Thread: Behind neck seated press on Smith machine...Yes or No?

Puts the shoulder girdle at risk for injury.

I'm not a fan of behind the neck pressing. I agree with the statement that shoulder injury is far more likely. Nothing wrong with pressing in front.

it's okay if you stop about the middle of your head, going any further compromises the shoulders, I don't do them.

Back in the early 80`s seated behind the neck pressing was a staple chest exercise for powerlifters. And was performed on a routine basis by yours truly, and my training partner. For the life of me, I could never figure out the the relationship between the two movements, but I believe it contributed to our BP gains. Many of the world class benchpressers of that day did the behind the neck pressing. So we pressed on and did this movement to the tune of my partner doing a double with 405, yes 405. My pr was a single with 385. We both maxed out on the BP, clean , and 'raw', which means no bench shirt, at 515. Long term I don`t think the movement should, or can be done on a regular basis

I include behind the head presses in my shoulder routine every 2nd or 3rd round. I stay at a light weight, slow tempo and don't go past the middle of my head.