I’m training overhead presses for strength. I know that standing presses are considered standard for strength training, but I prefer seated. I feel stronger seated and it’s better on my wrists and shoulders. Standing presses irritate both. Do you think seated presses can replace standing for overall strength?
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I would argue that they are not interchangeable for strength development. You won’t become weaker with seated press, but I think there’s something to be said for pressing something over your head on your feet. It is a fundamental strength movement with your whole body working as a unit.
I would see how your wrists and shoulders feel with standing dumbbell presses or perhaps a different type of bar if you have access to some of the ones with varying grip angles. You can even press with a trap bar.
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Standing presses are better for Overall Strength because your using your whole body. That’s like the definition of overall.
But seated presses are better for the strength of your shoulders and pressing muscles. You don’t have to worry about what your whole body is doing, just what’s working to press.
So the seated press can’t replace the standing press for overall strength, but you can use it to help build your overall strength.
Check out this Charles Poliquin routine where you use versions of the seated press and the standing press in phases to fortify your wrists and shoulders, build up the strength of your pressing muscles then finally practice the standing press a bunch.
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Yes… equal outcomes with better stability and MUR with seated presses
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I always get trap activation equal to or maybe slightly lesser than delt activation when standing, but seated presses completely eliminate my traps.
I exclusively use seated presses as volume finishers personally, but incorporate strict standing overhead presses as part of strength training.
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Overall strength maybe no.
Pure Pressing Strength & Better Carryover to Bench, yes.
All anecdotal of course.
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Maybe do both or just, mostly do some form of standing press for highish reps or dbs or a viking press type machine (or landmine machine etc).
why high reps? what ae high reps?
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I’m sticking with the seated press. If it builds pure pressing strength and has a better carryover to flat presses, it works better for my routine. Moreover, I have an old shoulder impingement and the overhead press inflames it. I could try standing dumbbell presses, but my mind is made up at this point.
I like to clean a heavy ass dumbell and press it overhead when it comes to building pressing strenght. Might not be something you see often in the gym but I started doing this during the pandemic and it turns out I love this movement.
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For many years (about the first 8 years) the only overhead press I did was the standing overhead press (out of a power rack as I got stronger). As I got stronger yet, the weight felt strain in my lower back. I just couldn’t conduct a maximum effort and not lean back too far.
We had a seated behind the neck machine (not a machine, but a seat with a back and weight supports). I switched to seated behind the neck presses and never looked back.
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I lack the overhead space to do standing barbell presses in my basement, so I have mostly done kettlebell press for the last several years. Usually with a clean, too, which isn’t ideal for pressing strength. Double 70’s are my heaviest, which is enough for me to work out with but it isn’t the same as pushing heavy poundage on a barbell.
I am not and was never a particularly strong presser, but it is the only movement I ever seriously injured myself on when lifting. I attribute that to pushing through soreness from introducing ab-wheel rollouts while in a calorie deficit. The sports hernia popped on the last rep of 5 sets of 10 I was doing for no particular good reason. It’s not like I was laying down new muscle tissue at the time.
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