Looking for Suggestions on OHP Sticking Point

Hey CT,
I’m progressing in my OHP for the first time in pretty much forever. I did a solid 5 reps today @165lb. I did for the first time notice I had a weak point when the bar was about 6 inches above my head. Before and after was pretty smooth but on all 5 reps I had to push through that spot kinda hard. The 5th rep was about 3 seconds of grinding. Any suggestions as to which muscle group I should target to help with that?

That doesn’t tell me much. What happens at the sticking point? Is the bar more forward Are you arching your lower back (moving your hips forward)? Tell me what it looks like as it can be many things.

To be very specific I’d have to do it again with this in mind. If there is any major arch I’d say it’s in my upper back which is actually sore this morning. The bar path could definitely be a bit forward but I try to keep it straight as possible. I use a suicide grip and take a shoulder width stance.

I’m pressing again Friday. It’ll be lighter but I’ll try and remember to catch a video

Video would help, yes

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Thank you so much for your time and willingness to yet again help me out when I need it. Friday evening I’ll post up a video in this thread

@Christian_Thibaudeau
Here are a couple of videos. My Friday OHP is on the light side. I did a 10x5 @125. I tried to show the sticking point but the weight wasn’t heavy enough. But I think they show my form pretty clearly though

Form isn’t bad.

Core and glutes are weak. That gives you a weak base and force leaks out from there (imagine doing a DB press on a bench vs. doing a DB press on a swiss ball… your core/glutes are a swiss ball).

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Thanks Coach!
That does leave me with 2 follow up questions if I may…

  1. What do you see that leads you to believe that (I don’t disagree, purely for my education)
  2. How do I train glutes without going Instagram girl?

Hello, not CT obviously but I used to do the same. Your whole body is moving around forward, your glutes are not contracted and your pelvis is tilted forward. Your back is excessively arched to compensate. For instance, on your second vid, reps 3 and 4, you are so much forward it’s obvious you’re using energy to try to balance yourself.

Try the next times, to squeeze your glutes as hard as possible the whole time. You can use a slightly wider stance, or point your toes a bit out to help you mobilize and feel them. Also brace the shit out of your abs.

Personally I don’t do much glute work for they are huge from my lineman years, but I would recommand, as your warm-up 3 sets of 15-25 glute bridges and clams, to really help you feel your glutes. Then, Sumo deadlift, pull-through, mobilizing your glutes correctly during deadlift, lunges. You can also try hip thrusts

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Thanks for taking the time to give me advice. I’ll take it, appreciate it man.

As boots mentioned, your whole body is moving forward and you can see that the mid-body is “shaky” instead of being rock solid.

First get the right mindset. Who cares what the exercises you do make you looks like as long as it works. You aren’t training to look cool.

That having been said it might not be weak glutes per say, just the case that you are not locking them in when pressing.

You need to root your feet into the floor during your set-up: try to externally rotate them (they wont because they are pressed against the floor, but it’s the intent that will create tension) and try to grab the floor with your toes.

At first don’t panic, you performance will go down because you are changing your mechanics and it will take some getting used to.

Farmer’s walk and Zercher carries would also be on my list of recommendations

Thanks Coach,

That’s valid, can’t really argue with that.

This is definitely the case. I do not actively lock in my glues or my core for that matter in most cases. Only when I’m lifting something that scares me a little to I lock everything down. My major focus is contracting my lats. I’ll have to be more conscious of doing this every rep to carv a new pattern.

Do you like my stance? With this in mind would it benefit from take a step wider or no? I’m OK with either but if going to lock in a movement pattern again I want it to be optimal.

Thanks so much Coach for your time. I value it and appreciate you helping me out.