I’ve started getting slight pain in my right shoulder the day after pressing and never form checked my OHP… anything obviously wrong in this? You guys are amazing.
What’s that hip shift you do at the beginning of the rep? If you’re wanting to do more of a push press, that should be more of a dip than that tuck motion you’re doing. If you are trying to strict press, I think you need to squeeze your glutes hard and brace your core (either way, actually).
I’d expect your low back to get cranky before your shoulders, from this angle. Once you actually start pressing, I don’t see anything crazy. An angle from front/ behind would probably help viewers.
I also don’t really barbell overhead press just because I do think it can be uncomfortable for a lot of us, so I’m generally not going to be particularly helpful here. So others can help, what’s your goal with the lift? Do you want to strong on it, particularly? Do you want bigger shoulders? Is it an assistance move for your bench? Etc.
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Thanks. I’m doing the press as part of Wendler 531 as a main lift.
The bit at the beginning is meant to be me tightening quads pelvis and abs to make space for my vertical bar path
Stop doing this.
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The hip shift bit is a thing Rippetoe brought in when teaching his “press 2.0”. It’s an idea borrowed from the Olympic-style press; legs stay stiff but you use the hips to initiate a wave motion and get the bar moving.
He did a cool series with Tommy Suggs on it, several years ago.
That said, I think it’s best to just focus on a strict press first, no hip drive or knee drive or stretch reflex. Start with a stationary bar rested at your shoulders, pull your head back, press straight up, and as it clears your head, move your head and body under the bar.
Best to learn and get good at the basic part of the lift first. The dynamic technique stuff can happen later.
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The history major here. Do not get to emotional about this. Your shoulder hurts the day after? How do you sleep? Your shoulder(s) are fatigued. You lay on that shoulder funky during the night. Kind of pay attention to how you wake up and your body position.
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What does your warm-up look like before pressing workouts?
Thanks! I will stop doing that with pleasure. I never quite know what it’s meant to be doing and simplifying the movement is only a positive
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I’ve been doing the “simple 6” by that dude who did agile 8 as an upper body warmup.
Simple 6 seems all right.
I personally use 1) some thoracic extension work, 2) band dislocates, 3) band pullaparts, 4) wall slides, as part of my warmup.
Do you do warmup sets, or what other lifts do you do before pressing? (I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t)
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Good question- I haven’t been doing warm up sets as it said optional and I don’t have much time… but considering I’m 39 it might be a good idea?
I wouldn’t even think of them as just warm-up sets. They do so much more. They are prepatory sets. Off the top of my head:
- Get submax reps to dial in form
- Get additional volume for low recovery cost
- Ramp up your nervous system to improve performance
- Safely work up to heavier weights
- Gauge today’s performance capacity (if they feel heavy, your plan may change)
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I think the advice you’re getting here is pretty solid, just throwing in my 2 cents.
This is your start position from your 2nd or 3rd rep, which I don’t think is actually terrible but the movement you are doing to get there seems dramatic and probably is leading to a poor brace (tight core and glutes). Work on that brace and intentionally getting into a position that will lead to a clear path to press the bar.
Thrall usually does a decent job at technique stuff, I haven’t watched all of this (at least not recently) but here is his section on bar path.
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I’ve also found this to be a useful video.
With respect to warm up sets (or ramp up sets, which is probably both more accurate AND less “optional”), I agree with what @TrainForPain said, especially if you’re training the press less than 3 times a week.
That’s kind of an arbitrary number of course, but the more frequently you train the lift, the less you “need” those ramp-up sets. You can still get benefits of course.
On the other hand, even high-level Olympic lifters (including those who actually compete at the Olympics) almost always start with the bar and work up, and they train those lifts with extremely high frequency.
Food for thought at least.
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Holy crap! So you just jump straight to working sets?? This is a guaranteed injury. This would also explain why you tweaked your back as mentioned in your deadlift thread.
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Sorry no to be clear I follow the normal 3 sets which ramp up in 531 - 65% 75% 85% for the first week.
Just not the 35 - 45 - 55 warm up sets before that… but maybe even they are a good idea
I know. You’re not doing warm up sets then. This is a recipe for injury and dysfunction, especially as you get to heavier weights. You have to prepare your body for moving weight.
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Oooo thanks for spelling that out. Warm up sets from now on.
3 warm up sets enough?
It really depends on the loading. Someone with a 500 lb squat needs a few more warm up sets than the 200 lb squatter. It really comes down to personal preference for what gets you in the groove and feeling confident.
In general, I’d say at least 2 warm up sets, and probably no more than 5. This might be all you need to get that shoulder pain resolved.
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Adding on to the warmup set conversation, I’ll just throw an example down (this is not 5/3/1, but you’ll get the idea).
Let’s say I’m doing a chest and shoulders workout. I already train in the morning, so I typically am not rearing to go when I get there.
The first thing I’ll do will be to get on a bike for 5 - 10 minutes, just to get a little sweat going.
Then I’ll start with let’s say a dumbbell incline press - this is specifically because this is an easier warm up than a barbell press; so this lift can be a warm-up for the next lift. You can ignore that for your plan, but it puts longer ramping sets into context. If I think I’ll work up to 100s, the warmup might look like:
35/20 (warmup)
50/15 (warmup)
70/6(warmup)
80/8 (work set)
90/8 (work set)
Then I’ll move onto incline press, where I’ll still ramp up, but I don’t feel like I need the higher rep sets. So maybe:
45/6
135/6
185/6
205/6
225/6
Or something like that
Now I start getting into assistance work. I’m warm at this point, and those are safe moves. If I do a machine press, maybe I do one warm up set just to find a good weight. If I’m doing dips or side raises or push downs, I’m likely not doing any warm up sets (again, maybe one to find the weight). If I go do something that’s a different feel or I think is harder on my joints, like a skullcrusher, I probably will do a warmup set or two.
With 5/3/1, the big move is your first move, I think you should take your time warming up. Like @jskrabac said, you don’t need 5 ramping sets to work up to a 100 lbs. OHP, but you should definitely take a couple just to get the movement going.
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