Can’t press 16kg

E

erythro

New member
I’ve been barbell lifting, starting from scratch, for about a year. My routine includes overhead press and bench press, along with dead lifts squats. I’ve made decent progression, with a caveat that I’ve had to hold off on overhead press and benchpress for the last two months due to shoulder injury (Rotator cuff couldn’t keep up with the demands I was placing with the barbell). Shoulder is better now, no pain with overhead movements.

I’ve looked into transitioning more into KB workouts, wanted to try the clean press with the 16 K I have sitting at home. Can’t even get one press. I’ve always read that a 16 kg kettlebell is a pretty standard starting place for a male with even decent strength, so just wondering if I’m an outlier as far as being weak af goes.
 
@erythro Just out of curiosity, if everyone were to reply "yes, you are an outlier as far as being weak af goes," what would you do?

Hopefully the answer would be "suck it up, start where you are, and go from there."

It so happens that that's the right answer no matter where you are, whether coming back from injury (as is the case with you) or being full strength but just not strong.

So...don't worry about where you stand relative to others. It simply doesn't matter. Start where you are, and go from there.

And take care of that shoulder.
 
@jimmy22x Can confirm take care of shoulder. I had my RC done last July and it’s taken about 9 months to get back to 100%. You DO NOT want that recovery.
 
@erythro It’s the norm for an average, healthy, man. Keyword: healthy. You’ve come back from shoulder injuries, of course your pressing movements aren’t going to be as strong.
 
@erythro Start with a smaller weight and work up. Don’t stress tho. It’ll come to ya. I can now rep a 32kg. Took a long time and thousands or reps to get here tho

Can you post a video of a rep? Maybe we can help critique form and give tips
 
@erythro You're as strong as you are, man - I wouldn't worry about the average man or anything. But if you have 1KB and want to work clean and press, I suggest just doing a bunch of push presses. Then you can alternate 1x strict 4x Push, etc until you're there.

Also second the TGU advice - helps with stability.
 
@erythro Don’t let ego dictate what an appropriate weight is, I’ve gotten lighter bells to help when I was recovering from an injury, nothing wrong with that.
 
@erythro Start pressing the 12 kg or 14kg if you can get your hands on them.

I use ladders.

For example:

1/2/3reps
Repeat for 3 sets.

Keep building volume at the lower bells and then on a day where you feel good, attack the 16 kg!
 
@erythro You’re just starting out and coming off an injury. It’s fine if you can’t. I started at 8kg. Granted, I outgrew it fairly quickly but that was when a 12kg was too heavy and I was struggling with it. And yes, I was very out it shape. I’m up to 24 and that’s the heaviest I have at the moment. Next step is to buy and adjustable and get up to 32. But it’s a process. Give yourself a break and look for a lighter starting weight. As the wise man once said, the race is long, and in the end it’s only against yourself. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
 
@erythro I don't think that is so crazy.

A beginner weightlifter wouldn't be doing ohp with 35 lb dumbbells or a 70 lb barbell on their first day.

Especially considering your injury, I'd take it slow, start at whatever weight is comfortable for your volume goal. If needed, increase volume for a while with low weight, that's a good way to deal with injury recovery.
 
@erythro Hard to say without knowing your strength levels and exact level of your injury

Have you been strengthening your rotator cuff with specific rehab and external rotation ?

I used to have trouble with my shoulder as well and what cured it for me was daily passive hanging from rings multiple times a day (grease the groove style) as well as I did elbow on knee dumbbell external rotation 2-3 days a week with focus on slowly getting stronger on it (8-12 rep range worked well here)

Maybe this helps
If not it really might be weakness and you need to work your way up which is fine too, enjoy the process 👊🏻
 
@erythro I sprained my left shoulder and strained the right rotator at different times a year or so apart. In each I couldn’t do ANY significant physical activity..
Lifting of any kind, sparing or other training of any kind. You will heal and come back better by taking your time and trusting the process. Now I can press double 24’s for a dozen pr a single 32 for 4 or 5 reps.
 
@erythro What helped for me were Turkish Get Ups. If you dont do them already check some videos and try with no to little wait to get the movement right. When you are able to do it with the 16kg you can do the press in no time!
 
@erythro What were you pressing before with a barbell or dumbbells? It's the most similar to doing an OHP with a single dumbbell but is a little different so can feel harder.

You probably just need to start out at a lower weight and build up to heavier weights. If you don't have access to other kettlebells and don't want to buy them you could use dumbbells or other OHP variations to increase strength.
 
@erythro You’re coming back from an injury, don’t beat yourself up. If you have access to to a dumbbells, you can do clean and press w them, even tho it’s different. Find the weight you can press 5-8 times and do ladders of 1,2,3. Start w 3 sets and work up to 10. I think that’s pretty standard kb advice.
 
@erythro I'll give you my pressing experience.

I could press the 16kg for at least 1 rep when I started, but it was very hard to do and I felt weird things happening so I stopped.

I dropped back to 10kg and practiced the movements for a few weeks. The press was nothing special, I felt like I would break on pretty much everything I tried so I took it very easy for 2 - 3 weeks in the beginning.

Then I could press the 16kg for at least 5 reps but it felt like too much. So maybe I'd do 5 reps one day a week and drop down to 10kg on the other days.

I did Simple and Sinister for a month, and did one press with each Turkish Getup, working in the 20kg for a few reps. I didn't test but it felt like the 20kg was a 1 rep max in the beginning.

I definitely had beginner gains. After a couple of months of working out I decided to do the DFW Remix program, and I tested the double kettlebell 18kg as my 5 rep max on the press. I tried pressing the single 24kg but no such luck. (Singles are easier than doubles.)

A couple weeks into the program I could press the single 24kg for 1 rep.

I did DFW Remix again with 21kg doubles, and could press the single 24kg for 2, and at the end of that program could press it for 7 reps. With doubles I could manage 5 reps.

The last time I tested I could do 7 clean and presses with double 24s.

This all happened in about 4 months.
 
@erythro You’re not an outlier. When I started with KBs, I could fairly easily press a 35lb dumbbell over my head, but the 35kb was extremely difficult.

It’s due to the offset weight balance and it does take some getting used to.

If you have lighter weights start there. If you don’t I would suggest an alternative method to build strength. You could start by doing a TGU to get the overhead and then do a negative to get it to your chest.
 
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