Having raised 304 1/2 Ibs. with my right hand in this style I may perhaps claim the right to speak as an authority. The movement needs constant practice with a light weight at first, always adding a little as time goes on. There are three starting points:
Bent Press, “The King of All Lifts” – by far the favorite lift of many old-time strongmen—Eugene Sandow, Arthur Saxon, Edward Aston, Siegmund Klein, Bob Hoffman, and many others. It can be performed with a kettlebell, a dumbbell, or a barbell—but it is by far the easiest to learn with the kettlebell.
Because of the physical demands of this lift I cannot put too much emphasis upon the need for special preparatory training with exercises that will prepare you for this feat of strength.
The very first thing that the beginner should accept as a fact in connection with the “Bent Press” is that everyone can do it, if only the job is tackled in the right way. I mention this because I know that quite a number of people-otherwise good lifters among them-believe that it is a feat which can only be successfully accomplished by certain individuals who have been singularly blessed by Nature! The idea, though so common, is quite wrong! There is nothing to stop any man who has the full use of his four limbs learning this lift and eventually becoming good on it. That is, providing that he does not, at the commencement, attempt to rush matters.
Learn the style that I have described and you will have a graceful, effortless press that will look like one continuous motion rather than a series of unrelated, jerky movements.