Military Press substitute?

Is there any other exercies that work the same muscles as the military press but so you dont have to lift weight over your head?

Well, to get the same muscle fiber recruitment you'll most certainly have to press some kind of weight overhead (or exert force via muscular contraction on that same plane...hand-stand push-ups for example). Front dumbbell, cable and/or plate raises will all hit the front deltoid, but certainly not in the same manner as an actual military press.

What seems to be your issue with pressing overhead? If it's movement specific problems, you could switch it up subtley. Move to the smith machine, dumbbell presses, arnold presses or standing militaries. If the general act of pressing overhead is the cause of the problem (and i hope you aren't doing so behind the neck..if so, stop that and your problem should be solved) you'll need to be more specific.

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Originally Posted by BigGreen

Well, to get the same muscle fiber recruitment you'll most certainly have to press some kind of weight overhead (or exert force via muscular contraction on that same plane...hand-stand push-ups for example). Front dumbbell, cable and/or plate raises will all hit the front deltoid, but certainly not in the same manner as an actual military press.

What seems to be your issue with pressing overhead? If it's movement specific problems, you could switch it up subtley. Move to the smith machine, dumbbell presses, arnold presses or standing militaries. If the general act of pressing overhead is the cause of the problem (and i hope you aren't doing so behind the neck..if so, stop that and your problem should be solved) you'll need to be more specific.

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I have really horrible shoulders so im afraid to do it over my head and my doctor has firmly said that i should not lift any weight over my head. When doing military press arnt u suppose to lift the weight behind ur head?

You can do them in front of your head or in back.
I dunno exactly what's wrong with your shoulder, but this link might help -
http://www.aafp.org/afp/980215ap/980215a.html

There is not substitute for that movement, just variations(barbell, dumbell, machine, standing, sitting, etc). Some other options for good shoulder developement are simple use more presses for chest, more pulls for back, throw in some side raises and you have a well balanced shoulder routine. Dips also blast the shoulders well.

Military presses behind the head are tough on your shoulders - specifically the rotator cuff. That plane is almost like a hyperextension of that joint, which stresses those tendons/ligaments. Some guys agree, some don't. I don't do them behind my head due to past rotator cuff problems from baseball and several dislocations of my shoulder. It is too painful.

Try dumbells for military press. Smith machine is good too.

Heres a good press for use on the smith machine......Place a seat with a back under the bar, place your hands to the outside edge of each bar(edge closest to the weights)...this is a very wide grip so don't load too much weight to start out with...Lower the weight to around chin level only, don't go any lower.....Press up but don't lock out at the top.....This might be considered a "partial" movement but it packs loads of mass on the delts, it's one of my favorites for delts......After getting accustomed to the strange motion(extra wide grip)you'll be suprised at the amount of weight you can do, It also will give a burn second to none.Give it a try if ya want to shock the delts into new growth..... :lift: