Michael Boyle has an article on here about what is strong. He said a 300 lb Bench Press max is strong and if you do that, you should do the Seated Dumbell Press with 75 lb dumbells for 1 rep or 60 lb dumbells for 6 reps. Well, what would be a good wt for the Barbell Military Press (Seated with no back support and/or standing).
Also, the best thing I learned in that article was the following:
“One tip: If you want to develop shoulder strength, don’t allow your athletes or clients to use a bench with a back. They can sit in place on one, but leaning back isn’t an option. As soon as they lean back, they’ll shift to a clavicular/pectoral version of an incline bench press.”
I don’t get the point behind having them do it seated, anyway. Maybe it makes them less likely to cheat, but I doubt it. I think he was saying “Some of my athletes do the DB press seated.”
im not doing any type of bench press currently, maybe once every 3-4 weeks. even still, i can get out a good-form 1RM of 315lbs.
an exercise that i have thrown back in, done it maybe 3 times over the past two weeks, is seated overhead dumbell press. i try pretty hard to keep my back straight, without arching my lower back and actually pressing against the back pad, but by the 4th set, ive got a little of that going on. anyway, im using 80lb dumbells for sets of 6. or rather, usually 6,6,5-6,4-5. currently 193lbs, at 5’9". at 210-215lbs, ive done as much as 90-95lb dumbell overhead presses.
usually, it seems as though one can lift more on a barbell than with dumbells. however, i honestly feel that even a seated overhead press with 160lbs on a barbell would be harder than the 80lb dumbells im pushing up.
dez, IMO seated db presses are easier than seated bb presses, while the reverse is true of those exercises while standing. You have to rack/position the weight totally different while standing rather than seated and steady it with your whole body. dbs are more manageable seated then standing I think.
Me, I’m currently probably a 260lb bencher, haven’t maxed in a while, but I got 145x2 BB standing presses. Hard to say what the ratio ought to be.
Personally I think a BW military press is a “Gold” standard. Top of the line. Not to mention that it’s one of the most underrated lifts, so fewer people get good at it than, oh, say, bb bp.
I guess its pretty accurate. I use their strength standards for all the other lifts they have posted there. Before i came to T-Nation, i was one of those mirror muscle kids, and now when I look at those standards, my BP beats my deadlift, and ties my squat, something I’m not really sure to be proud or ashamed of…
[quote]conwict wrote:
dez, IMO seated db presses are easier than seated bb presses[/quote]
Could that be because you are lowering the weights to different points? When I do DB, I lower until my upper arms are parallel to the ground, but when I do BB I find myself dipping a few inches lower than parallel because I use the bar’s location in relation to my face as the guide, making the exercise a bit harder.
Seated BB press can be turned into incline bench too easily when doing low reps. I’ve always been a fan of standing, because although a lot more muscles are involved, it’s much harder to cheat.
Ok I hope I’m getting the name of the exercise right but I think its the Sots press and this will put mass on your shoulders like you wouldn’t believe.
Its when you assume a slightly wider grip shoulder press behind the neck at the start and lower your body while trying to keep the weight in the same place in the air, so that your body lowers and the bar doesn’t.
This forces you to push the bar as you lower your body, and it takes a lot of concentration to keep the bar still. You can do decent weight on this for reps but the stability in your shoulders must be very high to hold the weight.
Sorry this doesn’t answer the question of what is good db military press but it sounds like your looking to up your weight in this exercise so if you are you could try these.
Yeah, interesting you recommend the Sots press (which I only learned the name of in a recent article) for mass. I’ll have to try it. Personally I like squatting behind the neck presses for mobility, and overhead squats have definitely made my overhead press skyrocket.