I’m down about 30 lbs in weight over the past year, having done a slow steady recomp over that time. I started from the disadvantaged position of having spent almost two years prior, all of 2023 and most of 2024, unable to train hard or heavy due to the recurrence of non-training related shoulder injury which required major surgery in 2015 - so I was down a bunch of muscle (10-15 lbs by my best estimate) when I started this process, but at least now I've trimmed some of the fat I'd gained by focusing on big lifts for so many years without ever blasting gear, and then going 20 months not being able to train hard but still eating like I was.
My press - standing barbell overhead press - is probably effected more than any other lift, while my seated DB (overhead) press with bench support is among the least effected lifts. A couple days ago I pressed 225x5 fresh without doing any heavy lifts prior, but it was hard, whereas that has been a routine set for me for years - I did 225x11 or 12 back a few years ago, have done 250x5x5, and have pressed 275x5 a couple times. So one single top set at 225x5 being hard was pretty whack.
Meanwhile the week prior I did 90x10 seated DB press like a warmup, full ROM touching my shoulders at the bottom to full lockout at the top, and it was super easy even though I didn't do it fresh, but after having already bench pressed prior in the workout. I did this while watching a few bros proudly heave up the 100s for 6-inch ROM incline DB bench next to me for 5-6 hard reps, so that was fun.
Anyway, on paper this makes no sense. 225x5 roughly equates to about 192.5x10, so even though DB and BB press aren't exactly the same, you'd think 90x10 (180 total lbs) would have been pretty hard, given that 225x5 was hard. But the 90x10 was easy, about 4-5 RIR if you're into that sort of thing.
Additionally, my lat pulldowns have only very slightly been effected. My bench has been effected, but not as much as the (standing barbell) press.
So my question for you is why? I think I know, and I might write a full article on it, but I'm curious what people think. Leave your best guess in the comments below, but if you write "mass moves mass," you’re going straight to jail.
I’ve noticed in general that if my bodyweight drops off or if I for one reason or another cannot train for a little while that the lift which loses the most progress the fastest is the overhead press. Bench, squat, and deadlift and even weighted or bodyweight pull ups don’t suffer as much from breaks or weight loss. My theory: standing presses are unique in that the kinetic chain goes from the foot to the top of the hand when the weight is locked out, which means a lot of coordination from the nervous system and muscular system, so the movement pattern requires more repetition and frequency to excel at or maintain than others and is particularly susceptible to any loss of strength anywhere in the body. Like a tall building or jenga tower being less stable from any loss in structural integrity regardless of where the loss is across the whole thing. I don’t know if that makes sense but it’s just an idea
“…but if you write “mass moves mass,” you’re going straight to jail.”
Crap. I got nothing then.
Actually I think it’s what Prometheus says, about the compounding nature of the loss of strength and ability over the entire kinetic chain. Couple that with the extremely narrow margin for error that any heavy press already has, and there you are, fighting for that 5th rep at a weight 15-20% below your best PR.