Ditching intensity day press

[Paul1]

Doing 5x5 presses doesn't bother me, but doing a 3RM or even 5RMx1 set really seems to kill my wrists and back. I'm wondering if I should not worry about an intensity set on press, because it seems to be doing more harm than good.

Parenthetically, I'm now toying with a split idea that would look more or less like this:

Mon: bench 5x5, press 10x3
Tues: squat 5x5, deadlift 5x1

Thurs: Bench 3-5x1, press 5x5, close grip bench 10x3
Fri: Squat 5x1, PC 3x5, Chin max rep sets up to ~ 50 total reps

This would give my press two different intensities, avoid the painful high weight press, and not give me disproportionate bench work.

[Steve Hill]

If the press is hurting your wrists or back then you are probably doing it wrong.

[Les Hahn]

Are you wearing a belt and wrist wraps? If not, that should at least help a little. I've found that pressing heavy (near 1RM) can make it hard to keep form, and in cases when that happens, you can sometimes tweak stuff that doesn't need tweaking! :-)

It is hard to serve two masters at times too. If you really want to push your bench up, you can throw the press on the back-burner for a bit. You are still doing the lift, just not going too heavy with it. I think that is ok, but if you want to still drive your press up, then you need to hit it heavy. Press is one of those lifts where it is easy to knock out reps to get a "calculated max." Then you try the real 1RM and fail miserably. It is easier to break form (than say benching), so you need that heavy practice. So that leads to another question, what are your goals in this?

PS: I like split routines too. Tom can verify this. :-)

[Paul1]

I have a chronic wrist injury that makes all pressing hurt, even just pushups. But I can do 5x5 presses and even 1 RM bench without reaggravating it too much. Heavy presses are worse, though.

[elVarouza]

I agree with Callador: try using wrist wraps if you're not already. I injured my wrist awhile back (unrelated to press) and couldn't go heavy without pain. Using some standard 12" wraps I was able to keep doing presses until my wrist got better. The back thing is probably due to not keeping your abs tight and a belt can help with that.

[Paul1]

Hey Callador. I don't have any particular goals other than progress. Currently my press is 145 lbs for 5x5 and I've managed 165 for a single rep -- ugly but I got to lockout. Bench I just did 205 for 5x5 and 230 for a single nice, clean rep (which was 15 lbs more than I've ever even tried before). It seems to me that 5x5 is a pretty good way of advancing press strength, even if I don't try 5x1 or singles. And progressing on the bench should really help the press, right? A belt helps with the back bend -- it doesn't seem to help the lift itself for me, but it helps the backache. I have gloves with wrist wraps, I don't normally wear them but maybe that would help stabilize the wrist position. I think you're right that my form breaks down as I fight the heavier weights.

[Les Hahn]

Hey Callador. I don't have any particular goals other than progress. Currently my press is 145 lbs for 5x5 and I've managed 165 for a single rep -- ugly but I got to lockout. Bench I just did 205 for 5x5 and 230 for a single nice, clean rep (which was 15 lbs more than I've ever even tried before). It seems to me that 5x5 is a pretty good way of advancing press strength, even if I don't try 5x1 or singles. And progressing on the bench should really help the press, right? A belt helps with the back bend -- it doesn't seem to help the lift itself for me, but it helps the backache. I have gloves with wrist wraps, I don't normally wear them but maybe that would help stabilize the wrist position. I think you're right that my form breaks down as I fight the heavier weights.

Yes, 5x5 is a good way to go. Like anything it won't work forever, but if the gains are coming I wouldn't mess with it. Bench will drive press progress as well. For a time I wasn't doing any overhead pressing. Moving my bench up did give me some press gains, but they weren't all that great (compared to my bench press gains). Then I really wanted to hit 315 on the OHP, so in order to do that I had to bring presses back and make them a primary focus on one of my upper body days. If I didn't do that, I don't think I would have made my goal. Presses are tricky SOB's!