JM Presses?

[donaldmannion]

Can someone please give me a explanation of how to do JM presses because I have heard different ways.

Thanks

[toolpod]

Hi Don,

I agree, what's out on the web is pretty scarce, but what I've gathered, plus input from a friend who said he asked Mr. Blakely...here goes:

Basically, the movement is a sort of barbell nosebreaker, except the bar traverses a straight line on the descent instead of an arc like a normal nosebreaker.

You start with the bar at arms length ( grip can be close (12-14") or wider (18" ish) I've seen both) directly above the delts/upper pecs.

Keeping your elbows up, you take the bar down in a *straight line* to the bottom where your forearms should be resting against your biceps...your forearms are fully retracted against the biceps with the palms facing away. At this point your forearms should be roughly parallel to the floor. The bar should be a few inches ABOVE your chest/shoulders.

You should feel a serious stretch in the triceps, I have noticed that the closer grip gives me more stretch. Press the weight back up.

On the way down, the bar should not move up toward your head or down toward your feet, but close to a straight line. Your elbows should be angled within 45 degrees of your torso.

I beleive this is correct, but am not 100% sure. From what I read, Mr. Blakely thought that form could vary so long as you feel that stretch in the tris at the bottom.

[chancey]

Thats a pretty good explanation. I beleive elbows up is a key point here. TP I am using a 18-20 grip so a little easier than if you go 12-14 but I think body size dictates the grip to some extent.

[jp]

I like higher reps on this exercise.....like 10-15....lower reps grind on my elbows, but the exercise is awesome if done right and WILL build big triceps!!

Cheers,

JP

[Deleted]

I had the same question last week. I found a good video clip on www.joeskopec.com.

Check this link out: www.joeskopec.com/assist.html

(scroll down to JM Presses)

[chancey]

I've seen that as well. There are many interpretation of this exercise. The explanation of the way that Blakley did it was that he left his elbows up and only brought his forearms down (TP explains it well). Taking the shoulders out. This is what makes the way Blakley did it difficult.

[toolpod]

Seconding what Chancey said, I think the key is the near 100% stretch that you get on the triceps...if you put your arms all the way down so the forearm is jammed up against the biceps with the tricep still under tension that is where you get the exercise hitting all three heads of the triceps.

Keeping the elbows up helps make this happen by allowing you to fold your arms all the way up, and by helping your forearms stay close to horizontal to maximize tension.

Think about it, even with nosebreakers/skull crushers, you rarely take the triceps and stretch it all the way to the "end-of-travel" stop of the joint...mayb 90 or 95 percent but rareley 100%...I think the JM press form helps ensure that you get the 100%...which also makes it important to take it easy when starting JM presses in to the workout...the last 5-10% of the triceps see loads they are unaccustomed to.

[donaldmannion]

Thank for explanation and video, I guess I was doing them wrong.

[chancey]

Don,

Whats right or wrong? I've seen three ways to do these so as long as you felt it in your triceps then your time was not wasted. I was doing them like the video but found I could easily start turning it into a pressing movement something. The way TP has discussed is a bit more difficult but is unlike any triceps movement you’ll ever try.