Overhead press mechanics

[coreJack]

Coach, a bit of background, then my questions, if you don't mind.

I started pressing several months ago. I would hear/feel clicking in my left shoulder, but I ignored it and kept increasing the weight since it didn't hurt too much. By the time I got to 45lbs (I started ~20lbs), my shoulder was in pain whenever I lifted my arm overhead. I'm assuming the clicking was from some tissue (rotator cuff tendons?) rubbing/snapping across some bone (acromion?), and that eventually the pressing caused some inflammation or tendonosis. So I laid off the press for a few months.

I've had a few minor injuries to the shoulder from sports, though nothing serious enough that I sought medical treatment. And swimming freestyle and backstroke is fine as long as I don't overdo it.

Anyway, as we all know, a few months is plenty long enough for the shoulder to heal as much as it's gonna heal, so I'd like to resume pressing, even if it means starting with a broomstick. OK, on to the questions.

1. In SS:BBT, on p.161, you talk about the traps starting as scapular retractors, and then becoming scapular elevators when the bar is overhead. After some experimentation today, what I'm finding is that if I 'lift' with the traps early in the movement, I can avoid shoulder clicking, but if I wait until the bar is well overhead for the traps to help with the upward lift, then I get the clicking. From an article you wrote about overhead pressing for Crossfit, I'm guessing that the early trap involvement is creating more room for the rotator cuff.

Is engaging them early going to cause other problems? Or am I misunderstanding your explanation, and the traps should help lift the weight early in the movement?


2. On p.154, you say that inflexible people may not be able to get their shoulders far enough 'forward and up' to get the bar onto the anterior delts. But you also talk about having a tight back in the starting position. I guess I've had it drilled into me by PTs that I should keep my shoulders 'down and back', and that's the position in which I can achieve back tightness. And you also mention not trying to force the elbows forward if doing so means allowing the scapulae to travel forward - this message about scap retraction is repeated on p.161.

But isn't the shoulder 'forward and up' position going to move the scapulae forward? I.e., is it really possible to have the shoulders 'forward and up' while simultaneously having the scapulae retracted and depressed?

Thanks for any clarification you can offer.

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. I think you will find that as your presses get heavier that it will become less likely that you will be able to shrug before you drive the elbows up. I used to hear this old cue from time to time but was never able to actually use it. It may help to initiate the movement if you think about doing this, but with a heavy weight it is not what actually happens. This is because if you actually shrugged your shoulders up before the elbow drive the distal humerus (elbows) would be driving up while the proximal humerus (shoulder at the glenoid) was anchored against a bone (scapula) that is hanging from a muscle (traps) in concentric contraction instead of isometric contraction, and a concentric contraction by definition can fail and elongate into eccentric contraction. In other words, if you shrug first your traps will "unshrug" when the weight is heavy enough, thus killing your upward drive. If it helps you stay tight, and staying tight keeps your shoulder in a better position so that it doesn't click, good -- use it. But just be aware that a video will probably show this to be a movement cue and not an anatomical occurrence.

2. You are right that the "scapulae retraction" shit on page 161 is poorly described, my apologies, and it will be clarified in the 3rd edition. The concept of scapular retraction is most associated with the bench press, and when on the bench the scapulas are retracted as completely as possible to get the chest up as high as possible. This degree of thoracic extension is not useful or even possible with the bar on the shoulders in the starting position of the press, so the scapulas are not as completely retracted as they are on the bench. It would be more proper to say that the chest is up, the elbows are slightly in front of the bar, and the upper back is tight. Part of this upper back tightness is traps, part is rhomboids and upper longissimus dorsi, and part is lats being used isometrically to reinforce the chest position. This produces a firm platform from which to press, but it is not complete scapular retraction.