LiftonicBarbell basics · Part 5 of 8
How to overhead press
Squeeze your glutes, move your head back, press the bar straight up past your chin and bring your head through at the top. It's the slowest lift to progress, so small plates matter.
What the overhead press trains
The standing overhead press, also called the strict press or military press, moves the bar from your shoulders to straight overhead. It trains the shoulders and triceps, the upper back that supports the bar overhead, and the abs and glutes that keep your body rigid. It's a great test of whole-body tension.
Setting up
- Set the hooks at about upper-chest height and step into the bar.
- Grip just outside your shoulders, with your forearms vertical when seen from the front. The bar sits low in your palm, over your forearm bones.
- Elbows slightly in front of the bar. In the start position the bar rests on the front of your shoulders or just above, with your elbows a little forward.
- Unrack and step back one short step. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart.
- Tighten everything. Squeeze your glutes, brace your abs and lock your knees. This stops you leaning back.
Doing the rep
- Breathe in and brace.
- Move your head back slightly so the bar can travel straight up past your chin.
- Press straight up. The bar moves in a vertical line, close to your face.
- Bring your head through once the bar passes your forehead, so at the top the bar is over your shoulders and mid-foot, with your ears level with or in front of your arms.
- Lock out with straight elbows and shrug slightly toward the bar. Lower it under control to the start position and re-brace.
Useful cues
- "Squeeze your glutes": keeps the lower back from arching.
- "Push your head through the window": finishes the rep with the bar balanced over you.
- "Bar close to the face": the further the bar drifts forward, the harder it gets.
Common mistakes and fixes
- Leaning far back to turn the press into an incline bench. Squeeze your glutes and lower the weight.
- Pressing forward around the head instead of moving the head out of the way.
- Unlocked lockout, with bent elbows or the bar in front of the head. Finish each rep with the bar over mid-foot.
- Using the legs by dipping the knees. That's a push press, a different lift. Keep the knees locked for strict presses.
- Wrists bent back under the bar. Move the bar lower into your palm.
Sets, reps and progress
The press is the slowest lift to progress because the muscles involved are small. Expect to press about 60 to 70 percent of your bench. Use 3 sets of 5 and the smallest jumps you can: 1 to 1.25 kg (2.5 lb) per session is normal, and fractional plates of 0.5 kg (1 lb) keep progress going for longer. When it stalls, try more sets of fewer reps, or a weekly approach from the progressive overload guide.
These guides are general education, not medical advice. If a lift causes pain, stop and talk to a qualified professional.
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