Question about overhead presses ...

[purbeast0]

So I've pretty much maxed out the dumbells at my gym (although I could go up in reps slightly still) and last week the bench/chair I use for it was taken, so i tried OH presses for the first time. and keep in mind too, i have pretty damn long arms.

I threw on 25lb on each side, no problem.

I then tried 35lb on each side, did 8 reps pretty easily, although my balance felt a litlte off.

I then trieed 40lb on each side, and did 6 reps and man, my balance was kind of all over the place. i felt like i was going to fall over on a few sets although i kept myself upright and didn't fall.

So today I did them again for the 2nd time. I threw 35lb on each side and did 8 pretty easily and my balance wasn't so bad.

I thew 40lb on each side and did 8 of them, which was kind of tough but I got it, and my balance again was pretty rough.

I then threw 45lb on each side. The first few were pretty easy but my balance was kind of again, all over the place. I felt like I was possibly going to fall or drop forward/backward. The last 2 reps were pretty rough in that sense, and I noticed me kind of arching my back to help keep myself upright and not tipping over.

granted on my last set, i had someone standing behind me to just make sure i didn't fall over.

but my question is, does the balance just come as you progress? i really like the way my shoulders feel afterwards from doing those. i also noticed when i benched 3 days after my first time doing OH presses, on incline bench, my shoulders were still fatigued slightly from the 3 days before. i attributed that to being new to the exercise and the typical "extra" soreness from that.

so basically, just wondering when/how to work on the balance or when it will come. thanks.

 

[brikis98]

Balancing your body while hoisting a large weight overhead is one of the main challenges about the press. It is exactly this that makes it such a fantastic upper body exercise, better than the seated military press and in some ways, better than even bench press. It hits your abs, your lower back, your traps, rhomboids, lats, your upper chest, your shoulders (all of the shoulder, not just the front) and your arms (triceps especially). As you get more familiar with the exercise, your balance will improve, but you'll need to develop a lot of core strength to make that happen.

It is really important to make sure you are using proper form. The Starting Strength book has a whole chapter devoted to the press. Stronglifts also has a great article that is worth looking at. Finally, you can search the Crossfit exercises page for a number of videos with overhead press instruction (including several with Rippetoe). Some basic pointers:

1. Start each rep with the bar racked on your shoulders. This means it's sitting on your deltoids and your elbows are pointed slightly forward.
2. Use the Valsalva maneuver during the press (as well as almost all heavy lifts) as described here. That is, you take a deep breath before the rep and hold it for the duration of the rep. Once you learn to do it properly, this alone will make your core much more stable and keep you from wabbling around all over the place.
3. Keep the bar as close to your face as possible on the way up.
4. The rep ends with the bar behind your head. This may seem strange, but if you look at it from the side, the bar is over the middle of your foot only when it's over the back of your head. This is quite different than incline bench where the bar stays in front of you.
5. Squeeze your arms and shoulders towards your ears at the top of the rep and keep everything tight.

 

[Special K]

Yes, it took me awhile to learn to balance myself properly during the standing military press. That said, once I learned the balance, I never went back to seated military presses. My advice would be to just keep practicing it, and don't add weight too quickly. I like to start with the barbell on the ground, power clean it up into position, and then start my pressing. For some reason, I find this approach better than unracking the bar onto my delts and walking it out into position.

 

[purbeast0]

ok thanks for the tips guys. i'm glad that i'm normal in that i'm having balance issues heh. i will continue to work on that as well as form.

 

[Riverhound777]

Well it makes sense. Think about it, your press muscles are strong since you've done other lifts that work them, but the stabilizing muscles were not used before now. So while your lifting muscles are capable of lifting 135, your stabilizing muscles aren't used to balancing that much. Which is why things like the Smith machine and other machines are frowned upon.

 

[Koing]

What are your trainers like? They are probably trainers and generally not optimal for balance. Fantastic for cushioning and running but crap for balance.

I wear weightlifting shoes, rock solid and wider, but a death trap to run in!

The balance comes with time. Don't arch your back/ lean backwards. Thats not good. A new exercise should worked on with steady/ low weight, high rep to minimise injury and get you use to the exercise. Certain exercises require a lot of technique/ balance etc.

Military Press is a bad ass exercise!

Make sure your abs are tight before you start the lift. Take a breath of air and hold it. But breath though!

Koing

 

[TecHNooB]

Do you guys find that tensing your legs helps in OH presses? Cuz that's what I end up doing sometimes when I'm struggling to get the weight up.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Do you guys find that tensing your legs helps in OH presses? Cuz that's what I end up doing sometimes when I'm struggling to get the weight up.

You're doing more of a push press if you use your legs at all. If you're doing sets for shoulder press, legs are not optional. If you like push press better, then do that, but don't count a push press for your shoulder press sets.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Do you guys find that tensing your legs helps in OH presses? Cuz that's what I end up doing sometimes when I'm struggling to get the weight up.

My whole body is tight when doing any movement.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Do you guys find that tensing your legs helps in OH presses? Cuz that's what I end up doing sometimes when I'm struggling to get the weight up.

You're doing more of a push press if you use your legs at all. If you're doing sets for shoulder press, legs are not optional. If you like push press better, then do that, but don't count a push press for your shoulder press sets.

Keeping your legs tense while performing the standing military press does not make it a push press. In fact, it's probably best if you do keep your legs and core tense while doing standing military presses.

A push press would be where you bend your knees down, and then use the momentum of straightening your legs out to help drive the bar up.

 

[gramboh]

I find it helps to tense my legs (locked, no knee drive that is push press) and squeeze my ass (helps prevent back arching) as well as grip the bar really tight.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Do you guys find that tensing your legs helps in OH presses? Cuz that's what I end up doing sometimes when I'm struggling to get the weight up.

You're doing more of a push press if you use your legs at all. If you're doing sets for shoulder press, legs are not optional. If you like push press better, then do that, but don't count a push press for your shoulder press sets.

Keeping your legs tense while performing the standing military press does not make it a push press. In fact, it's probably best if you do keep your legs and core tense while doing standing military presses.

A push press would be where you bend your knees down, and then use the momentum of straightening your legs out to help drive the bar up.

Right, I agree. I said that if you are using your legs to help move the bar, it is a push press. Even if you don't use your legs much, it is still a push press. If the tenseness of your muscles vary any time throughout the exercise, it isn't a legitimate military press. He said that he tenses them up to get the weight up, which I picture as a flexing movement in line with getting the bar up overhead - i.e. a push press.