When we designed this bar, this was one of the secondary movements we wanted to use it for. Ever wonder why we have recessed handles that screw out? Now you know.
To perform this movement, set your body on the bench the same way you would with a bench press: shoulders locked, lats tight and maximal leg drive. A normal grip would be a thumb's length away from the pad. Unrack with elbows under the wrists, and pull the bar out while slightly tucking elbows to the start of the bench position. Lower as you would a bench press, with the elbows in line with the wrists.
When the pad hits your chest, begin to let your wrists drift behind the elbows while trying to keep the elbows from flaring too far out. Let the bar hinge downward in an extension fashion until your biceps touch your forearms or the pad taps your face. (DON’T SMASH YOUR FACE OFF - CONTROL THE WEIGHT!) When you come out of the bottom press, come out with your palms first until the bar pads are vertical. Then press up to lockout.
The JM Press is one of the all-time best bench builders, and this is one of the best variations of it. While I do feel the barbell will always trump the Yoke bar for this movement (for that matter, all movements that are variations), the Yoke bar variation is way easier to teach and most of the lifters I know like this variation better.
JP Carrol will tell you this has been a critical movement for his bench press this training cycle. As I wrote in a post last week, there is one lifter in the gym who is one lift ahead of the plan for the meet. That is JP and the lift is… his bench press. I would agree with him, this is the reason why.
This is a video of JP knocking out a work set of these last night.
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