OHP for powerlifters

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

So I have a couple of questions about the press, all of them from the perspective of someone who is primarily interested in improving their powerlifting total.

  1. Should such a person be pressing at all? I guess they shouldn’t do so right before a meet, but say, during developmemtal blocks a couple of months out?
  2. Why?
  3. Is there a preference in terms of how they should predominantly press between say strict press, press 2.0, classic press or something else entirely (although I have no idea what that would be)?
2

SK,

  1. Depends on the training phase, the person’s preferences and response to the OH press, and how it would be incorporated into the program. Hard to say yes or no definitively. I have no strong feelings for or against a lifter using the OH press a “few months out” from a meet. It probably shouldn’t occupy an important bench slot unless someone prefers the press or responds objectively well to it based on historical data.
  2. See above.
  3. In addition to not caring whether or not someone presses at all in their powerlifting program, I don’t have strong feelings as to what style of press they should use to do a non-specific accessory lift.

-Jordan