straddlyBent Press
Muscles worked
Main muscles
- Diaphragm
Also working
- Anconeus
- Anterior Deltoid
- Biceps Femoris (Long Head)
- Erector Spinae
- Gluteus Maximus
- Rectus Femoris
What it is
This is an advanced, full-body exercise requiring significant strength and stability. You will press a single kettlebell overhead while simultaneously leaning away from the weight. It primarily targets your abdominal muscles, also engaging your shoulders, triceps, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and quadriceps.
Technique tips
- Keep your gaze fixed on the kettlebell throughout the movement.
- Initiate the press by leaning away from the weight, not squatting.
- Maintain a vertical pressing arm as you extend through your elbow.
- Actively brace your core to protect your spine during the lean.
- Fully extend the kettlebell overhead before returning to the shoulder.
- Control the weight's descent back to the starting shoulder position.
How to track your progress
Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.
