Problems with military press

[The-Missing-Link]

Hi guys give me some advice on this please.
Whenever i do seated military press my lower back starts to hurt. So i decided to switch to standing military press. It is better but my lower back still feels a little bit unconfortable and i don't want to ruin my back. I flex my abs when performing the exercize. Maybe my lower back is too weak (I do hyperextensions). I used to do arnold press and i didn't have the same problem but i stopped doing them because i heard this exercize is dangerous for your shoulders. Advice would be appreciated.

 

[DIESEL]

are you using a bench that has back support for the seated military press?

 

[LaZaRuS]

Wear a lifting belt!

 

[The-Missing-Link]

Oh sorry but i confused the english terms. I meant dumbell press and not military press. Military press is with a barbell right? And yes i used a bench with a back support. Any advice?

 

[Drug_L0rd]

your either using weights that are too heavy for you to keep good form right now, or you never really practiced good form when you started out.

if you have just started working out and you are new to it, i recommend getting the form down first then try and go for the muscles or whatever the hell you want.

 

[The-Missing-Link]

Well i have been lifting for three years now. I don't know if it is my form but the guy i used to train with (he has been training for 12 years) said it was ok. Last time i used a weight i could a rep range of 6-10 with. Maybe i should try a lower weight next time.
Any other suggestions?

 

[DIESEL]

It would seem that your lower back might indeed be weak. It's kind of hard to diagnose the problem without actually seeing you perform the exercise.

Give the lifting belt suggestion a try and see what happens.

Perhaps you may want to add deadlifting and good mornings to your back routine to strengthen the lower back. That may also help too.

 

[strong like bull]

just fyi...

the lower back is my problem area. if ANY bodypart gets sore because of bad form or etc, its the lower back. ive found that warming up with 2-3 sets of 10 light good mornings, or even stiff legged deadlifts, decreases the chance of soreness/injury. regardless of whether its dead/bench/squat day, i stretch it out and get the blood flowing there. i also stretch it out in between heavy sets of squats and whatnot.

/addendum

it could very well be a case of you having a weak core. do heavy ab work, heavy back work (stiff legged deads, deads, GMs, etc) and just build up your core strength. thats what weight belts are for - adds stability and strength to your core. but, instead of using a piece of equipment to give you core strength, you can build it yourself and bring out the natural belt thats already there.

 

[Soshyopathe]

using a belt leaves you weak.......

 

[The-Missing-Link]

I have a problem with my spine (that is why i started training) so it's not a good idea for me to do deadlifts or goodmornings. Are there other ways to train your lower back? What about weighted hyperextensions? Anyone knows?

 

[The Great Juan]

Originally posted by The-Missing-Link
I have a problem with my spine (that is why i started training) so it's not a good idea for me to do deadlifts or goodmornings. Are there other ways to train your lower back? What about weighted hyperextensions? Anyone knows?

Until recently i'd had back pain for the last 7 years (since i was 15) and was supposed to see a chiropractor twice a month but couldn't afford it. My lower back would ache every day after i got home from school, playing sports, anything. Now after only 5 months of weightlifting, my back pain is completely gone. I believe the increased mass of my erector muscles (the 2 muscles running down each side of your spine) from doing deadlifts has given my spine the support it needed.

Now i'm not saying that your problem is the same as mine, if a medical professional has told you not to do them, that's fine. However, if some guy has just told you "oh you shouldn't do deadlifts, they're bad for your back." then ignore them.

Most people don't know anything about lifting, I've heard people say, after seeing someone doing deadlifts "that's not even a real exercise, you're just picking the weight up off the ground".

 

[strong like bull]

i agree with juan.

really, there isnt much difference between weighted hyperextensions and good mornings with an empty barbell. try a 10 rep set of WEIGHTLESS good mornings and stiff legged deadlifts - just use the barbell, which weighs about 40 lbs. use solid form, light weight and see how it feels.

stretch it out and if it doesnt cause pain, try another set or two. then when youre ready, add a bit of weight to it. even if its only 5 or 10 lbs at a time.. id hate to see your back stay weak "just because."

 

[Mr. Cadillac]

How is your ab strength? I too have back probs, but I noticed that once I started doing 100 crunches a day a lot of those problems disappeared...