OHP question: Pressure on spine?

grandevampire

Hi all, sorry if this question has already been asked repeatedly (there isn't a group thread search feature, is there??), but I figured I'd better check if this was normal...

When I do an overhead press, when the bar is around face level, I tend to lean back with my upper body. By the time the bar gets overheadish, I straighten up and tuck my chin, pressing the bar what feels more or less behind my head. In that first phase when I feel like my back is slightly arched, I feel that the weight is putting pressure on my spine, midback.

Is this feeling normal for the movement, or should I not be feeling anything of the sort? (Sorry, I haven't managed to get a video of me doing anything yet.)

Thanks in advance!

lwoodroff

I find this move so tricky! There is a vid in the helpful section of mark rippetoe and a technique which I refer to as the hip wiggle, to keep the bar path straight rather than going round your face. Can't say I've mastered it but might be helpful!

grandevampire

I was trying to do the hip thing, but I think I was going too far. I did just watch a playlist on OHP with Rippetoe on YouTube, which I think helped. Hehe. He said not to exaggerate any part of the movement. I will try keeping everything more aligned next time and keeping the hip bounce only slight.

Other issue could be that the weight is still freaking heavy for me, so I may be "buckling"/losing my posture a bit under the weight instead of staying tight/taut. I'm pretty much still unable to push it straight up without slow wobbles. I may try the 15kg fixed barbell next time to see what I did differently with that so that nothing felt pressured.

EDIT: Link to OHP playlist! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXPJ3PfdyY&list=PL15567853340B27A5

PitBullMom_Liz

Are you making sure to take a nice deep breath and tense everything up before attempting the press? I find that makes a big difference so I don't feel like my vertebrae are being crushed. :-)

grandevampire

I honestly forget to pay attention to breathing nowadays during sport. I know it's bad and that structurally it makes a huge diff in lifting. I will take a deep breath (as Rippetoe also showed in those videos) and report back. Thanks for reminding me of that.

I used to be a swimmer, and obviously learning rhythmic breathing was something you absolutely couldn't get around. Now that I'm running and lifting, I find myself zoning out sometimes (early in the morning) in a way that doesn't include breathing correctly.

(Slightly off the topic of lifting, but still on the topic of breathing: For any other beginner runners out there, I just learned about 3:2/2:1 inhale/exhale breathing method (asymmetric for structural reasons), which has resulted in almost miraculous endurance/speed improvements (20 seconds off my very slow km pace). Maybe not even so much the fact that I'm alternating the foot strike that the exhale falls on (although apparently this makes a difference in preventing injury), but perhaps the fact that I am always counting away and making sure I am breathing very deeply. This was an informative article:
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/running-air-breathing-technique?page=single)

bumblebums

Think of your body as if it were a metal ruler. It should whip rather than flail, if that makes any sense, and the range of motion in the hips should be just enough to allow for a vertical bar path.

Everything is tense during the press--the quads should almost be cramping. Knees do not bend. The leanback is probably happening because you are not aiming for the nose. While practicing form in this lift, you will end up hitting yourself on the nose a couple of times if you are doing it right.

None of this made much sense to me from written descriptions until I saw Rip himself demonstrate the lift in the Press 2.0 video. That's the level of tightness and speed you want.

Vailara

I have exactly the same problem. It feels like the "natural" thing is to arch my back to get my head out of the way. It has taken me lots of practice to get close to the correct movement and I'm still working on it. I really have to concentrate on holding everything together and keeping my back straight.