Neck pain from Military Press

BossArky

Sometimes after Military Pressing I end up with a niggly pain at the top of my back / mid neck. For the day or two afterwards my neck is sore and range of motion slightly limited. During these days it feels less painful if I keep my neck slightly bent forwards, and it can be sore to straighten the neck up totally.

Previously I would only get this if I did behind the neck pressing, so I don't try those anymore.

When Military Pressing I would usually do something like 5 sets of 5 on 40kg, standing, oly bar, heels together & probably super-sets with squats.

Does this sound like a particular form / rotator cuff / shoulder injury problem? I have incorporated face pulls, one arm rows, and pull ups into my routine for the past few months.

Just looking for ideas or if this sounds familiar to anyone?

I'm wondering if I should totally drop bench pressing and military pressing for a month or so and concentrate more on the rowing / pulling side of things to perhaps even things out.

Reyman

My own experience is that both bench press and shoulder presses can cause rotator cuff problems. Though this may not be your exact problem.

Have you tried strengthening your external rotators? There was a good post on this here a couple of weeks ago. I can dig it out for you if you can't find it

diegowhite

try: splitting your stance/ pulling your shoulders back and down before initiating the movement/ making sure your elbows are below your wrists/ checking that your back and neck and head are in proper allignment.
This may also help if none of the above do nothing to fix it: http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_training/shoulder_savers_part_i&cr=

amazingemmet

Chances are you are hyper extending the neck when you start pushing and then shrugging your shoulders at the top of the press. Try keeping your head looking straight forward and push the bar up and back and see if it imrpoves.

BossArky

Reyman wrote: »

Have you tried strengthening your external rotators? There was a good post on this here a couple of weeks ago. I can dig it out for you if you can't find it

Yes, I generally try to incorporate some external rotation work into my sessions every second day or so.

e.g. Standing with upper arms parallel to floor, lower arm hanging down with light dumbbell, and rotating forwards around stationary elbow until wrists are above elbow.

Can you dig me out a link to that thread, or what was the title? Haven't found it and wasn't online much a few weeks ago.

diegowhite wrote: »

try: splitting your stance/ pulling your shoulders back and down before initiating the movement/ making sure your elbows are below your wrists/ checking that your back and neck and head are in proper allignment.
This may also help if none of the above do nothing to fix it: http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_training/shoulder_savers_part_i&cr=

Thanks. I just read through that article and the 2nd one too. I remember reading it before, but good stuff in there.

amazingemmet wrote: »

Chances are you are hyper extending the neck when you start pushing and then shrugging your shoulders at the top of the press. Try keeping your head looking straight forward and push the bar up and back and see if it imrpoves.

Ok, maybe I should reduce the weight and concentrate on form a bit more. I thought I was doing them strictly. Maybe not.

This reminds me of the problems I had with overhead squats a few months back. Basically, whenever I pushed the bar too far back above my head on an overhead squat I started to get pins and needles/numbness in my right hand.

Thoraic spin extensions on a foam roller should help with this right?

Thanks for the info all.

Reyman

BossArky wrote: »

Yes, I generally try to incorporate some external rotation work into my sessions every second day or so.

e.g. Standing with upper arms parallel to floor, lower arm hanging down with light dumbbell, and rotating forwards around stationary elbow until wrists are above elbow.

Can you dig me out a link to that thread, or what was the title? Haven't found it and wasn't online much a few weeks ago.

This is Eric Cressey's article on making your external rotators solid enough to lift properly. You'll find your exercise there, but quite a bit more detail and good tips on why you need more strength in this area.

kevpants

Are you looking up when you press? I used to get a similar sounding stiff neck and it was pointed out to me that I was looking up at the bar when I was really struggling. Didn't even notice I was doing it. I make sure to look dead ahead now and it seems to have done the trick.

BossArky

Reyman wrote: »

This is Eric Cressey's article on making your external rotators solid enough to lift properly. You'll find your exercise there, but quite a bit more detail and good tips on why you need more strength in this area.

Tried out Eric Cressey's tips tonight for the first time, after squatting. These exercises felt great - stretching and massaging muscles when were badly in need of it. Thanks for the link.

kevpants wrote: »

Are you looking up when you press? I used to get a similar sounding stiff neck and it was pointed out to me that I was looking up at the bar when I was really struggling. Didn't even notice I was doing it. I make sure to look dead ahead now and it seems to have done the trick.

No, I don't think I'm looking up, but will bear it in mind next time.

d-gal

Could be somthing very simple but maybe just take away the military press and do somthing different like alternating db presses or seated smith machine press. At a guess i think you might be lifting too heavy and your technique might be suffering. If you think the bench press is causing you problems then try and do some negative reps, i find it works great for people with problems such as yours, just be patient on your lifts, usually cuff problems are from people not focusing on bith part of the lifts, hope that helps