Overhead press without hurting back?

It sounds like you need to build up your core. That should be your first priority. Then when doing lifts like OHP, make sure you are engaging your core and managing your breathing correctly.

Exercises to improve your core include plank, or if that's too easy there are ways to progress it. Also hollow body knee raise, bird dog, and reverse hypers. If you don't have access to a machine for reverse hypers, you can do them with bodyweight from a firm bed or table.

Good stuff. The world record is 9 1/2 hours btw. Which I mention just to reinforce that you may have to think about progression before long

Try the hollow body hold next. And the reverse hypers. Don't hyper extend those as some videos will incorrectly show, just raise to parallel. Good luck!

Don't forget that core is a 360-degree kind of thing: I'm mostly seeing the linear exercises recommended so far, but it's good to have some rotational/anti-rotational core exercises in the mix as well. Some plank reach-through or rotational plank variations are one possibility as you're able to progress planks to do those safely, palloff presses and their variations, various carries including offset carries, etc.

Form is usually the first culprit. Get your form assessed first.

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herringboxes wrote: »

To be clear, my back issue is not weights-related, I had it for some years and only recently started the exercise. I seem to strain it when bending over a lot, whether with housework or yardwork or whatever.

I don’t “need” to increase my weight on OHP. I just can’t lift anywhere near what my arms can do. I’m lifting light, just started, I just could at least double the weight if my back was fine.

I have been just really concentrating on working my core. I’m seeing results in general, but my back is still kind of sensitive to the same issues. It’s way to early tovthink it’s not working, though.

Form also applies to daily life, in the sense that movement patterns or postural issues can cause or aggravate problems. Many or most of my physical issues have their roots in daily life stuff, though loading up during exercise can trigger some body part to go from merely irritable to actually painful.

You mention recurring back problems over a span of time. Assuming you're in the US, have you sought out physical therapy for that, and if not, can you? A good physical therapist can assess your movement patterns, and find some things that may not be obvious, then recommend interventions to improve them.

Just as an example - not to say that this specific thing would apply to you - I was assessed because of knee pain. The popular wisdom is that that's due to weak quads - which is often true. In my case, the therapist found that my quad strength was very good (from exercise activity I'd been doing a long time). However, I had tightness (reduced mobility) in my hips that was negatively affecting my gait, causing more knee stress. I would've had no idea. The prescribed exercises truly helped.

If you're not able to access physical therapy in person, you might check out "Bob & Brad" on YouTube. They're long-experienced professional physical therapists with lots of good video content, including lots on low back issues. (I'd caution that while their physical therapy advice seems good - has been endorsed by friends who have expertise - their comments on diet seem quite questionable to me . . . but that's outside their scope of practice.)

If you haven't already, you might want to get a physical therapist to take a look. Some back pain is caused by joints being locked up or out of place and exercising isn't going to help. In fact, it could hurt. A good physical therapist will also give you tips on keeping your back safe during exercise.

Sounds to me like you have tight, inflexible calves preventing you shifting your weight further back on your heels. Try stretching your calves out before your next squat session. Easiest way is to stand about 2 feet from a wall, facing it. Stretch out your arms as if you were going to do a pushup from the wall. Now lower your torso towards the wall, keeping your feet flat against the ground, until you feel a stretch in your calves. Wait for 10-15 seconds, push back to upright for 10-15 seconds. Lean forward again, this time aiming for just a hair deeper than the first time, and repeat for a total of 3-4 stretches. Do this before and after each squat session.

herringboxes wrote: »

I hesitated before bumping this thread back up again, but why not.

I’ve just kept working on the overhead press while not pushing it too hard, just letting my core catch up. I no longer feel like my back is weaker than my arms, they feel in sync. Which is great!

I’ve been thinking scoliosis my be a big factor for me overall. I’ve paid it no mind all my life but suddenly it feels like it may answer a lot of questions.

I’m sure everybody hates squats, but I feel like I might hate them at least 25% more than the average person. As a newbie, I try to learn good form, and one thing I read said to push through the heels to return to standing.

Wow, this simple and obvious instruction has proved quite difficult for me! I don’t even see how I can contort my body to be able to do that. My weight balances on the forward part of my foot, and my efforts to rebalance to heels have thus far been unsuccessful. I’m sure I could be much stronger pushing from the heels, sounds quite lovely. I wonder if scoliosis could be a factor affecting my form there.

Maybe ankle flexibility as part of that? Inflexible ankles are a kind of common limitation on squat depth. I'm interpreting weight-on-forward-foot as a compromise move to improve depth, which is speculative.

ETA: Timing overlap. Similar intent to nossmf's comment above.

herringboxes wrote: »

I hesitated before bumping this thread back up again, but why not.

I’ve just kept working on the overhead press while not pushing it too hard, just letting my core catch up. I no longer feel like my back is weaker than my arms, they feel in sync. Which is great!

I’ve been thinking scoliosis my be a big factor for me overall. I’ve paid it no mind all my life but suddenly it feels like it may answer a lot of questions.

I’m sure everybody hates squats, but I feel like I might hate them at least 25% more than the average person. As a newbie, I try to learn good form, and one thing I read said to push through the heels to return to standing.

Wow, this simple and obvious instruction has proved quite difficult for me! I don’t even see how I can contort my body to be able to do that. My weight balances on the forward part of my foot, and my efforts to rebalance to heels have thus far been unsuccessful. I’m sure I could be much stronger pushing from the heels, sounds quite lovely. I wonder if scoliosis could be a factor affecting my form there.

You might want to book a sess with an experienced PT to look at your squat form, as it could be something really easy to fix (but difficult to figure out yourself). It could well be mobility or tight muscles, but it could also be your stance (width of feet and angle), the bar position (high bar vs low bar), width of hands and upper mobility. You might also find wearing lifting shoes gives you a bit more mobility (ie the ones which have a raised heel). There are lots of little differences you can make in a squat which can make it more comfortable, and it took me quite a while to sort mine out. I still sometimes lean forward a bit too much as I’m not very good at back squats, and that throws the weight onto my forefoot.

Before you can see a PT (try to get one that has experience, even a powerlifting coach or S&C coach if you can find and afford one), try some body weight squats. If you have a broom or stick, pretend that’s the barbell (so it’s unweighted but so that you’re in the real position) and try different foot positions to see where you feel most stable. Remember that you need to brace your tummy, your upper back and even your shoulders to get that tight neutral line. As even having a loose core can make your weight shift.

Then try with a narrow stance, and move increasing out until you feel uncomfortable. See which position feels most stable and work from there. Even doing body weight squats slowly without weight will benefit you, and over time you will get that balance. It’s just so much easier with an expert watching you and telling you! I have a weightlifting coach and he still has to correct my form 🤷‍♂️