I find that when I'm doing my shoulder presses that by back isn't a perfect 90 degrees with the seat, as I'm inclined to believe that it is. I would say I am about 75-80 degrees vertical, which leaves a gap between my lower back and the backrest. I find that when I try to keep perfect 90 degrees, I have difficulty lifting because I feel like I'm going to fold forward. It's a little hard to describe, but I feel I'm in a very weak position like that.

I do BB shoulder press in front, and with DB press I half-rotate inwards at the bottom.

So am I doing this improperly? Should I be a rail-straight 90 degrees when I do this? I know if you shift too far backwards, the weight shifts to the top of the pecs, however I don't think I'm that far back. I haven't seen anyone else doing DB press in the gym with a weight that would cause them any difficulty, so I'd just like to hear your input. Thanks

I lean back slightly, otherwise, I find it hard to maintain a stable base. I have to arch my back which increases risk for injury -- so I do lean back, but only slightly. I move the bench one setting below 90 degrees and that is usually adequate. I get the shoulders very well, and don't bring pecs into it at all.

So, a slight angle should be perfectly fine.

Yes i think with shoulder press at front you have to lean back slightly, thats ok though as your shoulders are doing most of the work.
I prefer to do behind the head BB press as i get enough front delt work from chest day on the incline.

I recall from before that there was a certain strain applied to the shoulders when doing BB behind the head that increased the risk of longterm injury. Anyone remember what that fact/myth is?

A good description is that I arch my back too when I do this. Lets say my shoulders are right on the pad, my lower back is about 2-2.5 inches away from the pad. Sometimes I feel a bit of strain there, near the top portion of my lower back. Would this be indicative of bad form? I can try to pull it in a bit more next time and see how that works.

Did BB shoulder presses tonight with out back support and I'm wondering if I should incorporate my bench into doing these(Bodysolid71). If so, is 90 degrees the way to go or one notch down...I do feel my lower back arching which probably is not good.

I recall from before that there was a certain strain applied to the shoulders when doing BB behind the head that increased the risk of longterm injury. Anyone remember what that fact/myth is?

A good description is that I arch my back too when I do this. Lets say my shoulders are right on the pad, my lower back is about 2-2.5 inches away from the pad. Sometimes I feel a bit of strain there, near the top portion of my lower back. Would this be indicative of bad form? I can try to pull it in a bit more next time and see how that works.

Depends on armlength i think, when going heavy i find it better to not come too far down, just behind my head.
coming down too far if its uncomfortable can injur your rotator cuff.

Did BB shoulder presses tonight with out back support and I'm wondering if I should incorporate my bench into doing these(Bodysolid71). If so, is 90 degrees the way to go or one notch down...I do feel my lower back arching which probably is not good.

Doing behind head presses tend to hit all three heads of the shoulder but you will still hit your shoulders good with the bench 1 notch back from 90 deg, there just wont be any rear delt involvement, but that can be hit with other exercises.

When pressing to the front with a barbell you need to be able to tilt your head back or incline your torso slightly in order to keep from scraping your face with the barbell.

During a dumbbell press you should not have the same problem. That said, a slight deviation from 90 degrees on the bench is just fine and will still target your shoulders very nicely.

When I was younger I performed the behind the neck press and liked it very much. I did not feel any shoulder discomfort from it and used a full ROM. Years later after I injured my left shoulder I find that I cannot do the movement without aggravating my old injury greatly. Now, did those years of BTN presses leave me prone to injury? I am not sure, but based upon the fact other shoulders presses are just as good at building the shoulders I would recommend you avoid the movement.

Is it Ok to do front BB presses without the bench for back support, just sitting on it, or am I risking lower back injury. It simply feels better to me without the bench.

I do them standing, more of the compound effect.

For DB presses I like doing em seated on a flat bench with no back support. Spread your feet wide for good balance and you will naturally tilt forward just a bit, allowing you to get a full range of motion and bring your elbows back behind your head, simulating the behind neck barbell press, but without the risk. You'll hit all 3 heads of the deltoid with this method. I also from time to time, do my seated laterals first before the DB press.

I wouldn't worry about not being at exactly 90 degrees-it's not really possible because your spine isn't built in a straight line. You will arch even more using a barbell when pressing in front of your face for the reason that Chris Mason mentioned-you'll smack your nose otherwise which I have done on several occasions.

As far as behind the neck presses, it seems that if you're tall they can lead to impingement but for shorter guys I've talked to they don't feel any twinge at all. Same applies to behind the neck pulldowns. I did both of these when I was 16-20 but now at age 29 I feel like someone's jamming a needle into the back of my shoulder if I do either of them. Same also with heavy upright rows and barbell front raises. These are exercises which seem to all cause problems for taller ectomorphs but are fine for shorter guys or meso's/endo's. I believe it has to do with the ratio of the width of the shoulder girdle to the length of the arm bones. If I want to stop and 90 degrees on a barbell press I'm not even bringing the weight below forehead level but for a shorter guy it's coming down to chin level or below.

The safest overhead movements are with dumbells-specifically the arnold press where you bring the weight down with your palms facing in and rotate out during the press-I've never experienced pain with that movement. You also have more control over the weight with dumbells-sometimes when doing barbell presses people have complained about the angle of the force being applied to the shoulder near the top generating some shearing forces. Mike Mahler talks about this in the interview Jeremy did with him-I would listen to it because Mike has a different perspective on working out since he's a kettlebell guy and doesn't use dumbells or barbells anymore, but he's got an awesome physique. (and he's vegan)

Mike Mahler interview with Jeremy Likness (http://www.become-your-best.com/2005/2/#recent)

In the interview he mentions that kettlebells are safer for the shoulder because you have more control of the plane of motion and the shoulder isn't compromised as it can be when using a barbell. Using kettlebells you are definitely standing up so you also have to stabilize your deep abdominal muscles when pressing and lowering the weight.

By the way on the same page or perhaps in the March section you should find Jeremy's interview with John Stone-it's really good and I would highly recommend giving it a listen. The flash audio technology on the site is really cool too.