KB, DB, Or Barbell Presses?

[Michael]

Here are some questions about presses I have been curious about what others thought.  If You do presses what type do You prefer and why? Which do You think is harder to press: KB, DB, Or Barbell? Which one can You get more weight with and why do You think that is?

[billfish]

I know it's not what you are asking Michael but.....I like doing assisted handstand pushups and recently saw a video on youtube which gave me an idea
From the garage rafter I hung a large band and passed another band through the loop at the bottom of the band to create a "harness" to pass my arms through.
Getting into the starting position for a HS pulls the vertical band and puts tension on it which your back can be braced against when in HS position
The vertical band also gives some assistance in doing the HS pushup.....it has worked out well and by adjusting the length of the vertical band, you can add or subtract assistance
This video shows how it's done

[mr potatohead]

Of those three tools, the only one I use is DBs for press, so I have no comparison, but wouldn't it depend on how the press is done with each?

[Bruce Tackett]

About 25 years ago I destroyed my shoulders by doing years of behind-the-neck presses with a barbell. I have since learned that is an exercise that should never be done. Hurting my shoulders might not have happened if I'd done military presses, but I don't know - I think there's something about having your shoulders locked into one position. As a result, I would do DB presses where your shoulders are free to move with the movement.

[Deuce Gunner]

You can obviously lift the most weight with a barbell, regardless of whether it's a vertical or horizontal press because both sides of the body assist each other. If your goal (for whatever reason) is to push as much weight above you as you can the barbell is the hands down winner. Unilateral dumbbell presses (from the shoulder) are probably the most productive and least technical as far exercising with weights go. Kettlebells require a bit more skill but you can get the same results with less iron because they are an offset weight.


Coupled with a clean before the press as a good full body exercise, I'd say barbell first, followed by the kettlebell, followed by a dumbbell (or dumbbells).


As always your results may vary.


Just my two cents about heavy overhead presses. Observe the lockout position of your arm (or arms) at the top of the press. It is very similar to where your arm might be in many submission holds and that heavy weight may be just as punishing as a good judoka or catch wrestling opponent could be. Light to medium overhead presses are useful as posture checks because you simply cannot put anything above your head w/o good posture.

[Mr Average]

Sept 29, 2019 14:23:42 GMT Michael said:

Here are some questions about presses I have been curious about what others thought.  If You do presses what type do You prefer and why? Which do You think is harder to press: KB, DB, Or Barbell? Which one can You get more weight with and why do You think that is?

Out of the 3 I think the single arm Barbell press is the hardest, just because the weight is further away from the centre of your movement. You have to do more stabilizing when pressing, with the other 2 the weight is of course closer, so there is less leverage needed. Someone can probably use more weight with KB's or Dumbbells, but the does that make them stronger in that movement? 

[Michael]

Sept 29, 2019 15:06:25 GMT billfish said:

I know it's not what you are asking Michael but.....I like doing assisted handstand pushups and recently saw a video on youtube which gave me an idea
From the garage rafter I hung a large band and passed another band through the loop at the bottom of the band to create a "harness" to pass my arms through.
Getting into the starting position for a HS pulls the vertical band and puts tension on it which your back can be braced against when in HS position
The vertical band also gives some assistance in doing the HS pushup.....it has worked out well and by adjusting the length of the vertical band, you can add or subtract assistance
This video shows how it's done

I remember You mentioned this before. How are You progressing with this? I have an old power rack that gets a lot of use. I remember seeing a video of Jon Hinds doing this with his long cable. I've tried this years ago, definetlly a good way to go about it.

[Michael]

Sept 29, 2019 17:58:25 GMT Deuce Gunner said:

You can obviously lift the most weight with a barbell, regardless of whether it's a vertical or horizontal press because both sides of the body assist each other. If your goal (for whatever reason) is to push as much weight above you as you can the barbell is the hands down winner. Unilateral dumbbell presses (from the shoulder) are probably the most productive and least technical as far exercising with weights go. Kettlebells require a bit more skill but you can get the same results with less iron because they are an offset weight.


Coupled with a clean before the press as a good full body exercise, I'd say barbell first, followed by the kettlebell, followed by a dumbbell (or dumbbells).


As always your results may vary.


Just my two cents about heavy overhead presses. Observe the lockout position of your arm (or arms) at the top of the press. It is very similar to where your arm might be in many submission holds and that heavy weight may be just as punishing as a good judoka or catch wrestling opponent could be. Light to medium overhead presses are useful as posture checks because you simply cannot put anything above your head w/o good posture.

Thanks Deuce, makes sense and informative to me. When I first started lifting I use to do like Bruce mentioned barbell behind the head but seated. I also did seated DB Presses back then. I haven't done any kind of barbell work in a good 15 years. One thing I think I'm going to test for myself is KB & DB Pressing.

[pierinifitness]

I prefer barbell OHP but since I don’t belong to a gym or own barbells, I don’t do them. When I did, I made nice progress. By far, you can lift the most with barbells.

I prefer KB over DB because you can hold the KB in a rack position as a transition between reps. I believe I can lift a greater total volume (reps and lbs.) with KB rather than DB but since I don’t own DB, I haven’t recently tested.

[trog]

I use all three. I like KB hammer curl to press as a wrist exercise, which I find more effective than DB or BB. I don't often press DB unless it is part of another exercise, such as flyes with press. The just don't feel right to me. For overhead press, nothing beats a BB in my opinion.

[Michael]

Sept 30, 2019 1:17:43 GMT pierinifitness said:

I prefer barbell OHP but since I don’t belong to a gym or own barbells, I don’t do them. When I did, I made nice progress. By far, you can lift the most with barbells.

I prefer KB over DB because you can hold the KB in a rack position as a transition between reps. I believe I can lift a greater total volume (reps and lbs.) with KB rather than DB but since I don’t own DB, I haven’t recently tested.

If You had DBs how would You go about testing this? 

[billfish]

Sept 29, 2019 22:58:49 GMT Michael said:

Sept 29, 2019 15:06:25 GMT billfish said:

I know it's not what you are asking Michael but.....I like doing assisted handstand pushups and recently saw a video on youtube which gave me an idea
From the garage rafter I hung a large band and passed another band through the loop at the bottom of the band to create a "harness" to pass my arms through.
Getting into the starting position for a HS pulls the vertical band and puts tension on it which your back can be braced against when in HS position
The vertical band also gives some assistance in doing the HS pushup.....it has worked out well and by adjusting the length of the vertical band, you can add or subtract assistance
This video shows how it's done

I remember You mentioned this before. How are You progressing with this? I have an old power rack that gets a lot of use. I remember seeing a video of Jon Hinds doing this with his long cable. I've tried this years ago, definetlly a good way to go about it.

I have it set up to where I do about 5 reps per set....which is fine for me. I like it better than doing them against a wall

[pierinifitness]

Sept 30, 2019 10:40:57 GMT Michael said:

Sept 30, 2019 1:17:43 GMT pierinifitness said:

I prefer barbell OHP but since I don’t belong to a gym or own barbells, I don’t do them. When I did, I made nice progress. By far, you can lift the most with barbells.

I prefer KB over DB because you can hold the KB in a rack position as a transition between reps. I believe I can lift a greater total volume (reps and lbs.) with KB rather than DB but since I don’t own DB, I haven’t recently tested.

If You had DBs how would You go about testing this? 

Since I own a pair of 24kg KB that I can currently press for 5 reps, I’d grab a pair of 55-lb. DB and see what I could do.