I take a page from John McCallum and start with the bar in front of me, press it slightly over my head, bring it down behind my neck and start the set from there, rather than unracking it from behind my head. Keeps my shoulders happy.
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Thatās actually what I do too, but I think you and I have home gym setups, so luckily we can press in the squat rack.
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Cleaning is an option too.
Iām trying to look at this from every angle to understand this comparison, but try as I might, I canāt think of two exercises that are more different than those two, haha.
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I once dislocated a shoulder trying to rack the bar behind me on one of those, not a fun time. A bench in a power rack is better because you can adjust how far you have to reach for the hooks, or just do it standing.
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Both lifts require good stability and mobility in the joint, shoulders for the Press, hips for the Dead. So if you have sucky hips or shoulders, itās best not to force huge ROM on either lift. And both lifts are great at building stability and mobility. Just doing the sumo or the press behind the neck, getting more comfortable and building the ROM will develop your stability and mobility.
If conventional deads hurt your back because you use too much back, you can switch to sumo to recruit and build your glutes and hips, taking stress off your back. If regular presses hurt the front of your shoulders because youāre using too much front delt and pinching up your joint you can go behind the neck to recruit more lateral delts and traps. And take the stress off the front delts/joint.
If youāre a gross, cat backed, ugly conventional deadlift you can use the sumo to make that shit beautiful and powerful.
If youāre a gross, lean back, standing incline bench-presser you can use the PBN to develop beautiful Peak the Head Through pressing technique.
If youāre military pressing, working hard, standing up and you see someone sitting down, doing the PBN with a heavier weight, itās super, super clear theyāre cheating.
If youāre pulling conventional, busting your ass and some skinny dude sumos more than you, itās super, super clear heās cheating.
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I like it, thanks for the clarification. Definitely a cool way of looking at it.
Conversely, I would say that one maximizes leverages while the other does not allow you to take advantage of leverages whatsoever.
I would also venture to say that nobody doing military press has ever watched someone doing behind the neck presses and thought they were cheating compared to that, but thatās just my assumption. To clarify, this is because most people think sumoās are easier (theyāre definitely not for me), and that PBN is harder than in front. In both cases I could say there are circumstances where either are harder, so thereās another comparison.
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Not a press BUTā¦
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Certainly a reduced ROM collar to collar, but most people would still consider it to be āeasierā if someone pressing like that started in front instead of behind the neck.
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Thatās good, leverages. Important for 2A nuero type bros.
Sumo and PBN teach leverages and tightness vs conventional and military where you can loose tightness to bounce, heave and thrust to cheat.
Regarding ācheating:ā You saw PC press 365 behind the head in the video above. Do you think thereās any chance at all he could press that, in front, standing?
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Nope, not a chance - which is why I said there are circumstances where either are harder. My point was not that PBN isnāt necessarily easier, itās that people donāt compare standing military press and seated behind the neck press in the same way that people compare deadlifts and sumo deadlifts. In this way, no part of me looked at Paul Carter pressing 365 behind the neck and thought āthatās cheatingā, or āhe couldnāt have done that if xā. I bet he could, seated, regular press more than that.
Edit: also, seated PBN isnāt a variation of military press, itās a variation of a seated press. People do standing BTN presses, and Iāll bet PC can standing regular press more than he can standing PBN. Pressing behind the neck is harder than pressing in front of it in almost all circumstances because of the lack of extra muscle recruitment - you canāt use your chest or front delts as much. Sumo is the opposite - you are still using your back but can use your legs much more.
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You would need to see the video to get the joke, but since it is Instagram I have no idea how to link it.
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Sidebar: I freaking hate instagram. I have no idea how it became so popular. Video player is objectively shit, comment section is shit, finding stuff is shitā¦ itās just shit all around and I canāt figure out why people , other than companies or artists who post pictures of their product, like it.
Okay, old man rant over
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The BTNP has treated me very well! I tore my RC and had surgery to repair it before I lifted weights. Physical therapy following surgery is how I became interested in strength training, even though the exercises were boring, such as external rotation with a band attached to a door. Barbells were never recommended, but I started using one about 5 months post surgery because my shoulder had improved, but felt weak. I rowed, benched, overhead pressed, performed chins/pulls. It got stronger over the next few years, but still didnāt feel right. Spent a couple thousand dollars on a little home gym two years ago and started BTNP once a week and my shoulder felt great by the 3rd or 4th workout! I do them standing, and always start with the bar behind my neck, just below my ears. Maybe someday Iāll try it seated?
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I had a partial RC tear. So very similar. And my physio told me:
No up right rows, no BTNP and no pec deck.
To be fair - the pec deck is a bit of nuance - if my hands are in the right position its okay. But of the other two I didnāt do up right rows any way. And BTNP has never hurt me. In fact it really helped develop my shoulder width.
It sounds to me that the BTNP actually helped stabilise your shoulder. Which is suppose is possible. The shoulder is a complicated and weird stuff happens.
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Search āLarry Wheels 500lb behind the neck push press PR!ā and you will find it embedded somewhere
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Looks like he invented a new exercise
I think youāre right about the BTNP helping stabilize my shoulder. I had not considered that. Thank you. This exercise has been essential for me. Itās helped everything in my shoulder feel synchronized when strict overhead pressing, push pressing, and bench pressing.
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