Military Press

Melbourne said:
...which brings me back to the reason why I commenced this thread.

What is proper form for the standing military press???

I put my hands pretty narrow, start at chest or a little higher and press, i make sure i get my head through and i am standing straight when done.
 
Melbourne said:
Elbows straight ahead or out?

for me somwhere in the middle

Looking up or straight ahead?

I personally look up at the top of my lift

No lock out at the top? Pause at the top? Pause at the bottom?

no pausing. No locking

What tempo? That is, fast up and slow down or slow up and slow down etc.

just normal comfortable reps


Is the lift primarily with the arms, delts, chest or back muscles? What is the correct posture? Shoulder blades pulled in, neutral or pushed out? Back arched and if so how much?

Primary muscles worked, front delts. Shoulders, chest, neck, back, triceps etc also get worked secondary. Stand straight, I lean back very slightly so I am comfortable. My shoulder blades are pulled in

No lift is a simple as just "lift it above your head and bring it down again". If I'm going to start doing this I want to do it properly from the start so that I get maximum benefit and minimum risk of injury.

Also I reccomend going to a book store and reading their description of the lift as well.
 
huskyguy said:
Actually it is safer than behind the neck presses--something that should be avoided-not a natural movement to press something behind your neck, the benefits of going behind the neck are negligible compared to the possible injuries--stick with military press it is a good exercise.

I 100% agree, You put a diagonal stress from you neck to your shoulder. It was described to be as "shearing" and has a risk for potential injury. Even the mild injury's will keep you out of the gym for 2 weeks.
 
Like i have said i am not necessarily disagreeng with anyone, but show me someone who was injured doing behind the neck presses. Also, people tend to look like they are doing an incline bench when doing standing shoulder presses, the bar should be over your head, not out in front, meaning you need to get your head through. You will feel your shoulder gurdle getting an extreme amount of work if done properly.
 
jcp2 said:
people tend to look like they are doing an incline bench when doing standing shoulder presses,

Hahaha, I see this alot on seated military. And decline on flat. Hhaha. Stupid arsholes! :D
 
jcp2 said:
Like i have said i am not necessarily disagreeng with anyone, but show me someone who was injured doing behind the neck presses. Also, people tend to look like they are doing an incline bench when doing standing shoulder presses, the bar should be over your head, not out in front, meaning you need to get your head through. You will feel your shoulder gurdle getting an extreme amount of work if done properly.

I think your looking at it from the wrong light... Major injury possible with bad form? YES. But that's not the point were (or at least me) trying to get across. Think about all the guys wearing knee braces because of constant stress put on those parts. The point were trying to make is constant stress can cause long term problems. Which is why i used the word "shearing" so long term you going to end up with damage vs. minimal in-front of the head.
 
aProtege said:
I think your looking at it from the wrong light... Major injury possible with bad form? YES. But that's not the point were (or at least me) trying to get across. Think about all the guys wearing knee braces because of constant stress put on those parts. The point were trying to make is constant stress can cause long term problems. Which is why i used the word "shearing" so long term you going to end up with damage vs. minimal in-front of the head.

I don't understand what shearing means, most people tend to duck forward when doing a behind the neck press, they can be done with shoulder blades pinched back. I am not sure how this is a bad position. But than again, i could be wrong.
 
What i mean is the force placed upon the muscle group that run from your shoulder into your neck (focusing mainly on the neck). You can work the same muscle group with similar intensity and reduce that stress/shearing force significantly just bring the weight down in front of your head.

The pinching of the blades is part of what creates that extra tension in your neck, the only reason you have to bring you blades that close is because you want the bar behind your head.
 
The problem with pressing behind the neck is that it either places too great a strain on the neck or it pushes the upper part of the humerus forwards. This forward pressure places strain on the ligaments which hold the humersus in the shoulder joint and on the glenoid labrum which acts as a bit of a cup to hold the humerus in place. If the ligaments are stretched or the glenoid labrum is torn then you have shoulder pain and instability possibly leading to dislocation.

If you get the same result from a press or a pulldown which is in front rather than behind the neck, I can't see why you would risk injury. Take it from someone who has had shoulder surgery.
 
jcp2 said:
Like i have said i am not necessarily disagreeng with anyone, but show me someone who was injured doing behind the neck presses. Also, people tend to look like they are doing an incline bench when doing standing shoulder presses, the bar should be over your head, not out in front, meaning you need to get your head through. You will feel your shoulder gurdle getting an extreme amount of work if done properly.

What does "...meaning you need to get your head through" mean?
 
Dave B. said:
What does "...meaning you need to get your head through" mean?

In order to have the weight over your head, your head needs to be under the bar. If your head is tilted back the whole time you are going to look as though you are doing an incline.
 
jcp2 said:
Like i have said i am not necessarily disagreeng with anyone, but show me someone who was injured doing behind the neck presses. Also, people tend to look like they are doing an incline bench when doing standing shoulder presses, the bar should be over your head, not out in front, meaning you need to get your head through. You will feel your shoulder gurdle getting an extreme amount of work if done properly.
this is a very important point IMO. alot of folks end up cheating on their presses in front. in fact, i believe this was one of the reasons why they replaced the clean and press with the clean and jerk at the olympics... it would have been impossible to create a rule that said something like "only so much of bending backwards is allowed or the lift will be deemed illegal" because that would become too subjective while judging.

while doing behind the neck presses, it's good to use push press technique - bar resting on the traps, bend the knees slightly and as you reach the bottom position, immediately change directions driving the bar explosively upwards with leg drive. keep pressing the bar upwards, you should feel it most in your arms and shoulders during lockout (all the momentum of the leg drive would have died out as you approach lockout unless you're jerking the weight with a dip to get under the bar or you're a freak!). this lets you handle much larger loads plus there's the benefit of strengthening your pressing stabilizers as well (just being able to balance 250+ lbs overhead is a small achievement in itself for most of us). on the negative, don't try to control the bar a whole deal like in other lifts such as bench press. just let it drop (your hands loosely on the bar is enough control) and as it hits your traps, bend your knees slightly to absorb the impact - i know that sounds scary with over 250lbs but it's really not that bad when you get used to it. don't do these heavy when you're fatigued - that's my advice!

and as jcp pointed out, BTN push presses (as also jerks) are used extensively by strongmen... i've seen vids of pudzianowski push pressing over 400lbs (can't remember exactly how much) behind the neck.
 
The form in the link on page one is correct. Bill Star has a really good article on the standing military press in Ironman this month.
 
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