Log Press
Athlete: Nicolas Cambi - Pro Strongman
Log Press is an iconic test of upper body strength and power. The log is an implement unlike any other.
Table of Contents
Warm-up
Set-up
Pick
Lap
Clean
Rack positioning
Log Rolls Forward
Difficult Clean
Log Pushing Out/Away
Difficult Pick
Accessories
Energy Systems
Specs
Brands and Differences
Log Center of Gravity/Unbalanced Logs
History
Larz Pressing 346 Log at the 1980 Worlds Strongest Man
Log Press began with the 1980 Worlds Strongest Man. This contest featured several different sections of logs for the athletes to lap and press. Initially the log was stood on its side (as there were not loading pins at the time) and tipped over into the lap. The clean into the lap position was similar to how its done today and then pressed overhead. In 1980, the top log pressed was 346lbss by both Kaz and Lars, sharing the lead for that event. Since then, Loading pins have been introduced to the logs, and metal versions are widely available making it one of the most popular strongman events today.
Event Description
Another strongman event that is becoming iconic of the sport and for good reason. It is a spectacle wrought with technique, balance, and brute pressing power that will (literally) crush those who disrespect it. The athlete must clean and press a large, unwieldy, log-shaped implement overhead.
Basic Execution
Warming up:
Though the log is technically just a press, the shape, size, and clean method will require you to get a lot of muscle groups warm prior to loading. Here are some areas you might want to pay attention to when getting ready to train log press.
Shoulders: articulations (arm circles), PVC pass-throughs, light barbell pressing.
Lats: involved with the pick, a set or two of dumbbell rows might help with activation.
Shoulder retractors: Involved with pinning the log to your chest during the clean and rack position.
Knees: To help with the explosion out of the lap position, some light bodyweight squats or lunges.
Glutes: To generate power during the clean, and press, try a few glute bridges to start “feeling” their activation.
Setup:
Set Up
Placement: The log will be placed in one of the following positions: on drop pads, with bumper plates, on a tire, or flat on the ground, depending on the competition. If you know which way it will be, train that way. otherwise it is best to pick it off of a tire or drop pads, as you will want practice with the clean, but probably don’t want practice dropping it on your platform or garage floor.
Stand as close to the log as possible. If it is elevated, stand with your toes underneath it and shins touching it. Think of it like a deadlift where you want to be directly over the center of gravity or you will either lean forward to pull it, or try to pull it into you.
Pick
Grab the handles in their center and lean the log so it is angled slightly away from you. This will lock in your wrists and allow you to pull the log straight into the lap position you want to clean it from.
Tighten up your lats, brace your core and glutes, and pull yourself down to the log similar to how you would a deadlift.
Begin your lift by pushing off through your heels, as soon as the log moves past your knees pull it back into your hips as you sit into a partial squat. At this point your handles should still be pointing away from you.
From Pick to Lap
*Note the log maintains its slight angle away from the athlete
Lap
Lean over the log so your elbows and shoulders are aligned over your feet. This will keep you balanced through the clean and could prevent movement forward or back.
While in the lap position, make sure your elbows are flaring upward, which should be natural if it is still tilted away from you. This puts you in an advantageous position to clean the log with more usable strength, and will also help it end up in the proper rack position.
The location on your chest (upper pecs, down to bottom of sternum) will depend on your body type and will determine where the log ends up after the clean portion. Try experimenting with different spots on your torso until you find what works for you.
Adjust your feet if needed to be in the position to produce the most power. Ideally you should sit down in this position already, but it is good to be sure your knees are not misaligned or caving, and your feet are planted flat. Think about the position in the bottom of a front squat, or if you were going to jump as high as you can.
Clean
Begin the clean with a good leg drive, while keeping the log pinned tight to your chest with a rowing motion. This sets the tone for the clean, as you have your best chance to bring it to a high velocity with your legs. This means less upper body strength is necessary to complete the clean, hopefully saving it for the press.
As you stand up out of your squat/lap position, drive your hips forward like you are doing a hip thrust to give the log a pop. It should naturally roll across your body towards the rack position. Timing the hip thrust is important, too early and you will bounce the log forward, but too late you will miss it entirely. With some practice it will feel natural, but be sure to do so even on lighter log sets to train muscle memory.
As the log begins to reach the rack position, drive your elbows forward and then up to finish with the log high on your chest, with the handles turned towards you. Note the rack position in the picture above where the white lines representing the handles are close to vertical. Aim for somewhere around 45 degress, or where the handle side of the log is facing away form you instead of down. A clean directly into this position limits the time and energy needed to adjust the log before pressing.
Rack Positioning
Rack position is where the log is across the highest part of the chest near the collar bone. Elbows should be high, the upper back should be in a moderate amount of extension or “Layback”. Everything should be tight.
Press
You can complete the press in a number of ways: strict press, push press, jerk, split jerk. The mechanics are going to be like other presses.
Keep elbows high, trunk tight, and shoulders, hips and feet stacked vertically
Push Press
Dip down while driving knees outward over your toes
At the bottom of the dip, begin pushing upward through your heels explosively
Drive the log up an slightly backwards for the press, just missing your forehead
Continue pressing through until lockout and wait for the down command.
Note how the hips are locked out after his initial dip, and he finishes with just his arms.
Here is a side shot, where you can see the tilt of the log become level after the press
Push Jerk
The first few steps of the push jerk are the same as the push press. The difference is that jerks require you to drop your body under the log as soon as it clears your head, instead of keeping your body stable and pushing with your arms to complete the lift. This is a far more technical lift than the strict press or push press, but is useful for those who may be lacking in upper body push strength. This lift takes some getting used to if you have learned it on a barbell, but the principles remain the same.
Note how the athlete ducks under the log as soon as it clears his head. This allows him to get his arms extended and locked out with bent knees, and then finish the lift with their hips and knees.
Executing the Push Jerk
Begin with your feet hip width apart - You want to allow some room for you to spread them to shoulder width for the catch
Elbows should be high - If you executed a solid clean, they should be there, but drive them as high as you can before and during the dip.
Drop your hips straight down - Avoid the temptation to lean a bit forward on the dip, or pushing your hips forward to compensate for an unstable rack position.
Keep your weight on your heels - You do not want to be on your toes until the jerk portion. Your heel contact helps with a seamless transfer of power.
Note: Many strongman athletes wear heeled olympic weightlifting shoes. They have hard and flat bottoms with heels that allow you to stay upright through the movement despite any ankle mobility deficits.
Drive your knees outward - This should help your vertical dip, if your knees shift forward you will lean awkwardly, if your knees move inward you are losing tightness and stability, and also putting yourself in a dangerous position.
From the bottom of the dip, extend your knees and hips - Avoid temptation to begin pushing with your arms. Make sure that you keep the log tight to your chest throughout the dip and the initial drive upward.
Push yourself under - When the log leaves your chest, push upward with your arms and drop under the log. It should move straight vertical if you had it in a proper rack position. Your arms and shoulders should be locked.
As alluded to above, many athletes jump slightly at the top of their hip extension, moving your feet slightly wider into a shoulder-width squat-like stance.
Catch the bar with “Active Shoulders” - Even though you ideally catch the log with extended arms and shoulders, actively push upwards with them as if you haven’t finished pressing.
Keep your heels down and stand up - Finish the lift with your feet flat on the ground, keep hips and knees tight to maintain balance as you stand back up.
Split Jerk
Begin with your feet hip width apart - You want to allow some room for you to spread them to shoulder width for the catch
Elbows should be high - If you executed a solid clean, they should be there, but drive them as high as you can before and during the dip.
Drop your hips straight down - Avoid the temptation to lean a bit forward on the dip, or pushing your hips forward to compensate for an unstable rack position.
Keep your weight on your heels - You do not want to be on your toes until the jerk portion. Your heel contact helps with a seamless transfer of power.
Note: Many strongman athletes wear heeled olympic weightlifting shoes. They have hard and flat bottoms with heels that allow you to stay upright through the movement despite any ankle mobility deficits.
Drive your knees outward - This should help your vertical dip stay vertical
From the bottom of the dip, extend your knees and hips - Avoid temptation to begin pushing with your arms. Make sure that you keep the log tight to your chest throughout the dip and the initial drive upward.
Push yourself under - When the log leaves your chest, push upward with your arms and shoulders and drop under the log. It should move straight vertical if you had it in a proper rack position. Your arms and shoulders should be locked.
Slide feet into split position for the catch - The less vertical jump you do the better. Your feet should just barely leave the surface vs. making an arc-shaped jump. This means less ballistic force your body has to absorb with the catch.
Split position
Front shin vertical
Back leg bent, on toes
Feet shoulder width
Knee, hip all aligned.
Front foot first - Once in the split position with the weight overhead, step your front foot back to center, and then bring your back foot up. Your front foot should not have traveled as far away from center as your back one.
Note the vertical shin, bent back leg on her toes. Active shoulders with head through.
Tips and Queues
Trouble locking out shoulders
Since the idea is to lock out your shoulders with your jerk and shift the challenge to your legs it is important to be stable in the overhead position. Here are some things to think about.
Be powerful and forceful with your lockouts on all reps, even warmups and higher rep sets.
Make sure you are comfortable locking out your goal weight overhead. Try to load a bar on the rack with at least as much as you plan to jerk, get into the split position under it with arms locked, and execute 1/4 reps.
Many athletes find a benefit doing overhead yoke walks and other movements challenging their ability to brace overhead.
Improving the Dip & Drive
People often think that to get more power out of their legs from the dip and drive phase, that they need to dip a little bit further to have more room to accelerate the lab. This does not seem to be the case. The athlete should find the distance of the dip that is comfortable and instead work to produce a more violently powerful drive within the same dip distance.
Difficulty finding proper split stance/consistency
Try doing drills to practice your foot position for the catch. A classic is to get into the optimal split catch position and mark the platform in front of your toes with chalk. Then with an empty bar or PVC, practice getting your jerks to smoothly land you in the same spot.,
EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute) pressing is another great option. It allows you to think and dial in your technique for every rep, but does not rob you of the volume you need to progress.
Drills/Pre-hab
It is important to do any mobility pre-hab necessary to allow you to both rack, and catch the log in proper position.
Shoulder articulations
Wrist extension and elbow flexion stretches.
Hip and knee mobility and warm-up
Viper Press
The viper press is where you go directly into your press from the clean out of your lap, foregoing the catch and front rack phase of the lift. This is a method that will save you time if the event is “reps for time” and you are proficient with the weight. It also might be useful for those with strong and explosive lower bodies that are lacking in pressing power since you can generate a good deal of momentum out of the lap position with your legs.
This press technique is best utilized when a log is fairly light for the athlete, and when an event for that athlete is time restricted, meaning that the athlete will run out of time before they run out of reps in the tank.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting: Log rolls forward
Ensure adequate backwards log tilt
Actively push elbows up, cue elbows and sternum up
Look up before the dip
Keep Hips underneath, don’t let them shoot back on the dip
Practice 1/4 squats with the log
Troubleshooting: Difficult clean
Practice isometric rows
Add log cleans on separate day
Hip Resisted Band Cleans
Try grippy shirt
Practice Cleans with an Unbalanced Log (see explanation at end of this guide)
Troubleshooting: Pushing log away
Ensure adequate backwards tilt of the log.
Practice strict pressing the log “up and back”
Practice and pre-activate with behind the neck jerks and presses.
Troubleshooting: Difficult Pick
Some athletes lean out too far over the log before the pick, which forces you to rely more on your back to row it and puts unnecessary stress on your lumbar. The pick should feel most like a deadlift, with lats engaged and pulling but the predominant movers are your legs.
If you are not already, try to pick the log off of tires or crack pads, or use large bumpers to allow you to get your feet under.
Like a deadlift, cue yourself to think of your arms as straight cables and hands are simply hooks. Flexing triceps can force your arms into the locked position.
Event Variations
Max
Like most max events, the goal is to press the heaviest log for a single. You are usually given a time limit of around 60 seconds. The rules might allow for just 3 attempts, or allow unlimited attempts. If there are 3 attempts they may use “Wessels rules” where if two competitors tie, the breaker will go to the lifter with heavier prior presses.
Rep Outs
Sometimes the log press will be part of a press medley, and if it is the last event there might be a “rep out”. This means that now that you have done all of the implements, you can press the log over again until the time runs out. Keep in mind they might ask you to clean every rep, or “press away”.
Programming Considerations
Accessories
Pendlay Rows - Help get a good row from the ground to your lap and pinning the log to the torso during the clean.
Front squats - Always help with pressing, and holding extra weight in front of you.
Neutral grip pullups - Practice pulling tight from a neutral grip like during the clean or rack.
Strict Press - Stronger static press, stronger push press.
Power clean - Practice with explosive lifts from the ground, and like the front squat requires you to catch weight on your chest in a front rack.
Energy Systems:
For max log the main energy system used would be phosphagen system, while medleys and reps variants will require a bit of conditioning as they dip far into your glycolytic system. Training of these should be specific to the event in upcoming competition, or to your desired result.
Skill Level
Medium/High
Recovery
Medium/low
Lower body recovery should be considered when doing the full movement. Fatigue accumulation from lower movements can effect the feel of a ground to overhead log. The athlete can utilize pressing from a rack, or high incline log bench press if frequency is preferential to full body recovery prior.
Equipment
Implement information
Specs
Material
Logs come in both Steel and Wood. Wooden logs are usually custom made or made by Slater. Custom logs come in varying shapes and sizes. Handles are usually 24” apart on center +/- an inch or two. Many wooden logs have loadable pins, though some are fixed weights. The wooden logs usually start out fairly heavy compared to the steel logs. Steel logs usually come in 12” and 10” diameters for strongman. Brands variation does exist however. Rogue, Titan, and Pitbull are the most common steel log brands on the market.
Diameter
As stated above, the most common diameters are 12” and 10”. Most contests have men competing with a 12” diameter log, while women most commonly compete with a 10” diameter log. Diameter does have a significant effect on the athlete’s press, so its best to train with a diameter that you will use in a contest, or larger than you would in a contest.
Weight
Empty weight of a log varies significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer. This weight is primarily driven by two factors, the thickness of the pipe/log walls, and the type of material for the handles/loading pins. Solid handles and pins add a fair amount of weight, as well as the amount of support each of those pieces are given.
Handles
Handles are usually around 24” apart, with variation between brands. Common handle thicknesses are about 1.66” diameter Neutral grips.
Brands and differences
Brand differences are fairly significant. Its important to buy the best quality log that you can reasonably afford. The balance of a log is an important factor to consider as well. Some logs are built with large cutouts and thick walls leading to a very unbalanced log which can make the clean and press far more difficult than a balanced log. Our top recommendation is a Pitbull Log. Budget Recommendation would be Titan. Contacting a local fabricator is also a great option. Just be sure to get them some specifications and designs and make sure to mention that you want the log to be balanced/center of gravity as close to the true center of the log as possible. Finding a log that is light enough for the athlete to warm up on is also vital.
DIY guide
A guide to build a wooden one for <$100 can be found here https://www.garagegymreviews.com/diy-strongman-log-bar It can be built with some amateur skills and a good mitre saw. Depending on the price of lumber, you may be better off just saving and purchasing a steel log. The wooden log feels considerably different than most competition logs. A budget log (Pitbull should be your first and only choice here) will last a lifetime, and unlike some strongman events, log press is a timeless implement that you will use for that entire lifetime.
Photo: Garagegymreviews.com
Alternatives
There aren’t a whole lot of alternatives other than general pressing exercises due to the unique position the log shape forces you into.
Some find the Swiss bar (sometimes called a football bar) with a neutral grip to be similar. The diameter will be different, and the clean will not be a significant part of training, but it can be better than nothing.
Double Dumbbell Press, Neutral grip, dumbbell on shoulder.
Special Considerations for the Log - Center of Gravity
What we mean by center of gravity:
This is what we mean, and here is an example
Side View
In this view we see the elements of the log. In this diagram the log is well (enough) balanced for the center of mass to be pretty much in the center.
There are two main reasons the center of balance might not be in this position.
Log wall Thickness (Pipe the log is made from)
Larger walls mean the outer diameter of the log accounts for a greater amount of the log mass
Handle Well design
larger wells mean less mass on the athlete side of the log.
Particularly thick pipe/Log walls and larger cutouts for the handle wells may lead to more mass being further down on the log. The red line and dot notes the change in center of gravity on the log.
This change on center of gravity will have a noticeable effect on the clean, rack position, and press. Nearly all of the rotation the log undergoes is during the log clean. Unbalanced logs will be more difficult to clean than a balanced log for this reason. Look at the images below to see a visual representation of the center of mass and its interaction with the clean.
At lap position, an unbalanced log will have the center of gravity slightly forward but it will feel mostly normal. The weight of the log will be very close to being in line with a regular log.
This diagram depicts the early portion of the log clean. This is the point where the log is pinned just around the navel or on top of a belt, but just before the hip thrust and rotation are applied to the log. It is at this point that the center of gravity begins to shift to unfavorable for the athlete. This center of mass changes from a uniform distance of the log radius (6 inches for a 12” log, or 5” for a 10” log) to a non-uniform distance. This change can very roughly be described as if you were now suddenly about to try to clean a log of a greater diameter. The further distance of the log Center of mass (CM) now applies noticeably more downward torque.
During the Hip thrust and log rotation phase, the center of mass is now the furthest away from the body that it will be during the clean. This should be the point of maximum log velocity, and when the athlete applies the torque with the hands against the handle, as well as the forearms against the handle wells. However, this is where the downward forces from the Unbalanced CM will have peaked. This is where an athlete will fail to initiate the rotation of the log and the clean will stall when unable to overcome this additional resistance.
Pressing an Unbalanced Log
When pressing an unbalanced log, the major issue here is that the balance is going to be harder to maintain. keeping the handles as close to horizontal to the ground from rack position to full press will be essentially the only way to mitigate the balance issues. Overhead holds, hanging chains, hanging weights on bands, may all help replicate the feel of a difficult to balance log, though it would be best to just practice on an unbalanced implement if that is what you expect in a contest.
