The overhead press is a classic compound exercise that targets the muscles in the shoulders and improves your upper body strength.

How To Overhead Press

• To begin, make sure that the Barbell is set up correctly in the rack, it should be at armpit height.

• Walk towards the barbell, grip it with both hands just wider than shoulder width apart, unrack the bar and take a few steps back from the rack.

• Grip the barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, palms facing forward.

• Stand with your feet shoulder/hip width apart, maintain a neutral spine and brace your core.

• Using only your upper body, press the weight overhead until your arms are straight and the barbell is directly over the crown of your head.

• In a controlled manner, lower the bar back to the starting position. Make sure to breathe throughout the exercise.

What Is the Grip Width For An Overhead Press?

Usually the grip width for an overhead press is shoulder-width or slightly wider. The width of this grip provides stability during the movement, any narrower and the barbell would be unstable. A narrow grip would also place more emphasis on your tricep muscles. When taking the bar from the rack, try practising with different grip widths to work out which feels most comfortable for you.

How To Improve Your Overhead Press

If you want to improve your overhead press, here are some tips to make your lifting better:

Start light - Form should always come first, and so it’s essential that before you start loading a barbell with weight that you start light and nail your technique. This is where having a range of plates can help, especially if you’re a beginner.

Warm up - No matter what exercise you’re doing, you should always warm up at the start of a workout to reduce the risk of injury. You can do so by performing lighter sets of the exercise, or doing accessory work.

Work on your shoulder mobility - The overhead press requires a lot of shoulder mobility, therefore in order to get full range during the exercise, you need a good range of motion. Try shoulder specific mobility exercises such as Y raises and banded dislocates to improve this.

What Muscles Does The Overhead Press Work?

This exercise primarily targets the shoulder and triceps muscles, but it also engages various other muscle groups for stability and support. The key muscles worked during the overhead press are -

• Front, middle, and rear deltoids

• Triceps

• Trapezii

• Rhomboids

• Rotator cuff muscles

• Serratus anterior

• Core muscles and trunk stabilisers

Can You Overhead Press Sitting Down?

A seated overhead press can be performed by sitting on an Adjustable Weight Bench and lifting a barbell or dumbbells overhead. A seated variation provides more stability as your back is supported by the bench.

Another version of a seated overhead press is the Z press. This involves sitting on the floor and pushing the weight overhead. This is an advanced overhead press as it requires a lot of core stability to remain upright in a seated position whilst pushing overhead. You could use this as a progression exercise to a standard overhead press.

Can You Overhead Press With Dumbbells?

A Dumbbell overhead press provides similar benefits to using a barbell. With dumbbells, you have the added benefit of it becoming a unilateral exercise. This means that there is no room for overcompensation on one side and the exercise can be used to improve muscle imbalances. You can even do a single-sided overhead press with dumbbells which require greater core stability.

What Is The Difference Between a Shoulder Press and Overhead Press?

The terms ‘shoulder press’ and ‘overhead press’ are often used interchangeably and refer to an exercise that involves pushing weight overhead that primarily targets the shoulder muscles. The only difference being that there is a machine version of the shoulder press. That being said, the two terms refer to the same exercise and can be used to describe various different types of overhead pressing movement. 

Whichever variation of the overhead press you use, incorporating them into your training programme will help build bigger shoulders and overall upper body strength.

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Tags: Equipment > Bars and Weight Plates ; Exercise Type > Strength