Starting Strength

to the thumb) and the medial palmar ( hypothenar ) eminence on the other side – parallel to your “life-line,” to use a more familiar term. Then, just lay your fingers down on the bar and squeeze the fingertips into the bar. When you take it out of the rack, the bar will be on the heel of your palm and directly over your forearm bones, as shown in Figure 3-10 . The thumbless grip is never used when pressing, not because of the danger – which is obviously not there when the bar can be dropped to the floor. Rather, the thumbs-around grip permits the “squeeze” in the forearms that increases the tightness of the muscles, making the drive from the start position more efficient and increasing motor unit recruitment throughout the arms and upper body. Except for the squat, there is no thumbless grip in barbell training.

    Figure 3-10. Map, Hand surface anatomy. (A) Correct positioning of the bar in the hand: close to the heel of the palm, not back in the fingers (B). The method for taking the grip correctly (C–E).

    Take the bar out of the rack – the EMPTY BAR, at the correct weight for your ability. Your grip will have placed the bar on the heel of your palms, and your elbows should now move to a position just in front of the bar when viewed from the side. This placement creates a vertical position for the radius bone of the forearm. (Most people place the elbows under or behind the bar, positions that tend to make the bar drive away from the body when you press.) Shrug your shoulders up and forward just a little; the idea is to have the bar resting on top of your anterior deltoids, the meaty part of your shoulders, at the start of the movement.

    Figure 3-11. The elbows are in front of the bar. This position places the radius in a vertical position and provides for the correct direction of upward drive.

    Inflexible people may not be able to get the shoulders far enough forward and up to put the bar in this position at first; if flexibility is the problem, you will quickly stretch out. Some people have long forearms relative to the length of their upper arms, and this anthropometry makes getting the bar on the deltoids impossible with the elbows in the correct position and a narrow grip. Sitting on the delts is the ideal position for the bar, but the movement can be done from a less-than-perfect position without any real problem. Very flexible people should make sure not to raise the elbows too high; doing so pulls the scapulae forward and produces a lack of tightness and stability across the shoulder blades that is not conducive to an efficient press.

    Figure 3-12. The bar rests on the meat of the shoulders – the anterior deltoids – if possible. (A) Normal forearm dimensions. (B) A long forearm relative to the humerus. This lifter will press from a bar position that “floats” over the delts. An attempt to set the bar down on the delts will adversely affect the mechanics of the start position.

    Your stance in the press is not as precisely critical as it is in the squat. Take a comfortable stance, and you will usually end up with something that will work. Your squat stance actually works well for the press. Too close a stance creates a balance problem, and much farther apart than the squat stance feels pretty weird. We will not be using a ground reaction in this lift (since it is not a push press), so don’t worry about trying to simulate a vertical jump stance for this lift. In fact, when in doubt, go a little wider.
    Many initial position problems can be prevented with a correct positioning of the eyes. Look straight ahead to a point on the wall that is level with your eyes. (This assumes that you are in a facility with walls. If the walls are too far away, a piece of equipment will do.) Stare at that point for the whole set. You might need to give yourself a point to look at. If you need to, draw a big dot on a sheet of paper and hang it up at the point that causes your eyes to hold the correct position.
    Now lift your chest. This is actually accomplished by placing the upper part of the erector spinae in contraction. Think about lifting your sternum up to your chin or showing off your boobs. (Sorry for the coarse analogy, but you’ll have to admit that it’s useful.) Refer to Figure 3-13 for this position. “Chest up” is really a back contraction, and the press and the front squat are the two best exercises for strengthening and developing control of these muscles. Lifting your chest