Pullover & Press, IAWA-style

Anyone with IAWA (or USAWA) experience that has seen or done the pullover and press in competition, this request is aimed at you. Will you critique my form and give me feedback? I really want to improve my poundage on it before June so I can walk into the USAWA Nationals with at least one lift that I'm competitive in.



It seems to be the most awkward lift. I read and then re-read the rules a dozen times to make sure I'm getting all the details right. It just seems impossible to use any appreciable weight. Yesterday was my first workout on the pullover and press and I only went up to 153lbs for a single. It only took me one try with 112lbs to realize that I had to kind of "pole vault" the bar up by slamming my elbows/arms down into the ground and pivoting up on them until I was in the pre-press position. From there I just pressed the bar to lockout and held it for a little pause before lower my elbows/arms until they touched the floor. Then I let the bar fall backwards (while I held on to it) and turned my face to the side so it would not hit my head when it hit the ground.

Ben,
I've done 137.5k in the past on this lift.
Your technique looks fine, but you need way more speed!
I'm sure you'll get this as you get more confident.

Yeah speed like David says is the key. Rick Meldon was awesome and the Pullover and Push (among other lifts).

Nick

Ben; that's more than I've tried but I always used an EXPLOSIVE movement: pull then BLAM! on the press.

My biggest fear with this was the finish, I kinda just chucked the bar and bailed!

Right on, thanks guys! David, that's a heck of a lift! I figured Nick had done some big poundage on it too. Seems that it definitely favors the more athletic (strong and quick) guys, which is why it's not a big surprise that I'm struggling with it. I'll work on that speed though!

Ben,
Just grit your teeth and lose the elbow skin!

As Nick said Rick Meldon is excellent at the lift, and many others. Check out his One Hand Swing!!

The Pullover and Push allows more weight, and I've just checked and I did 176k in this lift.

When lowering the weight bring it back down onto your elbows, turn your head and lower it back down.

Thanks for all the tips David and Nick! I'm slowly working my way upwards. Today I hit 187lbs, which is 34lbs over what I did 8 days ago. I've reset my goal to 100kg for the contest in June. I also got some great advice from Adam Glass. Not sure if he's a member here yet or not though.

Ben,
Better.
You still can do with a bit more speed, but this will come with confidence.

Well done!

Nice to see you sticking with some of the old lifts. I actually loved my IAWA days! We were in the league (Cheltenham Tribe and also a ladies Team I believe) and competed all over England. After I moved to Australia I did a couple of postal competitions via the Perth IAWA. After that it was grip and strongman!

As David said even more speed. You wanna pull that bar down really fast and jam your elbows into the ground. Not sure what you bench press but you should be within 10% of your best. Good stuff!

Nick

I'm no expert on this lift, however I do remember IAWA hall of famer Steve Angell demonstrating this lift to me once. It was so quick, like bam-bam!

I think Dave is right, with confidence the speed will come. Good luck in your contest!

I'm still too timid and that's even with a bunch of practice runs at it. I just have to sack up and rip it faster next time. Was pleased to hit 90kg though! I filmed it straight on and see that I raise my head and maybe even my chest as I'm levering the bar up. That might make it an illegal lift. Please let me know if you think it would have been disqualified in a contest. I don't want to be practicing wrong.

My big dumb dog kept getting in the frame...

On a side note, had a guy answer an ad I placed in the paper selling some weights. He saw the Rolling Thunder sitting there loaded to 188lbs and just walked over casually and pulled it to full lockout with both hands. Never touched the grip stuff before. Had pretty big hands and was a construction worker. The barbell was still loaded to 198lbs and he one-hand snatch pulled it to his armpit with his right arm. I was pretty impressed. He says that he has done some lifting in high school but I'd guess that was 15 years ago at least. He lives in Wichita or I'd get him to come over and train once in a while.

I gotta try this fucker. All I do is floor press anymore anyways.

Ben,
I think the head raise is ok, but it's such a looong time since I've done it that I can't remember. Just check the rules on the IAWA site.

Yes that guy does sound strong.

Bob Lipinski wrote:I gotta try this fucker. All I do is floor press anymore anyways.

I was actually thinking of you specifically the other day when dreaming about my ideal build for this damn lift. With your shorter arms and HUGE pressing strength, you could eventually take Bob Burtzloff's monster 215kg (473lbs) record. That's the highest I've heard of.

David Horne wrote:Ben,
I think the head raise is ok, but it's such a looong time since I've done it that I can't remember. Just check the rules on the IAWA site.

Yes that guy does sound strong.

Thanks David. I looked on the site and couldn't find any mention of the head movement, but I didn't want to try to eke out one of those "well I didn't know it wasn't allowed" kind of arguments on contest day. I'll assume it is but try to train without using it.