Over head presses

[Gstacker]

Ive been doing seated and pressing from about chin level....
What are you guys doing for them? And why?

Examples:
Pressing from chest
Military
Pressing from chin
Push press
Behind the head
Etc etc......

Trying my hardest to stay injury free but thinking bout some more variations....

 

[fixxer]

What kind of weight are you pushing? (It's relevant if you are also talking about injury prevention)

I alternate doing barbell and dumbbell overhead press. I never ever do them behind the head. I've read enough articles that say it's a bad idea and too few that encourage it. If you can't live without them, I don't recommend you go heavy behind the head but rather use a weight you can comfortably control. I push from chin level, and with my long arms, my elbows fall far below the 90 degree threshold.

 

[Gstacker]

Today 190lbs first 2 sets of 5 no problem and 3rd set failed on 3rd rep...
What brings up the topic is that i was looking on strong lifts web site and they use a video of a guy pushing from his chest, i always thought that was hard on the shoulders.

 

[Gstacker]

Heres the video from sl site i was talking about...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uElQvxZDcc

 

[AllTheWay]

i do them to the front and go between the nose and chin, any lower and you are engaging the pecs. i do it this way for both db and bb.

 

[Gstacker]

But would that be a bad thing to engage ur pecs? Its is supposed to be a compound movement....

 

[IronInsanity]

But would that be a bad thing to engage ur pecs? Its is supposed to be a compound movement....

Back to your original point, I think that ROM is hard on the shoulders and the older you get the more wear and tear they take. Plus, if you want to build pecs, there's a lot better ways to do it than overhead presses.

 

[Glycomann]

I do them military style from the rack and go all the way from the bottom. Great upper body exercise. The shoulder girdle is working the most from the bottom of the movement through about 1/2 way up.

 

[Lizard King]

I do them seated on the Smith (shut up everyone, lol) I make sure the bar is aligned to the top of my chest and then I go down to right under my nose. The way I have it allows me to go very heavy and I like it.

 

[400Lb Gorilla]

i go from the collar bone or slightly lower. i have always done this so i couldnt tell you what made me start doing it lol

i have never had any shoulder issues with this depth. as for pec involvement it seems to be the same regardless.

@LK, i have used the Smith for seated press as well. i dont like it as much as freeweight BB or DB press but i have used it and felt like my delts were not shortchanged because of it

 

[PillarofBalance]

Dumbbells and seated for me... I've been trying the bar for the last few weeks and it just isn't for me. With the dumbbells my ROM starts with the head of the dumbbell touching my shoulder and I go up until I am almost locked out. I do not move the dumbbells horizontal at the top by bringing them closer together because I think that takes some tension off the mid delt.

 

[bybon]

Seated..feels best with DB's versus the BB.

The reason for being seated is to keep any oblique growth away. On average, the guys who press a lot of weight have big obliques, and big obliques=wider looking waist. I want to keep my waist as thin as possible.