Standing or sitting military press?

[honkiejacky]

Hi folks,

I am relatively new to bodybuilding (nearly 5 months)and new on this forum. I am currently on my second week of the Madcow intermediate linear program and on the Wednesday it said to do military press. I was just wondering if you folks prefer the standing, sitted or the sitted smith machine version of it? Any replys would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jack

[ferbie]

go for the standing v.!!

[honkiejacky]

Thanks mate for the reply greatly appreciated...it'll be great if there were more opinions though

[Dr Clay]

I would opt for the standing BB press. Likewise, feel free to use your legs a bit bit to "spot" yourself near the end of the set. This will enable you to use more weight; however, make sure not to arch your back too much.

[NXC]

I find it much easier to do standing. Although it is more taxing it works stabilizers and as Dr Clay said you can 'spot' yourself with your legs. I also feel like it is more effective, I made the jump from 60-90 for military press (although still low), in a very short time, and I did it standing.

Also, it will you used to standing with barbell over your head, used in push presses, overhead squats etc.

[Orlando1234977]

Hi folks,

I am relatively new to bodybuilding (nearly 5 months)and new on this forum. I am currently on my second week of the Madcow intermediate linear program and on the Wednesday it said to do military press. I was just wondering if you folks prefer the standing, sitted or the sitted smith machine version of it? Any replys would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jack

The answer is in the sticky.

http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow...Linear_5x5.htm

[pkirk330]

If your going to do it, keep it seated, and keep the weight down. Also dont lower the bar behind your neck.

If you pile weight on your just going to set your shoulders up for injury. Some people can do it for years and have no problems while others do it for a few months and start getting pains. I personally do over head presses about once every 2-3 weeks. You can get just as good of a shoulder workout by doing raises and such and save your joints.

[cyberpunkwriter]

I like the standing barbell military press, myself, though I don't have any scientific evidence that it is better.

[JimSkellington]

bump... I bump this as I'm doing Madcow's 5x5 and cannot do standing military presses due to the space limitations of my basement. So would it be alright to just due them sitting instead? I was doing incline bench before, but had to stop due to safety issues on heavier sets.

[BodybuildingMd]

I guess it is just preference.

I like seated because I am more stable and can lift more weight that way. More weight= more muscle? I dunno, but I don't think it matters too much in the end.

Just an opinion

[mydamnself]

If your going to do it, keep it seated, and keep the weight down. Also dont lower the bar behind your neck.

If you pile weight on your just going to set your shoulders up for injury. Some people can do it for years and have no problems while others do it for a few months and start getting pains. I personally do over head presses about once every 2-3 weeks. You can get just as good of a shoulder workout by doing raises and such and save your joints.

Looking back in history you'll see that before the popularization of bench pressing in the 60's and 70's the common test of real strength was 'how much can you put overhead?' There was a good reason for this.

Most people I see pressing, are pressing wrong, that's why they start having shoulder issues. Following are quick points to remember when pressing in order to put up a good amount of weight and stay injury free.


1. Do not chase the barbell with your shoulders. This is one reason people jack up their shoulders, they are effectively 'disconnecting' them from the sockets way to early, breaking up their foundation. Keep your shoulders sucked tight into the sockets until you must extend them to lockout.
2. Press with your whole body, not just your shoulders. Tighten your glutes, abs, everything. Crush the barbell with your hands to maximize the contraction. I even take off my shoes and 'grab' the floor with my toes. You will have a stronger foundation by maximizing whole body tension.
3. As the previous poster said, do not arch your back. Do the reverse. Push your hips back, driving your heels harder into the floor and ensuring proper alignment.
4. On the descent, actively pull the bar down into position with your lats. Think of it like doing a pull up. This is where most of my lat development came from.
5. Breathe properly. Maximize intra-abdominal pressure and slowly let it out on the way up.
6. Do not use your knees in a military press. Then it becomes a push press.

I hear people making excuses all the time for why they don't press, deadlift, squat. Usually the reasons are based in ignorance. Proper military pressing will actually strengthen your joints. Anything done wrong can injure you.

[joe_indo]

always standing over seated

[ruga buga]

Pressing OH was the test of men back in the days before the bench revolution came in... people get injured pressing because they dont know how and are unwilling. Oh work can actually benefit someone instead of harming, bench 3x a week and OH press 1x fortnight? You can start welcoming internal rotation and lots more... Try to balance your bench with OH/row

[entropy1]

military press can only be performed standing

[jgreystoke]

Hi folks,

I am relatively new to bodybuilding (nearly 5 months)and new on this forum. I am currently on my second week of the Madcow intermediate linear program and on the Wednesday it said to do military press. I was just wondering if you folks prefer the standing, sitted or the sitted smith machine version of it? Any replys would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jack

The Military press IS a strict standing overhead press. Like you are standing to attention. Obviously your feet are spaced for balance. But you do not use leg drive to start the motion. That would be a push press.

If you sit, that is NOT a military press, by definition. It is a seated press.

A smith machine would be ok for PARTIALS. But for full range, starting with the bar racked at the shoulder, it forces you to move the bar in an unnatural groove which is not the groove your body would move the bar if free to do so. That could lead to shoulder problems. Also the smith keeps all your stabilizers weak at the same time it is strengthening some of your muscles. Does not transfer well when you golly gosh, try to lift something that is not connected to a machine which stabilizes is for you. Makes a good high tech looking clothes hanger. Of course you could use it as a finisher, after you've done your real presses. That would pump blood into the muscles when you are too tired for another set of standing presses in good form. That would help build them.

I clean the weight before every set of presses. That primes the back and glutes before the press. Take a deep breath, tense glutes and abs and everything else, crush the bar and press it aloft. You have to lean your head back to clear it, but as soon as the bar passes, you push your head forward so that the bar finishes in the top position of a press behind the neck. You are not leaning back at all. Some people perform what amounts to a standing bench press. They have bad shoulder development and a bad back.

If you do seated press, don't do it just sitting on a bench. That is very unstable, and lots of people relax their backs in that position, which is dangerous under a big barbell.

A proper seated press setup is a fine finisher. But it is inferior to the strict standing press for your shoulders. Why? Because it is really a steep incline press. Good for front delts.

The strict standing press, as described, is a better shoulder developer, and is great for shoulder health as well.

There was a time when the OH press was THE big upper body push. That was before anyone had invented the bench press. Hardly anyone knew anything about shoulder problems and rotator cuffs in those days. It just wasn't an issue.

So stand up and press to big delts. Of course you are allowed to throw in a great finisher like properly done laterals afterwards, to strenghten everything you might have missed, and round out those cannonballs.