Strength University

Push Press

Description: This is a standing overhead press performed WITH the assistance of your legs.

Function: To develop lower body explosiveness and overhead shoulder stability.

Benefits:

✅ Great for leg and hip power development

✅ Power development carryover to most sports

✅ Great for overhead shoulder stability

✅ Can train with more frequency due to very low time under tension (bar is accelerate then in free flight)

✅ Allows for a safe and efficient bar path compared to strict press

✅ Can lift heavier loads compared to other overhead movements

✅ Muscular hypertrophy

Limitations:

❌ Need to develop foundational overhead movements first.

❌ Need significant thoracic mobility to perform safely.

❌ Requires a lot of coordination and movement proficiency.

❌ Minimal shoulder strength/hypertrophy development

Recommendations:

* Incorporate this exercise if you play a sport that requires explosiveness (power)
* Utilise if you require more shoulder stability (ie. everyone!)
* Avoid if you lack shoulder mobility (address this first)
* Probably not the best exercise selection for shoulder strength or hypertrophy due to minimal time under tension. Better options may be strict press or seated.

Strict Overhead Press 🏋️‍♀️

Description: This is a standing overhead press performed without the assistance of your legs.

Function: To develop shoulder strength while in a position that challenges stability of all the joints of the body.

Benefits: 👍

✅ Allows for greater maximal strength compared to over overhead presses, as it employs zero lower body assistance.
✅ Great for shoulder hypertrophy - large amount of time under tension.
✅ Awesome baseline overhead movement.

Limitations: 👎
❌ Sub-maximal carryover to sport
❌ Requires good thoracic mobility to perform safely and efficiently.
❌ Has potential to place your lumbar in an unsafe position if thoracic mobility is limited. You are forced to push up, then back, or compensate by arching your lumbar, as your head is in the way at the start of the lift, unless you start from behind the neck.

Recommendations: 🤔

* Make sure you address thoracic mobility before you perform this movement
* Utilise if you are new to over head movements, This is your foundation.
* Implement this if your goal is hypertrophy
* If you're doing a specific sport look into learning push press and jerks as they will have better translation.

Sumo Deadlift 🏋️‍♀️

Description: Picking up a barbell with feet shoulder width apart or wider.

Function: Generally used by individuals that want lift a maximum amount of weight (by creating more of a mechanical advantage), take less force off the spine or want a more hip dominant deadlift.

Benefits:

✅ More hip demand
✅ More quad demand
✅ Less force on the spine then other deadlifts, due to more upright torso angle.
✅ Generally can lift heavier loads
✅ Higher mechanical advantage than other forms of deadlifts

Limitations:

❌ Requires significant mobility to execute
❌ Requires a sound understanding of how to conventional deadlift

Recommendations:

Have a specific purpose for doing them (or any exercise).
Master the understanding and proficiency of conventional deadlifts or RDL’s before sumo, as it will benefit you long term.
If you have tight hips that don't allow great mobility in the sumo, address this first.
If you have back pain, sumo will take force off the spine, but address the pain first instead of putting a band-aid on it.
If you want to lift the most amount of weight possible, think about long term progression rather than progression in one day/week/cycle/year. Develop back and hamstrings first.

Conventional Deadlift 🏋️‍♀️⠀
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Description: Picking up a barbell from the ground with feet shoulder width apart or narrower. ⠀
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Function: There are many reasons to do these, most are very specific to the individual. Weight loss, hypertrophy, rehab, prehab, postural imbalance, lifestyle, sport, strength ect. If done well they should be a staple in everyone's training program.⠀
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Benefits: 👍⠀
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✅ Great for posterior chain activation⠀
✅ Important deadlift for beginners to master⠀
✅ Large amount of core engagement ⠀
✅ Increased amount of back (erectors) engagement compared to other forms of Deadlifting⠀
✅ Increased demand on the hamstrings⠀
✅ Great translation to any sport that requires power or strength⠀
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Limitations: 👎⠀
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❌ Requirement to learn and understand proper breathing and bracing technique⠀
❌ Requirement to have sound mobility to allow an efficient hip hinge movement⠀
❌ Mechanically less optimal than sumo deadlifts⠀
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Recommendation: 🤔⠀
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Regardless of your goal, incorporate some form of deadlift into your training. If you are a sumo lifter, take time (usually the off season) to develop this. Having a stronger back and hamstrings will have significant carry over. A lot of lifters will be too specific for too long. Variation is important! ⠀
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In Knowledge is Strength 🎓

Do your knees cave in during a squat or deadlift⁉️

Knee Caving (Valgus)

Why does it matter❓ In regards to safety and performance, you are the most mechanically efficient when the knee tracks over the foot. The knee is a hinge joint that is in between 2 other joints (hip and ankle) that control it. When there is a restriction in either the hip or ankle 2 things happen

1. The torso angle falls more horizontal to compensate.
2. The knee caves.

If this is happening it will be exaggerated as the weight gets heavier as it requires more neuromuscular control and coordination.

Corrections ✅:

Reasons why this may occur:

A) Mobility. Make sure hip and ankle mobility are optimal.
B) Cueing. Sometimes we just dont know what we're supposed to be doing.
C) Morphology. Everyone's structure is different and our bodies move accordingly

Exercises to help :

Unilateral Abduction - Things like monster walks, clams or banded hip abductors will help strengthen the stability of the hip: gluteus minimus and medius and the tensor fasciae latae.

Pistol squats - without wobbling can be enough to stimulate the glutes, abductors, and other muscles to reduce knee valgus.

Reactive Neuromuscular Training - pistol squat with a band pulling the knee inward. This teaches the body to recognise and react to movements that are poor so it can stabilise the body.

This is something that is SO important for athletes, coaches, exercise professionals and in business. If you don't have passion for what you’re doing the journey becomes overwhelming. Without passion adherence becomes difficult.

Passion = Adherence = consistency = results 🤗

Dumbbell Bench Press 🏋️‍⠀
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Description: Similar to barbell pressing movements, but using one dumbbell in each hand.⠀
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Function: Dumbbells utilise more unilateral stability in the shoulder, elbow and wrist.⠀
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Benefits: 👍⠀
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✅ Can train more frequently. Has a lesser effect on the CNS as the weight is relatively lighter than barbell presses.⠀
✅ Largest ROM out of the bench presses. You are not limited by the bar hitting your chest.⠀
✅ Greater activation of the rotator cuff and lats due to the increased demand for stability. ⠀
✅ Great supplementary exercise for hypertrophy and strength.⠀
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Limitations: 👎⠀
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❌ Loads are generally lighter (can also be a good thing)⠀
❌ Requires more coordination and movement proficiency ⠀
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Recommendations: 🤔⠀
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I think everyone should incorporate these into their program. They will sustain better shoulder and elbow health. Greater adaptations for hypertrophy and great for teaching movement proficiency for all levels. Do to decrease in load, frequency can increase (you can recover quicker). The more you do a movement the better you will get at it (unless you're doing it wrong, then you'll get better at doing it badly (still progress?) lol.

Dumbbell Bench Press 🏋️‍

Description: Similar to barbell pressing movements, but using one dumbbell in each hand.

Function: Dumbbells utilise more unilateral stability in the shoulder, elbow and wrist.

Benefits: 👍

✅ Can train more frequently. Has a lesser effect on the CNS as the weight is relatively lighter than barbell presses.
✅ Largest ROM out of the bench presses. You are not limited by the bar hitting your chest.
✅ Greater activation of the rotator cuff and lats due to the increased demand for stability.
✅ Great supplementary exercise for hypertrophy and strength.

Limitations: 👎

❌ Loads are generally lighter (can also be a good thing)
❌ Requires more coordination and movement proficiency

Recommendations: 🤔

I think everyone should incorporate these into their program. They will sustain better shoulder and elbow health. Greater adaptations for hypertrophy and great for teaching movement proficiency for all levels. Do to decrease in load, frequency can increase (you can recover quicker). The more you do a movement the better you will get at it (unless you're doing it wrong, then you'll get better at doing it badly (still progress?) lol.