Heavy Sumo

(Picture coming soon)

There is a lot more to the bench press than most people give credit for.  Here is a list of technical pointers to help improve it.  We selected 3 to focus on, all of which happen before you even start the lift.  Trying to apply all of those in the article would have been waaaay too much.  Thanks Rob for the article.

After that came heavy Sumo high pulls and double unders.  I really tried to emphasize the stance and foot position for Sumos.  SDHP is a ground to shoulder movement, as is the Power Clean.  What makes it valuable is that it’s a simpler movement and done correctly it is a good way to train the skill of locking your back in extension.  Complicating this is the fact that your knees are in the way.  A wide stance with the toes pointing out goes a long way to clearing the knees out of the bar path, but to really keep the bar close you have to consciously force the knees out.  This is another benefit of the movement- forcing the knees out.

Knee buckle, or wobble during squats is a common problem.  It usually happens as the athlete is on the way out of the bottom, one or both knees will pinch inwards.  We want to avoid this and so need to be in the habit of opening the knees and strengthening those abductors.  An additional benefit of the SDHP is that it works the hips through a range of motion we don’t normally get, meaning a lot of you are sore high in your inner thighs today.