Seated behind the neck presses feel great, why are they "bad for the shoulder"?

[purenaturalstrength]

seems like i can add this to the list of myths like "squats are bad for the knees" and "cardio kills gains"

[mantronik]

They are not a natural movement according to the guru's.
I say if you have enough flexibility to do them without pain, go ahead!!
It's a different story if you load up the bar and then drop the weight behind your neck and then have to contract again from almost no active tension to get the weight back up.
I like them too and never took them out despite all these stories.

[purenaturalstrength]

They are not a natural movement according to the guru's.
I say if you have enough flexibility to do them without pain, go ahead!!
It's a different story if you load up the bar and then drop the weight behind your neck and then have to contract again from almost no active tension to get the weight back up.
I like them too and never took them out despite all these stories.

ed coan did them and these russia weightlifting guys also do them even from completely on the traps

i never did them because of these stories


now i started doing them i feel i've been missing out

[mass243]

It's not "bad for your shoulders" if movement is controlled and your shoulders are healthy, have normal mobility.

I also love this exercise.
Just don't lower the bar under the ear level... though I have had no problems from going lower occasionally myself.

[BB]

Yeah, it's one of those things where you're either perfectly fine with them or they absolutely wreck you. I think it mainly has to do with grip and bar position. Too many guys get locked into "I must do it this way because XYZ says to do them this way". Just do an exercise  the way it feels the best and most natural to you.

The presses have been part of Olympic Lifting for years, if they were that bad for you, the hospitals would be flowing with half broken lifters.

[purenaturalstrength]

Yeah, it's one of those things where you're either perfectly fine with them or they absolutely wreck you. I think it mainly has to do with grip and bar position. Too many guys get locked into "I must do it this way because XYZ says to do them this way". Just do an exercise  the way it feels the best and most natural to you.

The presses have been part of Olympic Lifting for years, if they were that bad for you, the hospitals would be flowing with half broken lifters.

i use the same grip as bench press, so that when i'm at ear level my forearms are vertical

[mr.turbo]

pinches the rotator cuff try it for a while you'll see. 

enjoy the chronic impingement

[david94]

It depends of the mobility of your scapula. If your scapula is not very mobile (most of the time when you have narrow clavicles), don't lower the bar too much.

[purenaturalstrength]

It depends of the mobility of your scapula. If your scapula is not very mobile (most of the time when you have narrow clavicles), don't lower the bar too much.

how is it much different from military presses which are usually done to the clavicle

[Henda]

i always relied on front presses but after years still had very flat shoulders when viewed from the front
switching to behind the necks solved the problem very quickly, if you can handle them they are great

[purenaturalstrength]

i always relied on front presses but after years still had very flat shoulders when viewed from the front
switching to behind the necks solved the problem very quickly, if you can handle them they are great

sounds great i have very poor shoulders

[Henda]

while i wouldnt say mine are great now they are far more rounded when viewed from the front since making the change,before they were very very flat

[david94]

how is it much different from military presses which are usually done to the clavicle

Because people with larger clavicle have a better scapula mobility so they can go lower naturally. Most people want to do the movement completely as they learned in a book but some of them hurt their shoulder or have pain. It's also better to have short forearms as you have less amplitude with that.

You don't have this problem with the military press because your scapula moves less and you put less stress on your shoulder articulation.

So it's not an amplitude issue, it's mainly depends of your morphology for this type of exercise.

[#1 Klaus fan]

Since there are no magic exercises why take a risk? Just press in the front.

[hematocritter]

These feel good for me too for some reason.
I have only done them a few times and with fairly light weight because
of all the horror stories. Everyone's body is a little different, maybe I should
give them another chance since I didn't feel any issues with them at all.

[da_vinci]

Have been doing these for over 10years already (currently I rep with 225lb).. I'm flexible and I do extensive warm-ups before a workout so it's not just comfortable but a very good exercise. I hate smith machine presses. That thing feels way more unnatural for me personally.
 Oh, ALWAYS having a good spotter is a must imho (and tell him spot your elbows not the bar, it's a lot more comfortable feeling, at least for me).
 Tho' I know a lot of people who are unflexibe and can't go low (I prefer going as low as possible to get a good "stretch" at the negative phase).

[sky02316]

If they were more effective than in front then everyone would be doing them. They are not safe, but by all means go ahead and do them. If you mess up your shoulder you are done for.

With messed up shoulders you can't do any upper body work at all.  If you want to work traps why not just do shrugs 

[Metabolic]

relative weak position of the scapula over a heavy load

[Dokey111]

if you have a big cranium they are no good either

[Coach is Back!]

seems like i can add this to the list of myths like "squats are bad for the knees" and "cardio kills gains"

Not a myth and squats are usually bad for knees if you stay above parallel and cardio only "kills" gains for the "natural" bodybuilder.

[da_vinci]

If they were more effective than in front then everyone would be doing them. They are not safe, but by all means go ahead and do them. If you mess up your shoulder you are done for.

With messed up shoulders you can't do any upper body work at all.  If you want to work traps why not just do shrugs 

What if it feels really comfortable?
 Do an extensive warm-up (three rotations forward and three backwards is NOT a warm up lol..), have a good spotter, keep a perfect form and you won't get any injuries.

[dj181]

ask god

[Coach is Back!]

ed coan did them and these russia weightlifting guys also do them even from completely on the traps

i never did them because of these stories


now i started doing them i feel i've been missing out

They are getting preparing for a weightlifting event. The grip the lifter was using is whats called a "snatch" grip. He is only doing this in preparation before the actual "snatch" event. In order to do this he has to stay in a "snatch balance" to complete the lift.  

[purenaturalstrength]

whatever he is doing it is  a behind the neck press

[BiGHer]

Kevin liked them

Some people thought he had a good physique... lol