Do you want to avoid getting injured while doing the shoulder press? Because this movement is more likely to cause injury. So you have to know its limitations when doing behind-the-neck barbell presses.
Question: What is the difference between the barbell shoulder press in front of the neck and behind the neck? Is the latter technically less safe?
Answer:Common sense tells you that a small change like going from the front of your neck to the back of your neck won’t change the focus of training for the barbell shoulder press too much. But some of the muscles used to do barbell shoulder presses in front of the neck are different from those behind the neck. The extra stretch you feel in the shoulder area when doing behind-the-neck presses may push your shoulder joints beyond their safe limits, although the stretch also makes you feel as if you're engaging more muscles.
Elbow joint position
Do barbells in front of and behind the neck The main difference in the shoulder press may be the position of the elbow joint. When you press in front of your neck, your elbow points more forward, and when you press behind your neck, it points more to the sides. When your elbow points more forward, the primary joint movement is shoulder flexion (lifting your humerus or upper arm forward), which engages the anterior deltoid, upper pectoralis major, and coracobrachialis muscles. Of course, you might be able to adjust the emphasis on these muscles by changing your grip.
