Last Update On January 1, 2012
Seated Military Press And Lower Back Pain
by Vladi
The seated military press has to be the most popular pressing lift you see in the gym after the bench press. However quite often this particular movement will cause a lot of lower back pain problems. The number one reason why you experience lower back pain during seated military presses is the fact that your glutes are in stretched position and cannot contract in order to protect the lower back. Couple that with some back arching which almost turns the exercise into an incline and you have lower back pain or even injury.
How to fix it?
First get your ass off the bench and start performing the exercise from a standing position while squeezing your glutes, quadriceps and abdominals in order to stabilize your spine. Also hold your breath during the the lift. This will make you a lot tighter. You can breath slightly in case you have problems with blood pressure or something. Also avoid excessive lean-back. Follow those rules and your back will be protected a lot more.
"Hmmm...bro...but I like using dumbbells. How the hell am I supposed to get them into position if I'm standing ?"
Honestly there is only one way to get heavy dumbbells in position for standing military press - clean them up. However you may have to use only one dumbbell at a time because cleaning two heavy dumbbells at once will make it extremely hard to get in position for the start of the lift.
The best thing in my opinion is to use the barbell for your shoulder press if you want to go heavy and then perform lighter seated dumbbell presses - the best of both worlds.
Good luck. Have fun.
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