This is the argument (not a literal argument of course) I have with that. BB bench press and overhead pressing are two different motions mechanically speaking. This is my thinking with this scenario. Overhead pressing be it with a DB or BB could cause an a subluxation (instability) on a coronal plane (arms down at the side) if you come down to your upper chest on an overhead press, your elbows are forced to drop below that plane to an unnatural position causing the injury. Bench press on the other hand is a simple saggital movement and the joint go down as low as your chest in that position.
Injury causes....
1. Overuse
2. Overuse with heavy loads
3. Doing the movement incorrectly with a heavy load
4....and the most important one, not doing any stabilizer (rotator cuff and general lack of overall girdle work) work making the joint vulnerable to handling heavier load in a pressing movement.
Long story short, thats why I don't go much below parallel on a pressing movement and rarely if at all us a machine or straight bar and I avoid ANY pressing or pulldown behind the neck. (to avoid excessive external rotation with a load.) Thats just a few reasons why I tend to do things a bit differently and the difference between benching and pressing. Make sense?
makes sense...
yrs and lbs/size ago i used to bench to chest,,, then after wrking in a gym,,, went to the dont break parallel..
with the increase of chest size ovr years being parallel,, the dist from chest to bar became shorter n shorter till finally the strectch wasnt as much so recently started bringing bar to chest and the distance closed so much & with the recent gains of bar touching chest now, im finally at parallel with my arms almost right with the floor.
of course this only works if u bench correctly, ie scap retracted,, blades pulled back n chest out etc...
i dont go all the way down on militairies,, once and a while throw in a full range but for the most part same as coach. i like elbows pulled in a lil too.
besides,,, if u do power clean n press with ur training,, u get that lower part anyways.
coach,,,
do u always use a steep incline (but not 90%,, think its like 7 or 8 on some benches) when shoulder pressing? its hard to clear the face anyways... i do them sittin on bench sometimes with no backsupport up, just sitting (old time style),gota keep that back tight whole way thru... any thoughts?
one more thing,,, when u military, since its a press move, do you recommend getting in the same ready position as a bench,, ie scap pulled back n tight while chest up? think i know the answer but always good to reinforce and for others that may not know.?
