The Differences Between Reaching & Pressing

When moving in the gym, the shoulders and torso can be affected in their ability when loaded and unloaded.

Depending on what you need to achieve, the decision of a reach (mobility) vs a press (force) will be pertinent in your exercise selection and what outcomes you want your body to create.

We can dive a little deeper as to when you want to choose one over the other.

 When we look to improve our rotational ability, we will want to reduce maximal force and learn to reach long through the arms. Increased force reduces motion, and if the shoulders restrict in motion, our ability to rotate from side to side becomes limited.

Below is a short video explaining the differences between the two and how it affects shoulder range of motion. 

There are some great moves that we can transition to create rotation and reaching under loaded moves to offset some of the high force activities that we do. These would be activities that allow for unilateral reaching and pulling on opposite sides or allow the shoulder blades the move. Some examples would be a push-up, DB Row, 1-arm lat pulldown, 1-arm DB floor presses, or cable pressing variations.

By being high force and having two limbs fixated all the time, we can lighten the load with the previously stated moves to improve shoulder function and rotation whole still creating a training stimulus.

Perhaps you still feel lost and aren’t sure what things you need to get your shoulders moving again. Send us an email to Staff@dynamicprri.com and we can guide you in the right direction.