Kettlebell pressing, are you doing it right?

When it comes to military pressing a kettlebell, there's a few things that you need to be aware about. Firstly why military press instead of push press or jerk?

1. The military press works your triceps (bingo wings) and deltoids (shoulders) more than the others.

2. The military press improves your overhead pressing ability and is an upper body movement.

3. It gives your legs a bit of a break if mixing with some lower body movements.

Secondly, be aware of your line of movement. You line of movement is the journey the kettlebell and your arm takes from racked position to lockout overhead. What you want is the same line of movement back from lockout to racked position if you want to target the same fibres through concentric and eccentric contractions. Training the muscle fibres eccentrically (lowering phase) will have a nice carryover to the concentric phase (lifting phase). If you can lower the kettlebell slowly, keeping the muscle fibres under contraction for longer, this can lead to hypertrophy (increased size) which in turn can lead to stronger and possibly more power in the long term.

So when you are training in your slow strength period, watch the line of movement of the kettlebell in your peripheral vision as it raises, then ensure it comes back via the same road.

Enjoy strong pressing :)

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