»Controllable vs. epicletal pressing and rowing

Controllable vs. epicletal pressing and rowing

June 24, 2022 at 8:24 am, Writes Eric Cressy

Today’s guest post comes from Crazy Sports Performance Coach, Ethan Dyer.

The current sports performance training meta as it relates to unilateral pressing and rowing practice is to lean on retro variations by default. This is because the expansion bias associated with this movement usually allows for greater energy production.

One problem with this is that wire exercises will always be harder to load than most stresses and rowing where dumbbells or kettlebells (and of course barbells) are involved. So, if 90% of the time we assume that cables are a weak choice when prioritizing loads, what can we use a cable press or a cable row to achieve? I would argue that the best answer is to place a dent in the hip range to improve field mobility.

With a split-stance reverse wire row, for example, the concentric part of the movement tends to favor the external rotation in the front buttocks. The real activity of rowing is pulling us Away from Our front. The flip side of this is when we find the internal rotation towards us during a split-stance ipsilateral row; The predominance of centralized activity draws us In Buttocks in front of us.

The same argument applies to pressing. An inverted split-stance only during the press, for example, the activity takes us to the front buttocks (IR), where an ipsilateral press takes us out of the front buttocks (ER).

Now that we have established what we can achieve with these movements in terms of rotation, we can make programming decisions based on the athletes we have in front of us. It is important that we put these decisions in stark contrast to table range-of-motion measurements based on their work and performance (which can tell us how they will progress on the field).

Now that we have established what we can achieve with these movements in terms of rotation, we can make programming decisions based on the athletes we have in front of us. It is important that we put these decisions in stark contrast to table range-of-motion measurements based on their work and performance (which can tell us how they will progress on the field).

If we have a left-handed calf who struggles to find the IR at their glove-side hip after a front foot injury, a left-handed press only on the opposite side and a right-hand only ipsilateral row may be useful weapons. If we have a receiver or attacker who struggles to juggle and change direction at high sprint speeds, reverse rowing and leaning on ipsilateral pressure / can be a useful strategy to keep them away from the buttocks.

In addition to the obvious programming effects here, there is an important excess rule that should be appreciated. It’s good to have multiple priorities in a program – the qualities you’re training for – but we get into trouble when we try to use a practice to target multiple or all of the qualities. Wire rows and presses are perfect examples.

When we use an exercise to improve both ball production and range of motion, we don’t do as much as we would like. It would be wise for us to learn from the Latin writer Cyrus, who said, “Doing two things at once is not the same thing.” Click to tweet

About the author

Ethan Dyer works as a strength and conditioning coach at Cracy Sports Performance. He started as a client at CSP and eventually became an intern at CSP-MA. After another internship at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training, Ethan joined the CSP-MA team. He was a pitcher at Holy Cross College before moving to Indicat College and majoring in exercise science and graduating with a minor in psychology. A certified strength and conditioning coach through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Ethan was a volunteer with both the Miracle League and the Special Olympics and has a passion for working with young athletes to help them fall in love with training while avoiding injury. You can follow him on Instagram Ethan ___ Dyer.

Sign up today for our free newsletter and get a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

---