From reading around this site I have become aware that the so called “military press” refers to the shoulder press standing. I’ve always did seated barbell and dumbell presses. When doing the seated presses for barbell I’ll come down to around my chin for it is just below 90 degrees. When doing the standard military press standing up should I be coming down to my chest then pressing up or also my chin? I’ve also read from Christian’s posts that explosive military presses where you used your body to help you up can allow your body to experience the feeling of pressing heavier weights. Just wanted an opinion on how far I should go down for military presses and the effectiveness others have experienced using the explosive press.
Pretty individualized, don’t let anyone tell you there’s a “correct” way to do them, because it’s bullshit.
I personally now go down to the upper chest / clavicle area whenever I do BB OHPs, but my dumbbell OHP ROM is a little more limited. Do whatever works well for you.
Whatever feels comfortable to you. Probably to your chin since that’s what you did seated. If you have your “shoulder shelf” going on with your lats flared then you probably won’t be able to bring the bar all the way down to your chest anyway.
Second question, are you talking about push presses? If so, I like them but prefer to do strict military presses. I’m weak as a kitten and tiny so take my thoughts accordingly.
shoulder press/push press/push jerk tri-panel - YouTube This may help you with the terminology. The video calls the military press a shoulder press. Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s strict, meaning there’s no leg drive at all. CT also makes a distinction between push presses with a hard leg drive (I believe he sometimes refers to these as jerks) and push presses with only a slight drive just to get the bar moving.
Do whatever works best.
I personally do them to the bottom of my chin, but my training partner does his from his chest. I get joint pain if I go lower than the bottom of my chin, so its individual really. If you can do them from the chest I guess it would be a greater range of motion, I combat that by being able to press slightly more weight from the chin. To start the movement I push press the first rep.
the bar starts just under my chin because i have a close grip and create a shelf with my lats, so it cant get any lower. may try the form in the vid though
tried it today, expecting poorer performance or even discomfort. instead, had a great pressing session. ii thought the wider grip would result with less tricep work as well, but that didnt seem to be the case
Interesting. Did you still flare your lats and bring the bar to your chin? Did you feel more work being done by your medial delts than with the narrower grip?