Military Press in front of neck

[Derk4397]

Is there any difference between doing the military press in front of the neck instead of behind it? Will doing it in front not activate as much from the delts?

[in10city]

...

Behind the neck...

Pros: Minimizes upper chest involvement and isolates the shoulders a bit more since many turn the standard press into a chest movement with sub-optimal form.

Cons: Puts the shoulder in more compromised position, causes more stress on the joint and increases the risk of injury over time.

Factors that increase risk: Inflexibiltiy, excessive weight, lowering the bar too far.

Net: Risk vs. reward ratio may not be favorable.

[Derk4397]

...

This is towards behind the back?

[willldabeast]

imo, lingevitiy is everything and behind the neck pull-downs and presses should be avoided. I am flexible and thought I could do them. Never had pain, but they were slowly wearing away at my shoulders and now I have been crippled for months


edit: especially at our height and arm length

[in10city]

This is towards behind the back?

That should have been subtitled with "Behind the neck".

[drdre8424]

with behind the neck presses i dont go past 90 deg. with my elbows...for a killer exercise you can try dumping off some weight and doing a front press then rear press (1rep)

[blkbelt42]

allot more chance of injury when going
behind the neck and extending the joints
and RC's.

[GuyJin]

FWIW,

I'd stick with doing presses to the front, basically because it is a more natural movement, it's biomechanically kinder to your RC's, and it will give you just as good IMHO development to the front and side delts as BTN press would. Okay, I am nitpicking here; BTN will probably be better for side and some trap development, but is it worth the risk? I've heard many guys say that they do the BTN press and nothing but good happens. Now. The thing is, microtrauma does add up over the years and injury to the RC's can accumulate over the years as well. For me, even though I like doing BTN presses, it just isn't worth it.

My two yen...

[DumbbellDave]

I agree. I feel that behind the neck definitely works the delts more, and less chest, but its not worth it. I consider myself a reasonably flexible person, and I've never been completely comfortable with BTN Military presses. They feel like they're just slowly stressing my rotator cuffs. If you do feel like you have to do them, don't lower the bar past the bottom of that bump on the back of your head. I still say stay away though.

[ramrod63]

great exercise but you need very good flexibility, mobility and good form, most ppl do this exercise with **** form, ROM is too big, head bent forwards...


im avoiding this exercise until i fix my shoulder issues

[JohnTurk]

I believe the BHN press is far superior to the Front shoulder press for developing Delt width and Trap thickness. Like anything else, I believe injury can be easily avoided doing this movement with a rep range of 12-15 with a 30 sec rest between sets. The other concern is not to lower the bar past the ears and of coarse WARM UP is vital and plenty of it.

The main injury concern I feel isn't the rotator cuff, it's the neck. If you have any problems with your cervical disks this movement will aggravate it because it tends to force the lifter to hyper flex the neck to lower the bar.