How to Overhead Press WITHOUT Lower Back Pain

Back Pain SUCKS, brother.

I know – I’ve lived with it off and on since I was a Freshman in High School.

I can go weeks and months with no issues at all, and then all of a sudden, WHAM, my back goes out and I’m either out of the gym for a week or two, or every single lift I do is affected.

Know what I mean?

My most recent Back Tweak happened when I was grabbing a pair of 45-lb plates to move them.

TINK! Something went in my back and I haven’t been able to Overhead Press without pain in about 2 weeks.

Which drives me bonkers because I love to work shoulders hard and LOVE Overhead Pressing.

In fact, the Rack Press has become a staple of my training for over 2 years now, but I just haven’t been able to do it without pain in my back the last couple of Shoulder Workouts, so I needed to switch things up.

I also know that they advise NOT to do Seated Press movements either, because the seated position magnifies the pressure on the lumbar area.

Well, yesterday, I discovered something that allowed me to perform my Shoulder Press Workout with ZERO PAIN whatsoever during the movement.

I’ve never seen this variation done before, so I am naming it the Leaning Press.

The Leaning Press

Check out the video below to see how the Leaning Press is done.

This variation allowed me to train without any of the pain I have been dealing with the last couple of weeks. The leaning position allowed me to completely avoid any of the compression force on the spine that the seated position is known to cause, and I still got the taste of the Overhead Lifting that I love so much.

Naturally, I’d much rather be pressing a loaded barbell or Strongman Log overhead, but my back needed the rest, and this little variation gave me what it needed.

If your back hurts, see what your doctor says about giving this a try.

More Overhead Press Articles

If you like Overhead Lifting as much as me, then be sure to check out some of my other articles on Overhead Lifting:

Going for a Max in the Overhead Press
My Approach to Upper Body Training
Principles for Improving the Overhead Press

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Instant Relief from Back Pain

If you struggle with lower back pain, then today’s post is for you. I think this could really help out a lot of people.

Just understand that I am not a doctor. I am merely telling you what has worked for me many times over the years to get relief from back pain.

A Little About My Back Pain History

Some of you already know this about me, but for those who do not, let me give you a run-down of my back pain history.

Every single day of my life, I experience some degree of back pain.

Every single day.

Many people think this came from Strongman Training, Lifting Stones, and things like that, but that is not true.

It all started when I was in ninth grade in gym class.

We were playing a game called Greenie Weenie. The Gym Teacher, would throw a giant green towel wrapped in athletic tape into the center of the wrestling room and we’d have to go in there and fight for it.

On one particular day, instead of fighting for the towel, I just grabbed it and the other two kids (it was a handicap match) and started dragging them back to my base, all hunched over.

I felt something pop and then sizzle inside my lower back and my whole body went limp.

I stood up and limped back to my side of the wrestling room.

Ever since that day, some 18 or so years ago, I have had to contend with the fact that at any given time, my back might “go out” again.

My Most Recent Back “Injury”

Instead of going into all the many times my back has gone out, let’s just fast-forward to last weekend.

It was my 15-year high school reunion for my graduating class and we played a bunch of fun games, including Kan Jam, but Greenie Weenie, thankfully, did not get played.

Anyway, at some point during the day, as I was trying to catch a frisbie, my left foot slipped and my back popped out ever so slightly.

Thankfully, this was only a minor subluxation – nothing compared to how bad it has been sometimes. I credit this to the amount of stretching I have been doing and some of the strengthening movements I have been doing with one of my new coaches, Niko Hulslander.

What I was feeling was this low level burning sensation below my glute muscle. From what I am told, this is due to an issue with my Sacroiliac joint, which can result in inflammation in the joint and thenerve as well. I also was feeling tightness in my Quadratus Lumborum, something that is also very common for me to have take place.

On Monday, I went for a chiropractic appointment, but unfortunately it was one of those times where the visit did nothing for me.

Fortunately, I did a very simple exercise during Tuesday’s workout and it got my back to adjust perfectly. I felt instant relief, so I wanted to tell all of you about it right away as well.

Check out this 4-minute video that explains why this works.

INSTANT RELIEF after the first set!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and I don’t pretend that I know all the answers for getting people out of pain, but I know this simple exercise helped me out a great deal. I suggest anyone who wants to try this first consult with a doctor before doing so.

By the way, I also own a set of Inversion Boots. For me, they have not worked nearly as well as just a short set of dips. In the past, I used to do a quick set of dips every workout with the sole purpose of making my back adjust if it needed to. For whatever reason, I got out of the habit of doing this, but you can bet that I am going to start doing them on a routine basis again.

Look, I hate being hurt, and I know there are lots of people out there who share the agony of pain in their lower back. Maybe this will help you as well (once you run it by your doctor first).

Let me know how it works for you if you give it a try.

Jedd

Lower Back Health

I’ve recently been doing a lot of discovery around lower back strength and health.  We will be exploring this research more into 2010.  Lower back health is not reserved just for strength athletes, it is a must for everyone.  Muscle building programs found online miss this boat completely.   That is why I made it a focus in AMD and that is why it is a complete muscle building system.

How prevalent are injuries?  Just one look behind the scenes at Elite Fitness Systems you’ll see that approximately 80% of the questions (just from my observations) are injury related.

Do NOT miss this post! (more…)

Lower Back Health

I’ve recently been doing a lot of discovery around lower back strength and health.  We will be exploring this research more into 2010.  Lower back health is not reserved just for strength athletes, it is a must for everyone.  Muscle building programs found online miss this boat completely.   That is why I made it a focus in AMD and that is why it is a complete muscle building system.

How prevalent are injuries?  Just one look behind the scenes at Elite Fitness Systems you’ll see that approximately 80% of the questions (just from my observations) are injury related.

Do NOT miss this post! (more…)