what do you think guys is better for shoulders?..strict military presses or push presses?
ake
Isn’t a push press rougher on the shoulders if you go really heavy since you use more weight and assist your shoulders where they’re weakest? Almost like using chains, kinda, sorta?
I dont know why but my shoulders always got sore from doing push presses and all i ever got from military presses was shoulder pain.
I think that would depend on your goal. I can see strict presses being better for hypertrophy. The explosiveness of the push press would help develop power and you could build strength by emphasizing the eccentric portion of the lift.
Goldberg,
Same here. I would actually get shoulder soreness from doing singles in the clean and push press. I think it has to do with the increased weights towards the top of the motion, sorta like chains. Not to mention the negative will do more damage because of the increased weight.
Neil
I hate military presses as they hurt my shoulders more than anything. When doing push presses, I usually don’t feel it in my shoulders very much. My weak point is the lockout overhead, so my triceps work hard.
The first time I saw a guy doing push presses I didn’t know what he was doing. I thought he was such a pussy because he couldn’t get the weight up being strict. Goes to show how much this site can teach ya.
Uhh, both?
When I began training with the O lifts and added push presses into my routine, I saw immediate gains in both size and strength. And I was doing heavy low reps.
Push presses are more fun because it’s a whole body lift and you just throw the weight in the air. Ah, but strict work is necessary. For strict work I like one-arm stuff - more challenging and great for the stabilizers.
I’ve been asking myself that same question. I love overhead presses, unlike bench pressing which bothers my shoulders. i think strict presses are better for hypertrophy. try dumbbells for added variation, it’ll improve your barbell poundages.
I would use both of them as well as other shoulder exercises. Rotating your program and changing your routine is paramount to any training regime to stop your body adapting to the resistance you are giving it. Also variations are good because it will ensure that you are working the whole muscle evenly because different exercises will recruit different areas of the muscle more than others.
Yeah I’m with Ike, both. I like the eccentric idea on the push press as well. Kinda like over-loaded chest flys, you push more than you could possibly fly and then let it down in the fly motion. Basically you are using one move to prepare a solo-negative. Also, which ever doesn’t hurt more you will probably stick to longer, though I bit my tongue through 4 weeks of OVT with the military press which normally hurt my shoulders and now they don’t. Go figure.
Is ake referring to strength increases, hypertrophy, shoulder health? You need to give us a little more info. If you asked Ian King, he’d say YES.
i?m referring mainly to strength increases…
I don’t know about you guys, but when I throw up push preses I get pretty pumped up, start cussing at the bar (“get up there you bitch!”), calling myself names etc. When I do M presses I feel like I’m at a tea party.
I definitely feel more sore after push presses as well.
B
ake, push presses will help you to increase the poundages that you can push strictly for a military press, for example. Definitely.
I agree w/ Ike u should do both.
I noticed that my shoulders seem to have pain during push presses based on my grip width. perhaps there is something involved with the tendons etc. in the shoulder based on the angle of the arm. maybe it’s just me, but did anyone else notice this? how wide is your grip on either lift? just an observation…
Seminole, perhaps you have a pre-existing injury that is just aggravated by push presses. Could be the way you’re doing them. I alter grip width for variety on occassion, but try to stick to a shoulder width grip, as I clean the weight first and for these I use shoulder width.
I have only added the push press to my workouts in the last six months or so. I used to do db presses, seated ro standing barbell overhead presses and, if I was trying to increase the weight lifted, I’d sometimes use machine overhead presses.
I’ve had more strength increases since including the push press than I have had in the last several years. Right now the hang clean and press is in my workout. Olympic lifts are new to me, but I have become convinced that they are keeping my shoulders healthier and stronger than ever before. I thank t-mag for introducing me to both of these lifts!
So I would definitely recommend using a push press if increasing strength is your goal.
Lisa
Military press for strength issues.
The legs are a big brother. Some idiots get in the habit of using them all the time…
Curling, shrugging, pressing…
And any other excercise you can cheat at.