[quote]HouseOfAtlas wrote:
Why do behind the neck presses in the first place? How are they superior to front presses? Let me guess, they hit the rear delts better. :)[/quote]
No, your body won’t respond exactly the same to a similar stimulus as someone else’s. I feel front presses mostly in my upper chest. The size of my traps also makes it less comfortable than doing them behind the neck. I also feel the Cybex machine better which is why I have moved to doing it lately. Dumbbell presses are also a great movement for overall shoulder development.
“When we started lifting, everyone did lat pulldowns behind the neck. Now the front pulldowns rules, and the behind-the-neck version is the bogeyman. The front pulldown is a better exercise studies have shown in produces a more powerful contraction in the lat muscles.”
Whether you are doing cable rows, lat pulldowns behind-the-neck, or lat pulldowns to the front, there will be stiff penalties for execution. Novice exercise assume it’s safe – it does use a machine after all-- so they fail to observe the postural precautions they’d employ if they were working with free-weights. If you learn and consistently observe the proper form for these exercises and their many variations, you can gain strength and muscle mass quickly.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
That’s great that he has that opinion, however, I am sure many trainers and bodybuilders would disagree with that. Do any of you think for yourselves anymore or just hang on the word of what you read here? Do any of you go to other sources for information? Is this the only place you get weight training knowledge or opinions?
I was bashing how some posters seem to use one trainer’s response as the definitive answer for a question without even giving any personal opinion or experience. Eric didn’t write the original response that replied to. Do you understand now? We all have different levels of experience and training. Me pointing out that there seems to be extreme blind followership by a minority on this site is not bashing any particular trainer that may be quoted. Heart on your sleeve?
[/quote]
[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
I’m interested in how you rationalize this, as most leg presses put a ton of stress on the lumbar spine.
Stay strong
MR
daniel_lamon wrote:
For example, the leg press is safer than the squat but that doesn’t mean you shouldnt squat, it just means you should squat safer. [/quote]
When I mean safer, it’s meant from accidently getting out of the groove and having to lean forward and put extra stress on the back or getting stuck in the bottom and having to drop the load, or by not knowing the proper squating techinque and getting injuried. I feel you are less likely to accidently mess up and get hurt doing leg presses than squats. I also don’t mean anything against squats, squats are a bitchen lower body exercize!
EC, any way I could scan an X-ray and have you determine if I fall into said category. Seriously… that would be pretty handy to know. I’ve often thought that the engineering of each individual could create a master plan on what would best work for a person.
Next frontier…
DH
[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
I cover the rationale for my stance in “Debunking Exercise Myths: Part II.”
Another important factor that I opted not to mention is the type of acromion process. Those with hook-shaped acromion processes (roughly 1/3 of the population) account for 70% of all impingement cases. [/quote]
[quote]Disc Hoss wrote:
EC, any way I could scan an X-ray and have you determine if I fall into said category. Seriously… that would be pretty handy to know. I’ve often thought that the engineering of each individual could create a master plan on what would best work for a person.
Next frontier…
DH
Eric Cressey wrote:
I cover the rationale for my stance in “Debunking Exercise Myths: Part II.”
Another important factor that I opted not to mention is the type of acromion process. Those with hook-shaped acromion processes (roughly 1/3 of the population) account for 70% of all impingement cases.
[/quote]
I agree. How can you tell if someone has “hook-shaped acromion processes”???
[quote]Professor X wrote:
No, your body won’t respond exactly the same to a similar stimulus as someone else’s. I feel front presses mostly in my upper chest. The size of my traps also makes it less comfortable than doing them behind the neck. I also feel the Cybex machine better which is why I have moved to doing it lately. Dumbbell presses are also a great movement for overall shoulder development.[/quote]
I agree. I can’t find a pec deck machine that won’t cause my shoulders irritation. Dr. Squat also had the same problem. I guess if you feel it better in your shoulders when you go behind-the-neck, then go for it.
I also do “partials” on the lower part of the dumbbell press once in a while. The reason for this is because I agree with Dr. Squat when he says, “after the bar has passed the top of your head, your deltoids are no longer the prime movers in the movement. The deltoids are statically contracting at that point, and the serratus anterior and triceps muscles take over to finish the press to lockout”
You can use heavier weights and the shoulders are being worked more consistantly as being the primary movers of the weight.