Hey everybody - I have a question, and of course my own opinion, but wanted your opinions on this:

Here is the situation:

At my gym I cannot find a comfortable set up for overhead barbell presses.

The angle on the Smith machine is very uncomfortable, I have tried facing in and facing out.

I have tried two different benches in the squat rack - the upright chair-type bench, and the incline bench set all of the way up, and also set one degree down.

The most comfortable way I have found is to do the presses standing - I sort of clean and press the first rep, then do my set.

In my thinking I am actually using more muscle this way because I am balancing, using my abdominals to stabilize and my whole body has to work. I am good on form - my reps are smooth and controlled.

Do you guys/gals think there is any reason not to do them this way? Should I continue to try and find a comfortbale way to do them seated?

Mamabear great to see you are working it out.
I am not a exspert but this is what I have noticed with myself and others. If you have a exercise that is dificult and you sure you have good form. This is probally because of a undeveloped muscle. IF it was me I would not be concered with weight but introducing this style of workout to my body. Dont worry about others in the gym. I use the incline and jack it all the way up or drop it one slot as you indicated. This is the trick do the motions involking the stretch. Really stretch when you get to the area of discomfort. Remember very light weight and slow none of that jerky stuff. Just take your time.
I hope this helps.

Have you asked someone to observe your posture and spinal alignment when on the overhead press? It may be that you are overarching your back which is causing the discomfort.
You may want to lighten the weight, and pay attention to your posture throughout the movement.
Hopefully this will help you, but if not, the overhead press that you have described is a great substitute.

Lift

Yeah, it isn't that my back is uncomfortable - it is just where the bar sits and how close/far it is from me to rack/re-rack and then still be able to clear the pins in the rack while performing the movement - does that make sense?
I asked my trainer yesterday and he said there is no problem with doing them standing.

good afternoon,

how bout setting the chair up where you're comfortable, THEN setting the pins accordingly?...

then start with just the bar... I had to do that with seated press, as I'm MUCH more comfortable with it standing...

what I found for Myself though is that standing I tend to use back and legs to 'bump' the weight when it gets heavy or I get tired, so I had to go to seated in order to perform it heavy and right...

"Yeah, it isn't that my back is uncomfortable - it is just where the bar sits and how close/far it is from me to rack/re-rack and then still be able to clear the pins in the rack while performing the movement - does that make sense?"

Yea I know what you mean. And I did find the Smith Machine uncomfortable at one stage. If you look at my latest video you can see a clip of me doing a shoulder press with a free bar. We have seats for this in a fixed upright position in the gym, but I find that I much prefer the seat notched back one step.
So, you can see in the video that I hold a slight arch in my back (which is terrible form) but it feels so uncomfortable otherwise.

I tend to avoid the Smith Machine, because when I unhook the bar, and begin the reps, I find that I end up pushing the seat back with every rep. (the seats sit on carpet so this can easily happen).

I have only ever done a standing press once, but I found it to be quite uncomfortable as well.

Have you got a seat or rack that enables you to free bar press?
Do you dumbbell press?

Yeah, I dumb bell press first, then barbell press. I am going with the standing for now, I like them and my strength/form isn't suffering.
The seat notched back one in the squat rack is one of the seated barbell variations I tried - problem is - I have to unrack, then try to push the seat back so the bar clears the pins - does that make sense? For some reason, I don't have this problem at home in my rack...different pins, maybe?

I may try setting it up with the pins on the outer posts, maybe that is my problem, i have been trying it with the pins on the inner posts, facing in...if I put the on the outer posts, I could probably get more under the bar...why didn't i think of that before? Odd.

Anyhow - this weekend I work shoulders with my trainer, so he will probably figure it out for me. Although, when I told him I was having some trouble transitioning from 20's to 25's for DB bicep curls, he came up with a totally hard (it sucks) variation that kills me with 15's. Maybe I shouldn't mention the BB presses....

hi,
i do my presses standing, and yes it does work more muscle, but not so much that it makes a difference, but it does require strong abbs to help stabalize your body.

otherwise im sorry i cant be much help, good luck with your training.:wave: