ALTERNATE TECHNIQUES TO INCREASE UPPER BODY STRENGTH

During this past off-season, we noticed that our percentage of increase in strength for the upper body press had not gone up as a team compared to our increases for the squat and power clean. Obviously, the lower body lift of a squat incorporates larger muscle groups, and both the power clean and squat can increase lower body strength significantly by using proper techniques so there are reasons to see a larger increase with these lifts. However, we also realized that we were not using as many functional and stability training variations to aid in the development of the upper body push strength as we were for many of our other strength building concepts.

The reason I use the term “upper body press” instead of bench or incline press is that, if given a choice to bench press or incline press, most athletes will choose the bench press. The incline press is, however, far more sport-specific to football than the bench press. Our challenge is getting the athlete to buy into spending more time training in an area where he does not feel comfortable, even though it will be more beneficial to his specific training. We still test in the bench press, but we also increase the variety of ranges of motion to increase our overall upper body press strength.

ADJUST THE GRIP - This can be as simple as where you have the athlete place their hands on the barbell while performing the press. It can/should be further adjusted using dumbbells by switching the grip from a pronated one to a neutral grip. By changing the grip to a neutral position, it rolls the athlete’s thumbs up and his elbows in. It further changes the position of the hand placement to where the opponent’s “steering wheel” of the shoulder pads will be during competition. A coach can also alternate the grip once the athlete’s stability/strength level is at a place where he is adequately prepared.  

ADJUST THE PLANE OF MOVEMENT - We have adjustable benches for our platforms. We used to simply set the bench at the flat setting for bench and notch 5 for incline. Football is not played in just two planes of pushing so it is ridiculous to train our athletes that way. We have our athletes adjust the bench to a different setting when performing the press with dumbbells and the barbell. By doing this, the athlete trains in the same planes that he will be competing in.

INCORPORATE PUSH POWER - Plyometrics has become a very popular part of football development. We use plyometrics for the upper body as well as the lower body. Make sure that the training is always safe and relative to the sport.

3-Second Press - This can be performed using a barbell or dumbbells. It can also be performed through any plane/notch on the bench, and we recommend changing the notch throughout each set of the workout. The athlete simply lowers the bar to his chest, the spotter counts to three, and then the athlete explosively presses the bar upward. We do this to “spread” the chest, develop power without utilizing the stretch-shortening cycle, and avoid the athlete from bouncing the bar. The biggest emphasis is for the athlete to pause the weight and to explosively press off it. To gain the explosion factor, the weight must be at a lower percentage (50%-70%).

Alternating DB Press (Photo 1)

This can be as simple as changing the dumbbell press from using both hands simultaneously into pressing each arm individually and alternating from right to left to right. This concept seems very elementary; however, it incorporates further balance/stability by using only one arm at a time. We were constantly training the lower body by using one leg at a time, but rarely did we train an upper push concept individually. This can be performed by adjusting the notches to change the plane and adjusting the grips from pronated and neutral. The alternating concept can also be used further as a press, a closed grip press (keeping the weight strictly over the chest and not the outside shoulders), or even while performing flys. A concept that we like to emphasize using the DBs is having the athlete twist the weight to hold the dumbbell with a neutral grip (thumbs up/elbows in) while performing the closed grip press. This further increases sport-specific movements.

A major coaching point with this neutral grip is that the athlete needs to keep the dumbbells close enough to correctly imitate the location of the opponent’s shoulder pads. They will tend to increase the width as it is easier for them to perform the lift. We tell them to keep the dumbbells over their pecs while not allowing them to touch. The space will be roughly 2-6 inches in which the dumbbells will be apart, depending on the athlete.

Adjusted Barbell Press - This might be the easiest of all lifts to incorporate, but it is one that we came across by accident. Simply have the athlete raise or lower the level of the bench each set. For some reason we found that it was much more difficult to perform this using the barbell than it was using the dumbbells. A simple rule is that the athlete will always be able to lift more with the bench at a flatter plane. When incorporating the adjustable plane concept, we like to gradually move the bench up or down throughout the workout.

DB Combos - This exercise is intended to take the alternating DB Press a step further and utilize each side of the body to perform a separate lift, such as a combination of Close Grip Press and Fly. An example would be to perform a fly with your right arm while simultaneously performing a closed grip press with the left. The next repetition would just reverse the concept - performing a fly with the left arm while performing a closed grip press with the right arm. This trains the body to perform different activities simultaneously as they will happen in competition while also incorporating core stability. The movement of a defensive push-pull technique or an offensive player fighting for a reach block are a few sport-specific movements that this lift imitates (See Photos 2 and 3).

Photo 2.

Photo 3.

Wheelbarrow Complex - Imagine the arm movement that the players are coached to do when taking on a block or attempting to block their opponent from low to high. This is the action we are trying to imitate and train for while performing this lift.

Think of the old school wheelbarrow for the initial beginning point for the lifter. It is also important to note that we want the lifter to keep his thumbs up and elbows in. From that point, instead of walking the individual forward, we actually want that person to work themselves back. This is a way for us to train a plyometric concept that is extremely sport specific.

During the beginning phase of this exercise, the athlete’s hand placement should be lateral to his chest (as if in an initial punch position of performing a block or striking to defeat a block). Next, the athlete will perform a one-handed pushup, explosively pressing themselves up for the press phase. The person standing will take one step back during the upward push phase to simulate the upward action the hand/arm will go through during play. The athlete performing the exercise should now have a hand placement that has moved to lateral between the top of the shoulder and his eyes. This action is to be repeated (recommended 4-8 times per arm) for the specified number of repetitions (Photos 4 and 5). 

Photo 4.

Photo 5.

The next exercise is for the lifter to begin in the same starting point and to forcefully press himself in the form of a circle. The spotter must stay in on the point on the ground as to force the lifter to perform the circle. This will be a double-arm explosion and not a singular pushup concept. We have our athletes perform two circles to the right, trade, and have the spotter perform two circles to the left.  By doing this, they will perform 8-12 repetitions in each direction.

The final exercise is a double-arm explosive pushup backward. It is important to note that the distance to be covered is relative to the power of the lifter and it is the spotter’s job to accurately gauge maximal effort without risking injury. As the lifter pushes up, the spotter should be walking backward again to imitate the ROM that the player will go through during competition.

About the Author: Shawn Nagel is in his fourth season as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Lindenwood University and was previously the Defensive Coordinator. His staff includes Dario Comacho, Mitch Schwartzman, and Mike Hoffman.