it is the most natural/sensible way for the bar to get from the front rack to fully pressed out, and it is partly a consequence of putting speed/explosiveness on the bar/lift.

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Yeah I guess I worded that poorly. I was just referring more to the recruitment of more muscle groups into the lift. But yeah the lift doesnt really seem very effective without some "lean".