Wife got me a bench and 300lb weight set for our Aniversary. Yeah I know...my wife is pretty cool. I've really been trying hard these last few months to eat right, lift and get some cardio in. I feel great, strength is increasing, not so tired all the time, clothes are fitting less snug. Not too much change in the mirror, but that'll come.

I quickly out grew the Hoist V3 machine we had, I was wanting more in other words. I wanted to throw around some iron! She knew it and she got it for me. So this weekend I did some real weight lifting; squats, deadlifts, bench press. Oh god did I hurt this morning...well even now. My legs are destroyed, my butt hurts, my chest...the machine was lacking, big time. I LOVE IT!

Anyway to my quick question. I was shifting over to the popular 5x5 routine, specifically the one on bodybuilding.com. But I have overhead clearance issues in my basement weight room. Can you do the overhead press while sitting on the bench?

Sorry for the long windedness, but I'm so pumped right now I had to get it all out.

Arlen

Yeah, most people do it seated. I have the same issue when I work out in my basement at home (which isn't usually, but I used to most of the time). I prefer standing.

Yes you can do military presses while seated. I prefer them that way and don't have clearance issues. I feel that seated makes you use better form.

Can you do the overhead press while sitting on the bench?

Yeah. You can also do them on your knees. It's an interesting clean if you are getting a bit up in load.

Hi
this is quoting Heavymetal from a question i asked recently--

"Also the Military Press....when performed without any back support whatsoever. Some people do them seated with the back of the bench almost almost vertical. This is not as effective as doing them seated but with no back support.....and doing them standing is yet more effective overall...IF, that's IF you can get the correct spinal posture nailed down to a science. This is the tricky part...you don't want a big "wow' in your back while doing them...on the other hand you might find you'll have to drop the weight a bit in order to sustain the correct posture.


The Standing Mil Press with a BB works the entire high upper back area while simultaneously working Delts and Triceps.

A Seated Mil Press with no back support does it too, but not as good.

And a Seated Mil Press with vertical back support is the lesser of all three."

:tu:

I will say one more thing here...

If you are doing Seated Military Presses with back support and the seat near vertical on a Smith, you will find that you can get way more weight up when doing the Mil Press or a partial Mil press, where the bar is racked at full extension and you are only coming down 3 or 4 inches.

But this doesn't mean you are getting better upper-back work.

The focus tends to shift to Medial delts and Triceps.

Although lesser weight, the unsupported move with a freebar or Db's is much better for overall development.

So the Smith "supported" move might be good every once in awhile for variety but I'd go with unsupported freebar or Db's as a mainstay.

I will say one more thing here...

If you are doing Seated Military Presses with back support and the seat near vertical on a Smith, you will find that you can get way more weight up when doing the Mil Press or a partial Mil press, where the bar is racked at full extension and you are only coming down 3 or 4 inches.

But this doesn't mean you are getting better upper-back work.

The focus tends to shift to Medial delts and Triceps.

Although lesser weight, the unsupported move with a freebar or Db's is much better for overall development.

So the Smith "supported" move might be good every once in awhile for variety but I'd go with unsupported freebar or Db's as a mainstay.

At work, our military press machine has back support and I hate it. I can push more weight, but like Heavy Metal said, the focus shifts, plus I think you get a tiny, tiny bit of leverage out of the back rest. I have been turning around so I am facing the back rest. Sure, it looks like I'm making out with the machine, but it works for me. :bb: