We are constantly reminding our athletes to maintain a neutral low back position and stabilize the spine under load, task, or intensity.  This is most commonly cued by telling you to pull your belly button to spine, pull your pelvic floor up, and anchor the bottom of the rib cage.  When doing presses however many of us break at our rib cages and hyper-extend our low back as the bar gets overhead.  This is not only a weaker position, but one that sets us up for potential injury.  In other words if you want to press more weight overhead then you need to keep that neutral low back position and spine stabilized throughout the movement.

Take a look at the picture below.  Notice anything strange?  Let me help you out – that huge hyper-extension in my lower back and break at my rib cage is not good.  Presses should not look like this. This position is dangerous and weak.  This is also what my press looks like if I don’t mobilize my lats and triceps prior to pressing.  Some of us (myself included) struggle with this positional fault not because we aren’t fighting like crazy to keep our back neutral and midline stable, but because we literally don’t yet have the range of motion required to go overhead.

Dutch Lowy has been instructing for 4 years and in the box business for 3 years. He Lives in Fort Worth, TX, is a Level 2 CrossFit trainer, and trains at Crossfit 7 in Fort Worth. Dutch owns Crossfit ATM in College Station, TX. A former collegiate soccer player, he has shifted his focus to training himself and his clients using the CrossFit methodology, as well as being a dedicated student of the Olympic lifts. Dutch travels the country giving seminars on improving the quality of CrossFit programming and training.
http://www.dutchlowy.com

Michael Rutherford (a.k.a. Coach Rut) has been in the fitness industry for nearly 20 years and involved in Crossfit for 6 years. He has over a quarter century of fitness coaching experience. His experiences include working with competitors from the ranks of international, Olympic, collegiate, high school, middle school and elementary school aged athletes. Coach Rut has also worked in hospital wellness environments and rehabilitation clinics.

Coach Michael Rutherford’s BOOT CAMP FITNESS program is the area’s largest and most established group exercise program. His training services have assisted thousands of Kansas City residents over the last two decades. Michael Rutherford has been a regular contributor to the CrossFit Journal as well as The Performance Menu. His Max Effort Black Box (M.E.B.B) collection is the most requested back issue from The Performance Menu.

He has produced five DVDs ranging from nutrition, to program design. His DUMBBELL MOVES series is the number one selling DVD on the application of the most underutilized tool in any strength training program. Michael Rutherford holds academic degrees in Biology, Physical Education and Masters Degrees in Exercise Physiology and Sports Biomechanics. He is a certified Club Coach by the United States Weightlifting Association and is a Crossfit level III certified coach. Coach Rutherford participates in the sport of Weightlifting and was the 2006 National Masters Champion at 94 kg.

Greg has been involved in Crossfit for 6 years. He is an NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, USA Weightlifting Club Coach, RKC Kettlebell Instructor, Level III CrossFit Trainer, and CSUH Certified Personal Trainer. Everett is a co-founder of the athletic performance journal, The Performance Menu, and author of “the best book available on Olympic weightlifting”, Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches. Greg is the head coach of the Catalyst Athletics weightlifting program and director of training at Catalyst Athletics.

Aimee is USA Weightlifting Club Coach, Level 1 CrossFit trainer, national champion weightlifter, and is experienced in training and coaching individuals in a wide spectrum of pursuits, from athletics to fitness. Aimee specializes in programing, strength and conditioning, and Olympic Weightlifting. Aimee is the assistant coach of the Catalyst Athletics weightlifting program and instructs CrossFit classes. She has trained under Olympic Weightlifting coach Mike Burgener for 14 years and has a MA in human behavior Psychology.
http://www.aimeeanaya.com

Nicki has been in the box businness for 6 years. is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and holds Level III CrossFit trainer and USAW Level I Olympic Weightlifting Coach certifications. She is co-owner of CrossFit NorCal, the 4th CrossFit Affiliate, with her husband Robb Wolf.  Nicki also maintains a blog nickivioletti.com where she discusses pertinent topics to running and growing a CrossFit affiliate. She has a BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego and speaks Italian, Spanish and a fair amount of Russian.

James Fitzgerald has been involved in the fitness industry for over 15 years. He is a full time strength coach and lifestyle consultant and owner/director of Optimum Performance Training Inc; and part owner of CrossFit Calgary Inc, and Natural High CrossFit in Calgary, AB, Canada. James has been coaching for 15 years and has experience within the university, corporate, fitness facility, and national level athlete development settings. He has coached thosands of individuals and has prescribed numerous program designs over this time for beginners to national level to professional athletes. He has learned from the best in the field and has always allowed an open mind to allow progression within the fitness industry. His passion lies in understanding all facets about human development and enjoys sharing ideas and experiences on how everyone can take it to the next level. http://www.optimumtraining.ca/

Robb Wolf, helped start the 1st Crossfit affiliate ever and founded the 4th.  He has been in the affiliate business for 6 years! He possesses a unique perspective of both scientist and athlete as a personal trainer at NorCal Strength & Conditioning.  Robb is the Co-owner of Norcal S&C with his wife Nicki Violetti.  Some of Robb’s athletic achievements include winning the Natural Athletes Strength Association California State Power Lifting Championship at the age of 19 and a 6-0 amateur kickboxing record. Robb is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. In addition, he is a USAW Olympic Weightlifting coach, and a certified CrossFit Coach, the highest level of CrossFit training certification, possessed only by a handful of strength & conditioning coaches throughout the world.  Robb also helped the start the 1st Crossfit affiliate ever and founded the 4th.

Robb received his scientific training at California State University Chico where he earned a BS in Biochemistry. From here Robb worked as a research biochemist for 5 years, and includes in his CV lipid metabolism research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as well as Paleolithic Diet research with Prof. Loren Cordain of Colorado State University and author of the book The Paleo Diet and also the author of the forthcoming book The Paleolithic Solution. Robb is also a review editor for the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism.  http://robbwolf.com/