Looking Up During Shoulder Press IS NOT Bad for Your Spine

[honeybrew]

Other way around. My neck hurts afterwards when NOT looking up

[Kethersdad]

Former ballet dancer here with a rationale: when lifting someone over your head, if you look up, tilting the head back tends to lead to your chest going forward, which then leads to your pelvis tilting back (increasing lordosis). So instead of having a straight, stable line through your body from the floor to the center of gravity of the person you're lifting, you have an unstable s-curve. This leads to lower back injuries and, in the worst cases, collapsing/dropping your partner. Not all of the women I lifted were skinny waifs, so good lifting technique was essential. Thanks so much for bringing up this subject! I've learned tons from this channel.

[gamer]

This guy is literally a godsend! Finally got back into lifting after a couple years and listening to this guy has immensely helped me with perfecting form and most importantly cutting out all the bs we hear from "experts"

[AMahana-nn]

I've always been told to keep my head neutral, but this perspective makes so much sense. Thank you for sharing.

[paoloeb]

Mike love your videos!
A coach explained me and demonstrated that in many cases, you can put more force if you look straight and not up... 🤷

[chuckbuttons]

The way he says, "how?!" Is the most passive aggressive, smart ass thing and I love it 😆

[SELFTALKNEWS]

Looking up activates more core imo. People think it's hurting their spines have a weak core. If you do heavy shoulder presses looking up, you'll feel your abs being sore the next day. Especially if you have good mind muscle connection with your core and breathing properly when lifting heavy

[anthonyvoskuhl]

Splenius and levator scapula can sometimes go into spasm from jerk presses.
You don't look up during a strict press because it too often just becomes an unsupported incline press and can create too mich lumbar lordosis.
Its not great but a lot of strongmen do it.

[JoeyplaysgamesLoL]

I find that putting my head forward at the top helps with balance but I can do it either way with no pain

[Bilbocosity]

I think that’s to minimize leaning backwards when overhead pressing, which involves more upper pec which isn’t what you’re targeting on the lift. Also puts a pretty significant amount of stress on the lower back in a less than ideal position.

[lokdog]

The issue is when the lifter looks up and their back arches significantly with it (which isn't uncommon, particularly among novice and intermediate lifters). The force transfers to the shoulders, which then transfers at the top of the spine while will either align with the hips (leaving it supported), or add to the bend putting more pressure on the central and lower back. He even corrects the woman in the video. Notice she tucks the ribs down toward the middle/end and her spine doesn't arch anymore. So yes, there's nothing inherently problematic with the direction of gaze, but it all too often directly impacts the position of the spine.

You see that happen a lot more with athletes performing inverted movements. They'll bend like crazy with 85-95% of their body weight trying like Hell to snap their spine.

[themetadaemon]

The position of one part of the spine influences the position of the other parts, and the forces that move through it.

[chrisbabbz]

Dont bring the bar below your chin/mouth, doing so takes the tension away from your shoulders. Hence the jerky push from your collar bone.

[SalamPHI]

When I look up, I tend to overextend my back, I can't contract my abs, and I feel off balance. When I focus on contracting my abs and looking straight, I feel much better.

[casey]

As someone with CCI, your neck position most definitely matters

[jeffpatterson]

if you cannot look up and back without pain it's facet joint arthritis is what my doc told me the other day

[siy]

I mean if you have a heavy anterior pelvic tilt (may be pathologic or not) and you look up you can add to the curvature of the lumbar and it can put unwanted stress on the lower spine. My brother used to always complain of low back/tailbone pain when pressing. Now if you notice, all of what I said is fixed, if you take the time to hone your form. Never do an overhead movement towards the end of a workout when you are most fatigued - you are asking for injury.

[ZachariahMccully]

Folks should look up mitchell hoopers overhead press technique. Something to consider is that not every strength building movement *needs* to give you the *perfect* mechanical advantage. Thats like saying a standard dumbbell curl is going to tweak your neck because it requires you to stabilize your spine while completing the movement, head back works, my back feels better afterwards.

[SN-cvrz]

A lot of this man's advice took me years to learn so for some new guys I'd start listening to what he says.

20 years later I wished I knew back then.

[acarajeh]

The issue that when you look up you are tightening the spaces in between the vertebra and therefore the exit/entrance of the nerve roots (neuroforamina), so if you have some degree of spinal stenosis or if you have pinched nerve roots in your neck, you’re risking accentuating the tight spaces with neck extension. Just look straight ahead or lower your chin slightly down if you have sensory or motor symptoms of cervical radiculopathy.