Bench Press vs Shoulder Press

[soclydeza]

a recent post reminded me of an article i read a while back. the article basically said that even though most ppl use the benchpress as a benchmark for strength that overhead/shoulder pressing is the superior of the 2 and should be the center of focus for upper body strength, over bench pressing. any validity to this? what do you guys think?

[Off Road]

I agree. Very few things in life will have you lay down before you lift it

[kmagnuss]

Bench press comes in handy for me. I push heavy machines around, and I pushed two guys out in the pouring rain against their will a few days ago.

But I agree that shoulder press is more useful.

[Off Road]

Are you sure you used the bench muscles and not the shoulder press muscles? Usually when you push something away from you [when standing], you are using your shoulder pressing because of the forward lean that is required to keep yourself from falling backwards.

[soclydeza]

so i guess its safe to say that it would be more logical to do shoulder presses BEFORE chest work

[fpr]

actually, makes more sense not to do them on the same day at all.

[tom183]

so i guess its safe to say that it would be more logical to do shoulder presses BEFORE chest work

Depends on your goals. I'm with fpr though. Do them on separate days if possible.

[kmagnuss]

offroad...

You and your dang logic.

[soclydeza]

actually, makes more sense not to do them on the same day at all.

i was thinking the same thing. but im doing HCT-12 right now, which calls for doing both of them on the same day. would it be okay to move them to separate days?

im doing the 3 day, so its A B A one week, B A B the next and so on. would doing pressing movements every workout be too much?

[Off Road]

offroad...

You and your dang logic.

Haha...just trying to help

[Off Road]

i was thinking the same thing. but im doing HCT-12 right now, which calls for doing both of them on the same day. would it be okay to move them to separate days??

It's fine to do them on the same day. Lotsa people run a push/pull split with good results. Just prioritize the one that means the most to you.

[NickAus]

Inclines are good for upper body strength.

Bench will build more mass than OHP so keep that in mind, you should do both.

[DMedley]

I agree. Very few things in life will have you lay down before you lift it

I agree. I asked someone just the other day, how often do you lay under your car and try to push it straight up? Now I also wonder how many times in my life I have tried to push 200#'s directly over my head?

I use the bench as a strength marker because the weight makes me sound relatively strong versus my military press that makes me sound like my little sister.

[Travis Bell]

Actually when shoving someone you're using more triceps than shoulders.

Keep your arms straight and just move your shoulders and see how far you can shove someone.

It's actually the snap at the end when your arms are pulled straight that the power is transferred. We spend a lot of time in the gym working on this for lineman and linebackers.

[AEFreebies]

I agree. Very few things in life will have you lay down before you lift it

I lay down on a bed every night and lift something continuously, but on a serious note I also think Shoulder Press should be more focused on.