What is the difference between overhead press and military press

You will often find most people comparing the seated overhead press vs seated military press. Fitness gurus acknowledge that there is no seated military press variation. However, there is a seated overhead press variation.

In this exercise, you will perform the overhead press while in a sitting position. Make sure that your back is pressed against something back to avoid arching it, resulting in back pain or problems. Similarly, remember to engage your core for an added core workout. Although these exercises have different forms, they do result in similar benefits. Some of these include:. These two exercises involve lifting weights. According to Medicine Net, you build muscular strength by lifting heavy loads 7.

Since these two exercises use weights, you get to increase your upper body strength. However, you must be careful and remember to gradually increase resistance as advised by your trainer for strength development 7. The military and overhead press exercises both target your triceps. It makes them effective tricep exercises to do if you want to get stronger and bigger triceps. WebMD states that you must consider balance while working out the shoulder muscles, which means that shoulder exercises should be done evenly 5.

Balancing the workout in both shoulder joints is crucial as it helps prevent straining one joint and improving shoulder balance 5. These are two common similarities in the health benefits of doing the military and overhead press. Besides these gains, the two exercises also help you reap the following individual gains. As mentioned earlier, the overhead press also targets your trapezius or upper back muscles.

It can, therefore, help you tone this area by getting rid of upper back fat. Performing the standing overhead press actively engages your core muscles. It works out your obliques and transverse abdominal muscles. Giving these muscles a workout helps increase your core strength. The other added benefit of doing the military press exercise includes:. The military press exercise also targets your core and leg muscles.

Strong leg muscles are crucial for movement and stability. Our app will help you restructure your habits, remold your life and crank up your fitness results! Doing the military press exercise can also result in various health problems. Numerous things can go wrong when you are doing the military press. This is the primary aspect that most people forget, and it costs them shoulder pain from poor alignment.

WebMD limits the performance of this exercise to individuals with strong, flexible, and mobile shoulder joints 3. Many people do not have flexible shoulder joints, so they have an increased risk of shoulder pain when performing this exercise.

Similarly, other individuals might perform the military press with tight shoulder joints, increasing their risk of shoulder pain. Shoulder pain caused when performing this exercise may result from a tendon tear or impingement. A shoulder tendon tear results when the shoulder tendons split or tear, resulting in partial or complete detachment of the tendon from the bone 9. On the other hand, shoulder impingement refers to when the top of your shoulder blade rubs on the rotator cuff tendons whenever you lift your arm 9.

Make sure you get treatment for shoulder impingement and tendon tears to avoid further complications. You can also walk away with an upper-body injury when doing a military press. This is irregardless of whether you are using comfortable weights or not.

Experts state that the exercise requires shoulder strength, mobility, and stabilization, which most people lack 1. As a result, they usually miss the correct technique and mess up the proper form, which results in upper-body injury 1.

Instead of doing the behind-the-head military press, trainers recommend doing the Arnold press 1. According to them, this exercise recommends using a dumbbell, which helps target each arm and shoulder joint without excessively straining your shoulder joints like a barbell would 1. Like with the military press, doing the overhead press may also result in various risks.

Some people believe the risks of doing the overhead press are less fatal. It can be done both in the standing as well as sitting positions with both variations toning the shoulder muscles to a great extent. Military press is also known for building muscles at the back.

When done with a barbell in a standing position, one has to keep the barbell on his shoulders with both heels touching. Thereafter, one has to raise the barbell above his shoulders and press them straight upwards until the arms are straight. In fact, the International Journal of Sports Medicine analyzed the frequency of shoulder injuries from weightlifting in a study and reported a steep rise in injuries between and Take care to protect the shoulders by reducing the weight load when appropriate.

The overhead press exercises are often done with dumbbells or barbells, but machines are also made for the specific exercises. Machines come with a few subtle advantages and disadvantages when compared to the free-weight options. Dumbbells are valuable because they isolate the weight on each side, eliminating the possibility of favoritism. They also are the least stable and as such require the maximum amount of energy to maintain form. If proper form is not used, however, the chances of injury are higher due to the instability factor.

Barbells allow for more favoritism on the right or left side because the bar transfers energy across the body. It does however offer more stability than dumbbells with the long bar. Machines are far more stable with bars and handles that maintain a fixed horizontal position. They also have a stopping point to ensure the motion halts in the proper form. This prevents over-extending and creates a more stable motion. While safer, especially for beginners , the stability also limits the outlying muscle requirements to complete the motion and the benefits are isolated strictly to the intended muscle groups.

The overhead press exercises build muscle and increase shoulder strength when done properly. The addition of strength benefits and protects the shoulders from the injury. Lifting too much weight and using poor technique, however, can cause injuries. Even a slight strain is noteworthy and warrants a break to prevent exacerbating the injury into a worsened state. The other major aspect of injury prevention involves stretching and warm-ups. Before lifting and attempting these lifts, complete a warm-up routine and stretch the shoulders.

Also, stretch after the lifting workout is completed to maintain flexibility. Shoulders that are both limber and strong are excellent for athletics and the increased range of motion gained through stretches will ultimately stand to reduce the risk of injury when elongated motions place strain on the muscles, ligaments and rotator cuffs. Overhead press lifts are a great exercise to incorporate several times per week but they are not an everyday activity. Rest the muscles after completing a workout to recover and give the muscles time to repair and grow.

Eat protein after workouts and follow healthy dietary guidelines to maximize the results of each workout session. Fitness Training How To Gain muscle. Military Press vs.