When I do shoulder presses, I bring the bar all the way down to my upper chest for each rep. All the lifters I’ve seen at my gym and on Youtube only bring the bar down to their chins. Or if they’re doing BTN presses, they bring the bar down to the middle of their heads. What’s going on here? Is it bad for your shoulders to bring the bar all the way down? I’ve never felt any kind of joint pain the way I do it.
I felt pain when I brought the bar all the way down and asked here for suggestions and I was told to stop at my chin. It did help, so I guess people who get pain bring the bar down to their chin.
For comfort reasons only use a ROM that’s natural for Shoulder Press.
Officially, though, if you’re maxing out for a Military Press 1RM then you should start at your upper chest.
I always do it starting from upper chest and never had probles,but I do see that most people start higher…
what are your goals? bodybuilding? strength? If for strength keep your elbows high and bring it down to your shoulders, for bodybuilding purposes I doubt it matters much.
Most people who you see not using a full ROM either
A) Have flexibility/mobility issues.
or
B) Are using a partial ROM on purpose due to using more weight than they could lift on full ROM lifts.
That’s for military or seated shoulder presses to the front. During behind the neck it’s usually because very few people have the ROM to comfortably bring the bar all the way down to their traps. It also generally forces their head forward thus putting their spine in a compromised position and puts a lot of pressure on the shoulder joint.
I personally prefer using a full ROM for militaries/seated shoulder presses, but I have used supramaximal partials in the past. Both movements have their place, but I personally feel that the full ROM movement should be your foundational movement while the partials should be used at specific times.
Good training,
Sentoguy
[quote]Kalle wrote:
what are your goals? bodybuilding? strength? If for strength keep your elbows high and bring it down to your shoulders, for bodybuilding purposes I doubt it matters much.[/quote]
My goals are 100% strength-related. I think my shoulder press is a little weak relative to my bench, so I want to get my shoulders stronger asap. Instead of benching 2x a week, I press 2x a week, and it’s been working pretty well.