The most complete upper body single exercise

[bblazer]

Great post/reprint!

Thanks!

B-

 

[bblazer]

Best upper body pressing lifts. In this order. I dare you to disagree......

1. Standing Barbell OHP
2. Dips
3. Barbell Bench Press/Barbell Incline Press tie

Flat bench has cause more shoulder injuries than any other lift ever.

Yup. No argument here.

Nelson Montana has a dip routine in his eBook that would kick the crap out of most gym rats. Maybe if we speak nicely to him he could post it.

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[lockdownd7]

What about potential for injuries?

I'd give first place to overhead press, 2nd: Bent over row and consider the safest of the 3 to be bench press.

Disagree completely, UNLESS you're referring to injuries due to technical errors. Bench is the easiest to not screw up on, but assuming all three done with perfect form, I'd reverse your order.

 

[bblazer]

Disagree completely, UNLESS you're referring to injuries due to technical errors. Bench is the easiest to not screw up on, but assuming all three done with perfect form, I'd reverse your order.

Agreed.

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[FunFun]

In a lot of ways I agree. Especially with the mass gains from the bent over rows. But the title is the most complete upper body single exercise. And in this case complete means the complete upper body.

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There isn't a complete upper body exercise. We're only considering degrees of "incompleteness" by singling out one.

Any single exercise done to exclusion of work on opposing muscle groups will lead to serious strength inbalances. If you had to do just one, the bent over row would at least strengthen the core muscles more than the other 2. Sure, the over head press stresses the lower and middle back, but in a compressive way which would weaken it more than strengthen it if other exercises weren't included.

 

[FunFun]

UNLESS you're referring to injuries due to technical errors.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. The exercises easiest to screw up on are more likely to cause injury to the vast majority of lifters. BB bent over rows and overhead presses are pretty commonly screwed up in very damaging ways. A lower back injury is probably not far off when these are done badly, and a low back injury is one of the worst any lifter could wish for.

 

[[CinnamonBuns]]

i tend to think that one only reaps the *full* benifits of overhead pressing, if theyre bench pressing to complement it.

if i had to pick one, i would bench press
(im not counting deadlift as an upper body movement because i consider it a total body movement, not "upper body")

 

[LucSulla]

Another St. Starr appearance

 

[gjohnson5]

Disagree completely, UNLESS you're referring to injuries due to technical errors. Bench is the easiest to not screw up on, but assuming all three done with perfect form, I'd reverse your order.

I find myself agreeing with funfun again.
1. Shoulder injuries can result from dropping the bar too high on the chest
2. shoulder injuries can result from the elbows not being tucked into the body (45 degrees) when lowering the bar

Due to orthopedic issues with the shoulder joint itself it may be that a person may need to adjust their form on one side or the other. The easy solution is just to use dumbells. As I've said before, inclining the body upwards seems to alleviate some of the rotators cuff tendons especially from number 1

It's an assumption to say that form is the reason why a person gets injuries from bench press

 

[lockdownd7]

That's exactly what I'm talking about. The exercises easiest to screw up on are more likely to cause injury to the vast majority of lifters. BB bent over rows and overhead presses are pretty commonly screwed up in very damaging ways. A lower back injury is probably not far off when these are done badly, and a low back injury is one of the worst any lifter could wish for.

The reason I don't like using that qualification is just because any exercise is dangerous with improper form. I get what you're saying, though, and I was just trying to make the point that bench can lead to shoulder dysfunction even when done with good form.

I find myself agreeing with funfun again.
1. Shoulder injuries can result from dropping the bar too high on the chest
2. shoulder injuries can result from the elbows not being tucked into the body (45 degrees) when lowering the bar

Due to orthopedic issues with the shoulder joint itself it may be that a person may need to adjust their form on one side or the other. The easy solution is just to use dumbells. As I've said before, inclining the body upwards seems to alleviate some of the rotators cuff tendons especially from number 1

It's an assumption to say that form is the reason why a person gets injuries from bench press

You misread my post. I said that bench is the easiest to not get injured on because of form.