Are seated presses without back support too unstable to be worthwhile? I feel weak on them as I struggle to brace and balance.
I can’t do standing presses due to my low 7’ ceiling. My only bench is a Rogue flat bench.
On Powerbuilding 2, I’m doing seated presses on this flat bench as an accessory once a week. The prescription is “6 minutes total to complete ~ 3 sets of 12-20 reps to 3 RIR (RPE 7).”
Just for fun, I’m doing the presses for as many reps as possible within 6 minutes. My best AMRAP is 72 reps in 6 minutes with only 57.5 lbs. (Compared with a bench of 253.5 lbs for 3 tempo reps as you saw recently in the video here: Kevin Kane on Instagram: "It’s been 2 months since I posted! My meet in Kingston was cancelled so I did my own mock meet at home. Squat: Did 225 kg, 496 lbs comfortably. But it doesn’t count because the depth is above parallel. I recently started squatting a bit narrower because it feels stronger, but maybe it only feels stronger because I’m squatting high, lol. This attempt was 11 lbs heavier than my competition PR. I’ll work on it. Bench: Did 115 kg, 253.5 lbs for 3 tempo reps. I’m rehabbing my elbow so I don’t want to press heavier or faster just yet. I spent a month benching 115 lbs or less so I’m happy with my rehab progress. I trusted the process but I had doubts if I’d ever be able to bench again without pain. My PR is 276 so I’m getting close while feeling much better. Deadlift: Did 235 kg, 518 lbs. That’s 6 lbs heavier than my PR. I could have did more so I'm happily surprised." )
Bryce of Calgary Barbell did these same presses during Covid and I don’t think he used more than 115 lbs for his sets, though he could bench over 400.
I’ve done these presses on and off for several years but I can’t seem to progress them. If you trained with low ceilings, would you buy an incline bench for pressing or just do a different movement?
I used to own a Rogue incline bench but I sold it because its heaviness made it awkward to adjust it every time into the correct position within the rack after I did squats or another movement in the rack. I still do incline presses by putting one end of the flat bench on top of a dozen stacked stall mats. And I prefer to have only a single bench for less clutter. Thank you!