It is my understanding that Push Presses and Split Jerks are performed with a BB in front of a person on their chest. If a person is to move the BB behind their head is the exercise then called another name or merely Behind the Neck Push Press/Split Jerk?
Since this was made...I may as well ask my question here. Everywhere I've read it seems like the common consensus is that Behind the Neck Presses are bad. Mark Rippetoe also agrees with this. My question is...wouldn't adding a push to the lift make it even more liable to injure yourself?
Most people agree that things like presses done behind the neck (or behind the neck pullups/pulldowns) are unnecessarily hard on the AC joint for no real benefit. However, in a jerk or push press, most if not all of the initial motion is generated by the leg drive, your shoulders generally don't start getting involved until the barbell is already over your head. Also, there is a benefit in that carrying a barbell on your back is a much more stable position than in the front, allowing you to transfer more of your leg momentum to the barbell and therefore lift more weight...this advantage of the behind-the-neck position doesn't exist for strict presses. I do behind the neck split jerks all the time and they feel completely safe to me, because you're basically just throwing the weight up and catching it overhead...it's very different than a strict press from behind the neck where you're putting a lot of strain on your shoulders in a compromised position. In my opinion as long as you're getting the barbell out of the "behind the neck zone" with the leg drive, and not your shoulders, you should be fine.
