How You Can Avoid Lower Back Pain On The Overhead Press
Aug 14th, 2007 by Mehdi Tags: Exercise, Injury, Lower Back, Overhead Press, Weight Lifting
Jim’s comment in my training log:
“Is the Overhead Press done by standing upright and pressing the weight above your head?
That strength training exercise puts lots of stress on my lower back. Do you use a belt? “
Yes the Overhead Press is done standing upright while pressing the weight above your head. Yes the Overhead press will stress your lower back.
No I don’t use a belt & no my lower back doesn’t hurt when I press overhead. Here’s why yours does.
Why Your Lower back Hurts on the Overhead Press. What’s keeping your torso upright? Two things. Your abs & your lower back.
Your abs give you support from the front. Your lower back gives you support from the back. If one is stronger than the other, the strongest will bear all the weight. This leads to pain & eventually injury.
Your abs & lower back should be equally strong. I never met someone whose lower back was weaker than his abs. Most people, including me, have a strong lower back. Especially if you Deadlift.
Strengthen Your Abs. Endless bodyweight crunches won’t give you strong abs. Here are some exercises that will:
- Weighted Roman Chair Sit-ups. Put the weight on your chest.
- Waiter Walks. Hold dumbbell overhead in one hand. Walk with it.
- Overhead Squats. Squat while keeping a barbell overhead.
- Hanging Bent-Leg Raises. Hang on pull-up bar. Bring knees to chest.
- Hanging Pikes. Hang on pull-up bar. Straight legs. Feet against bar.
There are many more exercises. Pick one of the above. Do 5 sets of 5 reps at the end of your workout. Apply progressive loading like with any other exercise. Remember: abs react to stress as all other muscles do.
That’s for the abs strengthening part. Next Overhead Press technique.
Squeeze Your Glutes. If you squeeze your glutes, your pelvis can’t tilt forward. Forward pelvis tilt leads to arching of the lower back, which is as bad as bending of the lower back.
Bring your hips forward & squeeze your glutes hard. Tighten everything from toes to chest. The only thing that should move during the Overhead Press are your arms, torso & head.
Keep Your Back Straight. Picture on top. Vasily Alexeyev doing an Olympic Press with 474lbs (1971 - Peru). Notice his lower back: hyper-extended. You need strong abs & a healthy spine for doing an Olympic Press.
Technique on the Overhead Press doesn’t involve hyper-extension of your back.
- Squeeze your glutes
- Chest up
- Shoulders back & down
- Elbows forward
- Torso slightly behind vertical
Once the bar leaves your front shoulders, your torso goes forward. If your torso goes to the back, you’re doing an Olympic Press not an Overhead Press.
Increase Back Health. Strength training never causes injury when correct technique is used. What it does is showing pre-existing conditions. If your lower back is stiff from all the Squats & Deadlifts: do some spinal decompressions. If you have symptoms of lordosis, do some glute activation.
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Bridging is also excellent for strengthening the stability of the ‘core’ (horrible word, but it’s better than abs).
Correct David. Prone bridges, side bridges, one legged, one arm, inclined,… all works. Great advice.
I personally do situps with dumbells in the air, then leg raises, what are Weighted Roman Chair Sit-ups. Put the weight on your chest? as it weighted straps?
Eddie, here are weighted roman chair sit-ups.
I’m finding the overhead press and deadlift are my two favorite exercises, and I haven’t had the problem of lower back pain with either, other than DOMS the next day after deadlifting heavy. Great article though, and it did tell me a couple things I need to focus on more.
The Overhead Press is also my favorite exercise, seconded by all pull exercises, deadlifts but especially cleans.
Glad to read you like the article Thryah.
The overhead press is for me the only exercise where i cant put 2,5 kg on it every time i do it.
Kinda stuck @ 30 kg now, i find it a though exercise.
The Overhead Press is a very tough exercise Pens. I’m struggling to achieve a bodyweight Overhead Press.
Focus on getting 5 sets of 5 reps. Apply the stalling methods if needed.
Overhead press are really great besides press other movements like jerk can be applied to provide more variety, moreover they form excellent complexes with motions like cleans and can be very helpfull while aiming for great physique !
P.S : while doing a jerk kind a motion your torso shouldn’t move forward, it should move in straight line allowing greater transfer of power !
Imo, vertical presses like the overhead press give a better physique than horizontal presses like the bench press.
Still waiting for your e-mail Harsh
Mehdi,
What exactly do you mean by “shoulders back and down?” I often see this in your articles and am not sure if it means to squeeze the shoulderblades together or keep them stable by flexing the lats. Could you please enlighten me on this?
Thanks
I stalled again on overhead press, 32.5kg + 10kg, dint make the 5th rep on 5th set. my right arm inst as strong as my left, (im right handed) and i got a pain under my right shoulder blade. Im also bending my back inwardswhen i lift, is this natural?
Poob9,
Shoulders back: try to make your shoulderblades touch, lift your chest up. Shoulders down: relax your neck muscles, let your shoulders fall.
Letting your shoulders roll forward is improper posture & cause of many injuries. Always keep your shoulders back & down. Whether you’re walking, working behind your pc, watching tv or benching.
Eddie. Have you tried 3 times with the same weight? If you had all reps, except for the 5th rep on the 5th set, you’re really close to achievement. Try 3 workouts with the same weight. If that doesn’t work, deload: Restart at 25kg doing 5×5, add 2,5kg every workout until you got those 32,5kg.
Focus on speed & technique when you go back lighter Eddie. Shoulders must stay back & down. Don’t allow your shoulders to roll forward when benching. You will hurt yourself. Focus on your technique, before the weight.
Hi mehdi, as part of my core training i am currently doing the plank or frontbridge. I have worked up to 5 sets of 1 minuite holds, now to build more strength do i increase the duration of the hold, or find a way to add weight which i could do with my dip belt.
@Mark
Switch to a more difficult version: planks on one leg or one arm for example.
I have a question. Can the Olympic press serve as a substitute for both the overhead press and incline bench press, since you need to lean back, isn’t it a better upper body mass-strength exercise as it works more muscle groups( Chest and lower back )?