by Mark Reifkind, Master SFG
OK, so you have done your KB clean and press ladders and have put in your volume. You can press for sets and reps with a fairly heavy weight but when it comes time to put up that half-bodyweight press for just ONE rep it just doesn’t go. You either lift your shoulder first or don’t get the required amount of full-body tension or something messes it up.
Every powerlifter knows that being able to do heavy weight for a top set of 3 or 5 does not always convert to a great max single, the same is often true for the single KB press.
This program is designed specifically to increase one’s ability to press a KB for a single rep. The focus is on getting to a half-bodyweight KB press but this will work just as well for getting you to the next bell size, whatever that is. The protocol is based on Westside Barbell’s template of how to train the three powerlifts utilizing a speed day and a maximum effort day. The basic concept is teaching the body how to apply maximum force at all times.
Force=Mass X Acceleration One can increase force by increasing either the mass (weight of the bar/bell) or by moving it faster. One doesn’t lift heavy weights slowly on purpose. Heavy weights move SLOWLY because they are HEAVY. Learning to move medium to light weights quickly is an advanced skill as is a half-bodyweight press; trying to grind a max effort from the start usually results in failure for most. You may to be able to grind out the finish but rarely does that work at the start. Learning how to accelerate weights with 60% loads will carry over to the heavier loads IF one practices moving the heavy weights fast as well. This, too, is a skill.
Yet it’s an entirely different thing when one only has to do a single rep and there is no eccentric contraction FIRST to “get the feel of it” like the first rep of a press. It’s almost like a single rep deadlift; the first rep is ALWAYS the hardest.
If the reps are done in a touch-and-go fashion then each successive rep is easier until muscle fatigue sets in. With no eccentric loading first on the deadlift, or the KB press for a single, one has to be able to commit ALL his or her energy and focus into driving hard into the rep without losing ANY form or total body tightness.
It is no small task, especially if one doesn’t have much experience with single rep efforts. Strength is a skill and one-rep-max efforts are a very specific subset of that skill. Many miss that rep, not because they are not strong enough, but because they don’t have enough experience with maximum effort for just one repetition.
This type of training addresses that problem specifically. The program has two parts, two workouts most effectively separated by two days.
Day one is Speed day and its purpose is to teach and develop perfect form and accelerative abilities in the Standing KB press. Using compensatory acceleration (meaning each rep will be done using as much accelerative force as possible) while still maintaining perfect form and short rest periods, the necessary muscle tension will be developed in the groove.
One can only do 3-6 repetitions above 90% 1 RM effectively but in this method you will be trying to do 30 reps with 100% force (or as close as feasible) Westside uses jump stretch bands and/or chains to accommodate leverage in the squat and bench exercises and while this can be done with a KB press it’s not in the starting phase. You will learn to control the bell while still maximally accelerating it. This is especially important when you push hard and the bell seems to go nowhere, at first. The ability to keep pushing and not lose the groove is the key to making max effort lifts.
The second day is Max Effort day; a variety of “same but different” versions of the press will be done. I will suggest a few basic variations but it’s up to the individual lifter to decide which movements actually transfer for them, into the main lift. This will take some experimentation eventually but for now go through this cycle exactly at least two times before subbing out.
It’s VERY important to understand that max effort lifts must be done with NO psych or increase in blood pressure. Just take the lift, in a workman’s type fashion. This will equate to approximately a 90% effort in competition but that’s not important. What is important is that you get used to pressing very heavy weights for single reps almost casually; just another day at the office.
The easiest way to get stronger is to lift maximum weights. The only problem with a program of maximum loads is that you only get 2-4 weeks of progress before you go backwards. Fast. This program circumvents that by switching the variation every 1-3 weeks; same but different. This way you get your body used to very heavy single reps but in a neurological pattern that is slightly different than the classic lift for which you are training.
After the main press on each day, a variety of assistance exercises will be done to build the foundation muscles of the press. Their order of use should be decided based upon your weak points. If your lats are a weakness in the press, do lat exercises first. If it’s your shoulders, start there. Still do a lat move but put it in order of weakness. If it’s your strongest muscles do them last.
This will change as working on your weak points proceeds. It is a seven week program with a test in the seventh week. Re-assess after each testing and new PR as your weak links will change very often.
Here’s the routine
KB Press Speed day: Monday
(choose a bell approximately 60% of your CURRENT best 1RM Standing military press.)
(ALL sets are to be done on one arm before switching to your second arm. START with the weak arm first.)
KB press
60% x 8-10 sets of 3 reps, 20 seconds rest between sets, then do second arm
(Start each press from DEAD pause in the rack position. Press it as strongly as possible and then pause at the top (with a 1 count). Let the weight down quickly but do not drop it.) Pause and repeat.
Loaded cleans (one bell size up from the press)
5 sets of 5 with 2 second pause in rack, focus on ‘zipping up’ the entire body; a standing plank.
Tactical pull-ups
5-3 x 3 with pause at top of rep, 30 second rest/set
Floor KB extensions (paused on floor behind head)
Lie on the floor with a KB behind your head. Hold the horns of the bell, elbows tucked in. From a pause extend your arms and flex the triceps hard. Lower back to the floor and pause for one second. Repeat. The goal of this is to work the triceps but also to accelerate the bell quickly too as you build more triceps meat.
5-6 sets of 8 with a challenging bell (don’t worry about pushing this weight up it’s for hypertrophy).
KB side raises
Hold a light KB (or a dumbbell) at your side and with slightly bent elbows lift them to shoulder level or slightly above. This is a classic side lateral done for eons by bodybuilders. The KBs give it a slightly different feel but the goal is to work the medial delt and create more shoulder mass and stability.
3-5 sets of 10-12
(this for medial delt work and supraspinatus stability)
Max Effort: Thursday
Each Thursday for six weeks, you will perform a variation of the press.
Do 3-6 singles with the SAME WEIGHT. You can stay with each variation for 1-3 weeks increasing the number of sets each week – if you can. When you miss or go backwards, change to the next variation. You could also change variations every week if you like. If the first cycle around you can only get 3 singles, the next time you do it, shoot for 4 (and so on). The idea is to prepare both physically and mentally for just ONE rep sets and get used to grinding through maintaining perfect form.
If you miss a rep, miss it like a professional (maintaining perfect form, tension, and alignment). Keep your focus the entire time.
Rest as much as desired between sets but at least 2 minutes.
Week One
Bottoms up Press
Week Two
Stacked KB Press
Week Three
Floor press with single bell
Week Four
KB Getup
Week Five
Med grip weighted pushups on floor or to a bar in the power rack (2 sets to 90% failure – if you tried one more rep you would miss) reps between 15 and 30.
Week Six (de-load)
KB Military press with one bell up from Monday’s weight for 5 sets of 1 done perfectly strict.
Week Seven: Test
Test KB Military press: work up in single after using Monday’s weight. Rest 3-5 minutes between attempts.
Assistance work:
Loaded clean OR Bottoms-up clean – work up to 1-2 sets of 1-2 reps with goal weight or above on clean and one below on Bottoms-up OR as heavy as safe on Bottoms-up clean. Must be able to pause each strongly for 2-3 seconds for it to ‘count.’
A “loaded” clean is where you do a regular KB clean but tighten up the entire body, from the toes to your nose, as if someone were hanging their entire bodyweight off the KB in the rack position. “Zip” it up for 1-2 seconds and do the next rep.
The ability to tighten up the entire body just prior to pressing is vital for single max rep success.
Heavy two hand swings (for rooting stability)
5 sets of 8-10
One KB row
3-5 sets of, 5 heavy add weight each set
Weighted ab work of choice
3-5 sets of 5-8
That’s it. On your other training days do as you like but don’t fatigue the pressing muscles. As important as the exercises and the loads are, your mindset is equally key. You must get used to the “idea” of only one rep as the “set.” Each single rep has many components to it and you must get used to all of them, the setup, the breathing, the tension where you need it, etc.
Most important is controlling your mind so it does not wander when it comes to starting and finishing that heavy weight. Visualize the lift from start to finish EVERY TIME you are to get under a max effort. SEE IT. You can’t spend too much time practicing mentally. It is vital.
Good luck comrades and please report your progress or any questions you have on the StrongFirst Forum.
Rif