I've been a bit curious about how to do the J.M. Press, so I tried digging up some information on it... This is what I came up with:
What is a J.M. Press? Please explain for me. Thank You.
Two types of JM presses we use:
JM Press: This exercise is like a close grip bench press mixed with a tricep extension. Start the exercise the same way you would a close grip bench press except lower the bar direction to your upper chest, about half way down rotate the bar back toward your head about two inches then press it back up.
JM Press with Towel: This exercise is the same as the JM press except you will use a rolled up towel ( the towel should be around 6 inches thick). Bring the bar down to the towel, then roll back toward your head about 2 inches with the bar still on the towel, then press back up.
After the speed work one of the favorite assistance exercises is the "J.M. presses" named for J.(ohn) M.(ark) Blakley, a phenomenal bencher who also lives in Columbus though he is a World Gym member and not a WBC regular. J.M. Blakley has an eccentric benching style that WBC members find amusing - he pauses for a good five seconds claiming that it increases his energy and performance. Simmons thinks this is sheer nonsense and that Blakley could press an additional 30 pounds if he wasn't spending so much time dramatizing his lifts with the impressive but unnecessary pauses. Another thing J.M. Blakley does is to press the bar in an exaggerated arc back towards his head. For reasons discussed above Simmons thinks this is also a bad idea. However he believes many lifters get in trouble with their lift when the bar goes out of the groove and makes an involuntary swing back in an arc. Therefore to prevent this the WBC members do the "J.M. Press" which is an exaggerated partial bench in the J.M. style but not locking it out. They do this so that if the bar does go out of the groove they can muscle it back into the right groove. The best way to imagine the J.M. Press is to think of yourself getting ready to do a lying overhead triceps extension with a loaded barbell: Your elbows would be bent and the barbell would be coming back towards your head over your chest. Then, instead of touching the barbell to your forehead you would straighten it back out in the groove suggested as ideal by Simmons. Simmons specifies that you should reverse the J.M. Press once the barbell is four inches away from your chin.
After the bench sets they do triceps. The triceps are the most important muscles for bench pressing. Kenny and George do a lot of two-arm dumbbell extensions. They both have done 125?s for 10 reps. J.M. presses are also heavily used, sometimes working up to over 500 for 3-5 reps. As a guide, J. M. Blakley did 3 reps with 530 in a workout at Westside just prior to doing a 690 bench. To do a J.M. press, lower the bar in a straight line above the throat. Stop 3-5 inches above the body, hold, and press straight up. The delt are taken out of the lift, leaving only the triceps to do the work.
2. J.M. Press
This movement is named for J.M. Blakely of Columbus, Ohio. I have modified the exercise to fit my own training needs. I usually do this exercise after my core bench exercise, such as chains or floor press. To do the J.M. Press, take a fairly narrow grip and begin to lower the bar to the lower pec or pec line. While lowering the bar, squeeze the elbows in toward the body and envision that you are bending the bar. This will help keep you tight and spring loaded. Lower the bar to approximately 4-5 inches above the chest and hold for a count or two. Explode the weight upward. I recommend 3 sets of 3 reps- pyramid up to 90-95% of max. for 3 reps. This is an excellent tricep builder. Rating- 3