You are comparing apples to oranges. Three of the guys at elite who dont like overhead work dont like it because they work with football players. Football players shoulders are already beat to hell. The powerlifters dont like it because their shoulders are beat up from doing low bar squats. If youve never had a heavy weight on your shoulders in the low bar position then you cant know the pain that it can cause. you have to remember the context in which they were speaking.
Goldberg is 100% right…i couldnt have said it any better and have nothing to add…bm
MadMikeNJ - I’d love to see a pic of you doing the shoulder press @ 315 for reps. Your workout log shows that your heaviest bench set was 315lbs x 2, so you must have one hell of a set of shoulders to be using that same weight for militarys! Wow!
The search function is fantastic. I’ve been thinking about this since I’ve read what some of the guys over at EliteFTS have said. But then I just read what Goldberg said and it makes sense. Context does matter. Also, I’ve never had troubles with my shoulders in the past and I’ve always balanced my exercises i.e. bench|incline row and shoulder press|pulldown movement.
Keep in mind that Coach X makes his claim after being in a cadaver lab and seeing what actually happens to the shoulder joint. He claims impingment is a typical result. Just cause’ your shoulders don’t bother you now and they seem “healthy” doesn’t mean they will be healthy forever. Keep in mind alot of people don’t feel pain til the damage is done…
I tend to agree with Joe D when he states that it depends on genetics. My dad was a Press specialist during his stint on the Polish OL team. He is 69 now and does not do much OP moves, but still benches in the 340-360 range at about 185 lbs.
I’m 44 and been doing OP moves for 30 years and never had shoulder problems due to lifting. I have dislocated both shoulders many times playing football and hockey, but they recovered very quickly.
I have to agree with goldberg. Low bar squatting annhilates my shoulders. I think this is one reason it is hard to find great total power lifters. If you have a great squatter, usually his shoulders cant bear the burden of heavy benching (relatively speaking). Great benchers usually do not do as much squatting.
I’m reminded of a story about the prolific bencher JM Blakely. When asked how to increase the bench press, he said quit squatting.