Let’s talk about the Press, or Military Press and many call it.
This exercise is somewhat controversial in our small world for some stupid reasons.
Many say it is bad for the shoulders.
That argument is about as valid as Squatting is bad for the knees, and Deadlifts are bad for your back to me.
It’s just a waste of breath in my opinion.
I love the Press.
- It builds a shitload of strength in the upper body.
- It develops your Yoke.
- It makes your shoulders into boulders.
- It builds your triceps.
- It builds your torso strength.
- It improves your ability to stabilize heavy weights on other exercises.
- It makes your Bench go up.
- It does not screw up your shoulders.
Did you ever meet a guy with a 225 Press that couldn’t bench 225?
I haven’t.
Did you ever meet a guy who could bench 225, but couldn’t press 135?
I have.
A lot.
Makes you think doesn't it?
I talked about this a lot over the years, and one of my old coaches Mike Pelosi actually did an experiment on himself to see if I was right.
He wrote an article for this site, but it is no longer up here since the migration.
In the article, he pretty much sums it up saying that by hitting the press hard, his bench went up.
Think about it.
How can the press NOT build your bench?
You are standing up and lifting a heavy ass weight over your head.
You use your abs, triceps, delts and traps.
Getting these muscles stronger can’t not make your bench go up. (That’s Irish grammar)
Let’s look at the old They are Bad for Your Shoulders argument.
Well, anything is bad for something if you do it wrong.
- Squat with a huge knee hinge, bad for your knees.
- Squat properly, good for your knees.
- Deadlift with a round back and lots of twisting, bad for your back.
- Deadlift with a tight, neutral spine and no twist, good for your back.
I can make these analogies all day, but I think you get it.
From what I have seen, the Press is done WRONG by a huge percentage of the lifting population.
While I don’t intend this article to be a treatise on proper pressing technique, I’ll explain a few things.
When we press it is REALLY important to get your elbows up as high as you can in the rack position.
You don’t want to be the guy or girl who presses with your arms 90 degrees to the floor.
Don't start your press from here with the elbows down.
Start from here. Try to push your elbows up.
When we press from this position your Humereus (the long bone in your upper arm) presses into your AC joint. Your AC joint has Bursa sacs and nerves which the bone can interfere with.
Load this up heavy and you are asking for impingement, and unneeded wear and tear on the joint.
You do not need to get your elbows up to the ceiling, rather; the act of pushing the elbow upwards removes this pressure in the AC joint.
Just try your best to apply upward pressure from the elbow and you should be good.
The next thing is to make sure you push your head forward and move your body around the bar.
You need to finish with your head through, as a Strongman would on a Log Press in a meet.
Please don't be this guy.
Finish like this guy.
If you don’t do this, again, you can put the shoulder in an unstable position, and you are taking the traps out of the movement.
When you finish the Press, you need to shrug upwards to stabilize the weight. Shrugging upwards at lockout puts the load on your traps and triceps, not your Rotator Cuff muscles.
Pushing your head forward at the top places the weight over the centerline of your body and allows your traps to fire more effectively.
It also prevents you from leaning backwards and putting a massive amount of shear force on your lower back.
The Press is one of the 7 Foundation Exercises in my TPS Method program, and we rarely, if ever see shoulder injuries as result of it.
Our injury rate is negligible, especially when you look at the amount of people in the program, and that have been in the program over many years.
If it was bad for the shoulder, we would have seen it.
Let’s sum this up.
- The Press isn’t bad for your shoulders.
- The Press can make your Bench go up.
- You should do it.
- Any exercise done wrong is BAD for you.
BONUS:
Watch this to get a few tips on improving your mobility for the Press.
Please leave a comment if you disagree, but be polite.
Your opinion matters just as much as mine and I respect yours.
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