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Barbell Behind the head barbell press

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watchnerd said:
I do snatch grip BTN / Klokov presses specifically to strengthen my lockout for barbell snatches and overhead squats, which they're great for.

That being said, if I wasn't training the barbell snatch, I wouldn't prioritize them over other presses and I doubt I'd recommend them to the general populace.

(Given how many people have bad scapular mechanics, I think unilateral presses are a better risk/reward for the general populace).
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Agree with this. I also do snatch grip presses behind my head to strengthen my snatch overhead position. Beyond that I don't really see a reason for them.
 
Brett Jones said:
To Steve F's point - what ends up in the curriculum is selective.
The two presses of the SFL - MP and Bench are foundational presses and would (in my mind) be prerequisites to something like a behind the neck press.

To your point Peter L - your shoulders hate upright rows and other peoples shoulders hate behind the neck presses so just because a T-Nation article highlights an exercise doesn't mean it should have been or will be adopted within the curriculum.
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Peter - Just like the SFGI curriculum, the SFL goes an inch wide and a mile deep. The 7 exercises we chose for the SFL are what we felt would deliver the biggest bang for the students buck. Meaning they will get plenty strong and healthy performing these exercises.

As a physician, I can tell you that there are about >5% of the population where I would give them my blessing to be able to do behind the neck press properly and in a healthy way.
 
PeterLuffman said:
Yes if its that good, and better than the MP as Thib suggests, then I'm sure Pavel would have put in the SFL.

For the record, I've never heard anyone say its that great of a lift, in fact I've only ever heard negativity in regards to this lift.

I respect Christians opinion though, he has experience and knowledge. Could he be over selling it? Perhaps.

Anyway, I will experiment with the lift myself and see what I think. Its good to hear some love for this one in here! Thanks to everyone who chimed in.
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I think the reason this lift is so harshly criticized in our times is because of the poor movement capabilities of the modern day population. Slouched postures, too much benching, texting, working in office etc. The lift in itself can't really be called the culprit, but the lack of abilities to due it safely may say something about a lifter's limitation. I've had a torn labrum/pec and tendinosis of the infraspinatus and never had issues with it. Many Oly Lifters,, used it for mobility or, in Klokov's case, to rehab a shoulder injury. Bodybuilder's have used it for shoulder development and many powerlifters have used it up their bench strength, and possibly to develop better shoulder mobility for a better bar position in the squat, as mentioned by Pavel in Beyond Bodybuilding. Pavel also notes it as one of the primary movements of the Russian Powerlifting club and it is mentioned as an assistance lift option for the Press in "The Power to the People: Pro edition". Many strong lifters and bodybuilders have espoused it's use or have lifted monstrous amounts in the lift with no problem including the following:

Reg Park, John Grimek, Steve Reeves, Vince Gironda, Joseph Hise, Peary Rader, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Serge Nubret, Franco Columbo, Dave Draper, Bill Pearl, Chuck Sipes, David Paul (barbarian Brothers), Marvin Eder, Paul Anderson, Bill Starr, Yuri Vlasov, anatoly zhitetsky, Naim Suleymanoglu (jerk style), Dimitry Klokov, Donny Shankle, Ted Ardici, Pat Casey, Ed Coan, Steve Marjanian, Ronal Walker (oldtime) Bill Kazmaier, Ken Pantera (also weightlifter), Mark Felix, Mark Henry,

Coaches who advocate it's use: Pavel (referenced in BB, PTTP Pro and in previous forum posts), Charles A. Smith, Charles Poliquin, Christian Thibideau, Paul Carter.

As to address the original question as to why it's not included in the SFL, not to speak for Pavel but here are my guesses.
1)It's not exactly a foundational movement
2)For many the risk is not worth the reward.

While there are several other "key" or "assistance" movements not included, i.e. The Power Cleans/Box Squats/Romanian Deadlift/Olympic Squat vs Low Bar Power Squat, there are probably a few reasons for this. In a 3 day seminar, it is probably best to focus on a few key movements and their direct variations rather than several. Alas, I digress. I believe the BTN Press is a great variation if

1) You have a good reason to use it.
2) It causes you no issues

No exercise is irreplaceable or modifiable unless you compete in a sport which requires them. Just my incredibly lengthy and overanalytical thoughts.
 
I really like @Steve Freides summation above. I recently experimented with some behind the neck pressing. I recently read the book "The System" and within in the authors stated they used "Javorek Complex 1" at the beginning of an offseason and had targets for athletes to hit before moving to other lifts. For my size, they recommended completing it with 50% BW, or 75lbs in my case. The complex is:

Upright row x6
high pull x6
back squat - Push press x 6 (back squat down, go directly into BTN push press, then repeat x6; NOT back squat x 6, BTN push press x6)
RDL x6
bent over row x6

I had never done the upright row and ended up omitting it after 3 sessions as it really bothered my shoulder (R especially) once the weight got to 60lbs.

As far as the behind-the-neck portion goes, I found that my "groove" was easy to get on the way up and I actually kind of enjoyed it more than I thought. That being said, I don't think it's something I want to do all the time, as I found it very hard to do the eccentric portion safely. There was a few times I pulled it down too close and either hit the back of my head, or was too close for my liking to the C6/7 bump. Could not comfortably get it back to the correct back squat position lower down. It was an interesting experiment however.
 
@wespom9, I'd just do the BTN press with a light enough weight that you _can_ control it and take your time about increasing from there.

-S-
 
Agreed Steve, it's just something I need to practice if I want to be more regular with it. Remains to be seen if that is my plan!
 
When I started to learn snatch I wanted to combine it to overhead squat and instictively started to press behind the head.

Because it felt great for mobility improvement, trapezius, deltoids etc. It feels like a good counter excercise to bench press too, though I'll have to continue chin ups in the future.

I do a warm up sequence (high pull, snatch, overhead sq, bnp, sometimes shoulder press(?); all with snatch grip), which has now transformed into three rounds with bar and then rounds of singles with relatively high weight. Yesterday was pr for snatch, oh squat, 45kg. High pull also, but I don't know what is the correct technique. I just pull.

The point is that behind the head press usually feels a lot better than from the front. And I think it's a great excercise if it's needed. Maybe I snatch because I want to develop upper back, traps, etc. To develop a foundation to bench from. OK, I started it to increase overall mobility.

Maybe some incline bench to address shoulders.
 
I read a similar article, and decided to try it out. In my personal experience, I will never do it again. I have a loose shoulder from a previous dislocation, and it came out of it's socket when attempting this press.

I have read that some people have a different bone structure in the shoulder girdle that allow them to do this pressing movement, but it is risky for most people.

Just food for thought.
 
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