JM Presses

Does anyone know how to do JM presses? They are mentioned in Dave Tate’s recent article on benching, but I can’t seem to find out how to do them. Thanks.

Execution of Exercise: Lie on a flat bench, keep your feet firmly pressed down on the floor for stability. Use a narrow grip (6-12inches) on the bar. Lower the bar from arms length to 6 inches above your sternum pause for a second and explosively push the bar back to the start position. The bar should be lowered under control.

Important Points: The bar should move up and down in a straight line i.e. the bar should not move towards your head or feet during the lift, if this happens it is a sign that the bar is not under control. To ensure maximum results keep your elbows pointed out and forearms perpendicular to the floor. A spotter is advised.

i am not gonna swear by it but JM presses seem damn similar to CA presses (which t-mag has described in depth). Also, try geneticfreaks for a video or EliteFts and goto the Ask dave section and he has pictures and a description.

Go to the “freaksonature” website. You can download a video of the JM Press with Louie giving instructions.

go to the ask dave section on daves site and search for jm press (or just look under benching subdivisoion). he explained it in detail w/pictures a week or so ago.

  • Nic

The ministry of fitness website has the exact description. With pictures. Sounds similar to Midnights response.

I just went to that sight,.freaksonature.
I am not so sure that the training protocol is bad, the westside system, but the form displayed on nearly all of the videos SUCKS. Not just “it could be a little better if…” I am talking injury, biomechanical inadequacy, all of the above. Was this just done poorly to entice video purchase or is this the type of form advocated? I am rather disappointed.

I haven’t seen the videos, but I’m guessing that you think they have bad form because there elbows do not stay directly under the bar. The purpose of the JM press is to strain the triceps. This is done by making sure that your elbows remain tucked in and IN FRONT of the bar, so in a way it’s similar to the california press- a combination of a close grip bench press and a tricep extension. The guys at westside seem to be big on injury prevention so I wouldn’t rip the form apart unless you understand what the purpose is. As Dave Tate would say “a hurt bencher is worthless to us…”.

No, it is not the elbows in that I was bothered by, and I am not sure these videos were sponsered by Louie. The lateral raise with elbows at 90 degrees. Why? The bench squat I have heard to keep the torso as close to upright as possible, yet the demonstrator’s was bent at the waist quite a bit and upper body was not straight or even arched, it was curled forward. same with the partial deadlift, curled trunk. I didn’t have a problem with the JM presses.
The bent rows with a plate were demonstrated with questionable posture. The box squat for speed the guys knees were traveling around laterally all over the place. I may be a bit critical, but if these were demonstration videos, I would think near perfect form should be shown, with the understanding that some mild breaches are expected with maximal efforts. But with speed work???

You’re right, Jay… The demos sound pretty crappy. I forgot to check it out at home last night.

Jay, you’re right, their form does suck, but from watching the westside videos so does their form. When doing pulldowns they throw themselves backwards, tricep extensions are done in a rather sloppy manner (I’m not sure if they do it on purpose or not), during chest supported rows their entire body moves to get the weight up. I don’t know what the deal is, they must be doing something right, but on the other hand I can’t even force myself to train like that.