Time and again, when you scroll through your social media feed, you see a practice that forces you to stand up and take notice. Swallow press is one of those exercises. How can you not do that with a movement called Swallow Press? This exercise is a hybrid clean and press performed with dumbbells and seated on a weight bench.
Olympic lifts and sprinting are at their peak when training and building a powerful body. The problem is that only a few are built for one or the other and they must find alternatives to train strength and power. Medicine balls are great for strength training, but loading is an issue. But with exercises like dumbbells and swallow presses, that’s not the case.
You get the benefits of strength from the seated clean and strength from the seated overhead press. What’s not to like about it? Here, Tony Gentilcore, C.S.C.S., deadlifting ninja, co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance, and founder of Core Collective, introduces you to an exercise with the coolest name ever.
What is a swallow press exercise?
“The Swole Press is an exercise I learned from “Coach Swole” via Twitter several months ago, and I immediately became a fan because, well… it’s called the Swole Press. Sure, technically. This is no more than a clean-to-press, but if ever there was an exercise for talking to one’s inner self, it is this one.
It is beneficial to do this exercise while sitting rather than standing because sitting With this you take the joints (ankles, knees, hips, lower back) out of the equation, allowing you to use more weight.
Additionally, the swallow press is great because there is an explosive element at the beginning of the exercise.
You’ll recruit more motor units by “clearing” the dumbbells off the floor from a dead-stop position. This lets you lift more weight and helps train strength, which is integral to hypertrophy or muscle gain. “In addition, by doing this exercise one side at a time, you will also increase the demand on your core muscles because you will have to “fight” more to stay upright and limit the amount of bending,” Gentilcore explains.
HOW TO PERFORM THE SWOLE PRESS EXERCISE
Note: Squeezing your free hand throughout the set to help increase full-body tension and help prevent excessive leaning.
- Start from a dead-stop position with a dumbbell on the floor and hinge your upper body to grip the dumbbell with your shoulders down.
- Use momentum to pull the dumbbell off the floor as fast as possible (think: explosive shrug), transitioning from an overhand grip to a neutral grip as the dumbbell approaches your chest/shoulder area.
- Without pausing, immediately press the dumbbell overhead until your elbow locks out.
- Pause for a split moment and then return the dumbbell to the floor in a controlled fashion.
- Reset and repeat for desired reps and switch sides.
