Reach for the sky.
Who would have thought that putting your hands in the air can be one of the most freeing things to do.
At 2nd50strong, when your hands reach for the sky, they’ll be holding a barbell.
Doing this in a standing position is one of our Core 4 exercises, and it’s called:
The Press.
The Press works your balance like no other of The Core 4. This is something we all need to improve in our 2nd 50 years.
As our age goes up, unfortunately so does our rate of falling.
I used to coach wrestling with an incredible man in his mid 70s. He ran and wrestled with the kids like I did. He was in great shape. One day while running he told me the one thing that drove him crazy was his balance was getting worse.
Balance is a funny thing because you can’t force or muscle it to improve, it’s too complicated.
You have to challenge your brain to make lightning fast decisions to keep you upright against gravity. I showed him some things to help his balance, and he’s thanked me many times since.
With the Press, we mimic the natural motion of lifting an object up overhead. This trains balance in two ways:
1- All the muscles in your body, from the bottom of your feet to your head, are coordinated by your brain to complete the move AND keep you standing in a stretched out position.
2- With a weighted bar overhead, your center of mass changes from your lower abdomen to up in your rib cage, where you’re not used to it being. This higher center of mass makes any movement more exaggerated, and therefore harder to keep your balance.
The majority of the motion in the Press comes from the shoulders and arms. But to pull this off, they must work from a stable base.
Keeping the rest of your body stable is a lot of muscular work from your head to your feet. Especially your core trunk muscles. It makes the press a whole-body exercise, and a welcome member of The Core 4.
It also loads and strengthens every bone, which is most importance to you ladies. You must take care of your bones to keep us men in line as we get older. We would be nowhere without you.
Stabilizing our body for our shoulders to move is an incredible improver of our posture. Let’s face it, a bent over posture is society’s hallmark of getting older.
Regular pressing gets you strong and comfortable moving with an upright, straight spine.
Good posture will feel normal. You’ll also feel more confidence, pride, and more respect from others as you look them in the eye.
The shoulders are the major movers of the Press, but they aren’t very big.
This makes the press the least weighted exercise and the slowest to progress of The Core 4, which also adds the benefit of strengthening humility.
Especially in my four kids.
The benefits of the Press cannot be overstated, and it’s the second most important exercise you can do after the Squat.
The Press might seem intimidating, but with keeping some key points in mind, you’ll be doing it like a pro.
Putting your hands in the air will be one of the most liberating things in your life.
You’ll be reaching for the sky with a barbell in your hands and a smile on your face.
Strength is a beautiful thing.
Get strong as hell,
Coach Ken