Shoulder press: Seated or Standing

[HealthNut12]

I understand that when standing, the barbell shoulder press works the core and and body. However, last time I did them, the rack was being used so I used the seated shoulder press set up with the barbell instead. And I noticed, when seated, I can push more weight. And it's a little easier. I'm sure the seated position helped.

Should I use both methods? My standing barbell press seems to have stalled so if I can press more weight seated will that help my standing press as well? Is one 'better than the other'? I suspect they both have benefits.

And which do you prefer? Do you do both or just one variation?

I've never done shoulder presses on the smith machine although I guess there are benefits with that as well.

[zezi25]

Would you fight a bear seated or standing? Here you have your awnser..

[Jesse012789]

i do seated arnold presses and dumbell presses but military press i do standing.. (barbell press)

[danjeff]

I'm a beginner in practice but I've been reading up on workouts, exercises, muscles, anatomy, posture etc and how to train injury-free for years and years. So that's what I'm basing the following on, as well as simply having a brain.

Anyway, to me, the idea of doing a seated exercise is ludicrous, unless you genuinely are only interested in aesthetics (nothing wrong with that,) and don't mind risking injury.

When you do seated exercises, you're training your upper body to handle weights and resistances that if you ever came up against in real life, your lower body will not be able to support. That is a recipe for injury and disaster.

I'm pretty surprised seated exercises are even a thing, and especially when promoted on weight training websites including this one.

Even if training primarily for aesthetics, part of your body will end up looking out of proportion to the rest of your body. (I looked up the Dumbbell Shoulder Press video on this website and the guy does it seated - he looks ridiculous (not in the good way) - his legs are skinny as **** compared to his upper body.

But injury has got to be a good enough reason alone to avoid doing them.

So much wrong with seated exercises, IMO.

Completely open to correction here, I'm just regurgitating what I've learned and what I've pieced together from what I've learned.

[mtownballer20]

I'd suggest standing first, either way is beneficial

[primalmedic413]

Would you fight a bear seated or standing? Here you have your awnser..

This may be the best qualifier I've ever heard. Would you fight a bear ____________ (fill in the blank with activity).

[HealthNut12]

This may be the best qualifier I've ever heard. Would you fight a bear ____________ (fill in the blank with activity).

I was going o comment on that too. This was a great answer!

Ok, standing it is. I thought being seated may have some benefits, but it doesn't seem to have many. I appreciate the feedback.

[OT2000]

I prefer seated shoulder presses and then standing Arnold presses. I alternate between Dumbbells and barbells due to my right overpowering my left. This was I can be sure my left shoulder is equally worked.

[nikonD70s]

dumbells = seated
military press with barbell = standing

tho when doing seated, make sure u sit on the seats that supports ur back so u sit up straight

[doughnut91]

Your ideas are pretty warped.

When you do seated exercises, you're training your upper body to handle weights and resistances that if you ever came up against in real life, your lower body would not be able to support.

So even if you train legs, your lower body still somehow is way out of balance and won't cope?

Even if training primarily for aesthetics, part of your body will end up looking out of proportion to the rest of your body. (I looked up the Dumbbell Shoulder Press video on this website and the guy does it seated - he looks ridiculous (not in the good way) - his legs are skinny as **** compared to his upper body.

I'm not sure how you've made the link between someone having large shoulders from seated press and the same person having small legs, just because he doesn't train them. You think a standing press will give him huge thighs?

[HealthNut12]

dumbells = seated
military press with barbell = standing

tho when doing seated, make sure u sit on the seats that supports ur back so u sit up straight

Yes, my gym has a station where you can sit and do presses. Not the machine, but a straight back seat with a rack above it. It looks very similar to this:



I'm curious, what other exercises are done on a set up like this other than presses??

[tastan]

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Ab...ity_on.10.aspx

In conclusion, the exercise with the greatest stability requirement (standing and dumbbells) demonstrated the highest neuromuscular activity of the deltoid muscles, although this was the exercise with the lowest 1-RM strength.

I personally prefer to do dumbbell shoulder presses seated and barbell shoulder press standing.

[TLTrooper]

I prefer standing. I just have to make sure my posture is point at its most stable. Bring it up clean & press, then keep pressing.

[TLTrooper]

When you do seated exercises, you're training your upper body to handle weights and resistances that if you ever came up against in real life, your lower body will not be able to support. That is a recipe for injury and disaster.

I can agree with this. Got up to 75 lbs DB on seated, switched to standing bb ohp and essentially had to start over + realized I lagged in other areas. It work my back and arms and felt more involved versus just seated DB. It makes sense too, at-least IMO. Stabilizing and indirect muscle involvement.

[UTCasey]

I prefer standing. The challenge for some people with standing overhead press, especially with a straight barbell is that shoulder mobility becomes an issue, and in order to get the bar overhead, you can see gym goers go into full extension and place a lot of pressure on the lower back.

Which is one reason, at least at my gym, guys will have to wear a belt when overhead pressing with weights far less than what they use to squat. They can put 200-300+ pounds on their back for squats and not need a belt, but 100 pounds over head kills their lower back and they use a belt. And if they don't have a belt, they do shoulder presses seated and lean back against the back part of the seat to compensate for their shoulder mobility and save their lower back.

[danjeff]

Your ideas are pretty warped.
So even if you train legs, your lower body still somehow is way out of balance and won't cope?

Train your lower body to be a stabilizer to your upper body.

Sitting down while doing upper body movements won't engage all of the lower body stabilizing muscles.

Building your upper body muscles without training your lower body to support this growth in the specific ranges of motion in which you're training your upper body is going to lead to imbalances, and potential eventual injury.

Not involving your legs in your upper body workout will mean that your legs will not be fully capable of supporting your upper body in the ranges of motion that you've trained your upper body for.

I'm not sure how you've made the link between someone having large shoulders from seated press and the same person having small legs, just because he doesn't train them. You think a standing press will give him huge thighs?

That's a fair point in one way, but doing standing work instead of seated work (besides for the reason above) will at least train your legs isometrically. Engaging the muscles will lead to muscle growth. Not engaging them won't.

Train your upper body - and train your lower body to adequately and correctly support this growing upper body and its new movements. Sitting down won't do that.

[Pridehurtsform]

I was going o comment on that too. This was a great answer!

Ok, standing it is. I thought being seated may have some benefits, but it doesn't seem to have many. I appreciate the feedback.

whoa whoa. you're going to read a single input from a random internet user (no offense guy) with no credible background in the respected field, who just happens to have a witty comeback completely irrelevant to bodybuilding (not practical in the conventional sense) and conclude that there is no benefit to seated vs standing shoulder presses? seems like the underlying issue isn't with your lack of knowledge in bodybuilding, it's your willingness to accept, or in this case interpret, misinformation.

to answer your question they are different exercises, which subject your body to different stimuli and as a result with cause your body to respond in different ways.

[zezi25]

whoa whoa. you're going to read a single input from a random internet user (no offense guy) with no credible background in the respected field, who just happens to have a witty comeback completely irrelevant to bodybuilding (not practical in the conventional sense) and conclude that there is no benefit to seated vs standing shoulder presses? seems like the underlying issue isn't with your lack of knowledge in bodybuilding, it's your willingness to accept, or in this case interpret, misinformation.

to answer your question they are different exercises, which subject your body to different stimuli and as a result with cause your body to respond in different ways.

It was a semi-srs joke lol, as standing exercises usually offer a better stimulus, and a better carryover to other activities than their seated versions.

OP, just try both and see what you can progress better over time, and then just change things up from time to time (seated/standing bb/db)

[Pridehurtsform]

It was a semi-srs joke lol, as standing exercises usually offer a better stimulus, and a better carryover to other activities than their seated versions.

OP, just try both and see what you can progress better over time, and then just change things up from time to time (seated/standing bb/db)

I know man, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful. I figured it was half a joke which is why I said "your willingness to accept, or in this case interpret, misinformation. "

just funny how they interpreted what you said as " I thought being seated may have some benefits, but it doesn't seem to have many"

[HealthNut12]

I know man, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful. I figured it was half a joke which is why I said "your willingness to accept, or in this case interpret, misinformation. "

just funny how they interpreted what you said as " I thought being seated may have some benefits, but it doesn't seem to have many"

My comment on the bear comment was about the wittiness...not the helpfulness. I mean, I'm not sure what fighting a bear has to do with how people press. As for the other comment about seated not having as many benifits, this was because I was specifically talking of the barbell press, not the dumbell press. I think there is a time and place for almost all moves but the overwealming majority prefer to barbell press standing. Of course, if the rack is being taken that doesn't mean I'm just going to skip them, I'll do them at the seated station.

I was going to say something about not feeling defensive....but that would be a lie. However, I did want to clariy things a bit.

[Mrpb]

I do seated dumbbell press once a week and standing dumbbell press once a week.

Interesting article imo:
"Best shoulder-press: standing and with dumbbells"
http://www.ergo-log.com/best-shoulde...dumbbells.html

[Pridehurtsform]

My comment on the bear comment was about the wittiness...not the helpfulness. I mean, I'm not sure what fighting a bear has to do with how people press. As for the other comment about seated not having as many benifits, this was because I was specifically talking of the barbell press, not the dumbell press. I think there is a time and place for almost all moves but the overwealming majority prefer to barbell press standing. Of course, if the rack is being taken that doesn't mean I'm just going to skip them, I'll do them at the seated station.

I was going to say something about not feeling defensive....but that would be a lie. However, I did want to clariy things a bit.

the interwebs is one of those places where the subtleties of socialization are lost, so it would probably make things easier if I were to clarify each statement with a, no offense, so you'd feel no need to be defensive. i'm not gonna not nit pick this anymore, I said what I thought you needed to hear. instead i'll say that I saw your gallery photo and would like to congratulate you on your decision to pursue a more healthy lifestyle. you've made tremendous progress which you should be proud of. I wish you continued success in all your fitness goals.

[HealthNut12]

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Ab...ity_on.10.aspx

In conclusion, the exercise with the greatest stability requirement (standing and dumbbells) demonstrated the highest neuromuscular activity of the deltoid muscles, although this was the exercise with the lowest 1-RM strength.

I personally prefer to do dumbbell shoulder presses seated and barbell shoulder press standing.

I do seated dumbbell press once a week and standing dumbbell press once a week.

Interesting article imo:
"Best shoulder-press: standing and with dumbbells"
http://www.ergo-log.com/best-shoulde...dumbbells.html

Interesting articles. Both of of these articles are the same study done with 15 young men. The standing dumbbell press created more muscle activity. I only have barbell presses in my current program, I look forward to the dumbbell version in the future. I've done them in the past seated. I like mixing things up so I look foward to that.

[TJP33]

This thread is a little out there.. I could go either way on this and my choice would come down to individuals goals and how it fits with rest of training.
Danjeff is trolling, a BS artist, or someone who is narrow minded enough to think what's best for him is best for all.

[ZoranM]

What a load of unnecessary crap.

You care more about building muscle, seat.
You wanna train your ''strength'', stand.

There.

[Pridehurtsform]

What a load of unnecessary crap.

You care more about building muscle, seat.
You wanna train your ''strength'', stand.

There.

yeah cuz there's no correlation between muscle and strength

the only thing your post managed to prove was that the relationship between rep power and knowledge is ambiguous at best

[ZoranM]

yeah cuz there's no correlation between muscle and strength

how the hell did you get 60k rep power lol

The words 'more' and "strength" should have prevented the mentioning of a correlation you spoke of. The word is "Duh".
But I dare not further argue with you.
You're a personal trainer, have titles and a six pack. Sorry mate, eight. My rep power is probably an accident, misc, or a combo of the two. What do you charge per hour?

[Pridehurtsform]

The words 'more' and "strength" should have prevented the mentioning of a correlation you spoke of. The word is "Duh".
But I dare not further argue with you.
You're a personal trainer, have titles and a six pack. Sorry mate, eight. My rep power is probably an accident, misc, or a combo of the two. What do you charge per hour?

it took me a total of 36 hours to get my cert. it took me 4 years to get my degree. and still I don't get your point. more strength than muscle? you realize that strength, as it's discussed in bodybuilding, is a product of type 2b "muscle" fibers. you can't increase your strength without increasing your muscle (except through the conversion of type 2a to type 2b which is another topic completely) and the opposite is also true. so what is your point again?

[ZoranM]

Oh dear.

Never mind.

[PerthShane]

The thing about aesthetics and sculpting particular muscles is that it really only becomes a thing when you're actually at a competition-level physique. And the reality is, there's probably only 1 in 10,000 people in the gym who are training for competition. Even on here, there's what, maybe one in 500 contributors who are competitive bodybuilders? Here's my advice for someone who's a beginner/novice lifter wanting advice on shoulders:

If you can overhead press 225, you're going to have big shoulders.

Yes, yes, I know some of you can do more than that, but again, it's advice for novices. It's the same advice I give for most body parts:
If you can squat 300 lbs, you're going to have big legs

If you can deadlift 350 lbs, you're going to have a big back.

If you can bench 250 lbs, you're going to have a big chest. The "how big" question is just down to your diet. Keep it simple, then fill in the blanks as you go and find the little niches that work for you. But I think the goal for most people should be to get the main lifts up to a certain weight and supplement everything else around it. So, if you do seated presses, it should be a supplement exercise that you're using to reach your real goal of a standing overhead press at a certain weight.