How To Do A Shoulder Press

The proper way to start an overhead press is to start by standing with the bar on your shoulders. Push the bar up and over your head until your elbows are locked. Don’t use your legs and make sure to keep them straight. Then lower the bar to your shoulders and repeat.

The overhead press is a full body exercise. Your shoulders and arms are what push the weight up and over your head. Your legs, lower back and abs is what helps you maintain your balance. The overhead press is one of the best exercises to build strong and muscular shoulders as well as bigger arms. To avoid shoulder pain, you want to overhead press with a narrow grip so you don’t flare your elbows. Then you want to shrug your shoulders at the top. Push the bar up and over your head, lock your elbows and shrug your shoulders upwards towards the ceiling. This is what engages your traps and prevents shoulder injury. You’ll definitely struggle to add weight than you would on other exercises. The poorer your form is, the more you will struggle with this exercise. Which is why it’s so important to have a proper form.

You can overhead press inside your power rack if it’s tall enough for you. If it’s too low you can set the bar in the outside upright of your power rack and then unrack it. If your power rack doesn’t have outside uprights, or you simply do not have a power rack, pull the bar from the floor on to your shoulders, which is called power clean. Once the bar is on your shoulders, you can follow these simple STEPS to overhead press. Again with proper form…

1. Put the bar on the front of your shoulders. With a narrow grip, keep your wrists straight and your forearms vertical. You want to make sure to lock your knees and hips.
2. Raise your chest towards the ceiling by arching your upper-back. Try to touch your chin with the upper part of your chest.
3. Take a deep breath. Hold it in and push the bar in a vertical line. You don’t want to press it in front or behind your head. You want to press it over your head.
4. Go forward. Stay close to the bar as you press the weight up. Once the bar has passed your forehead you need to shift your torso forward.
5. Lock it in and hold the bar over your shoulders. Lock your elbows and shrug your shoulders up to the ceiling.
6. Return the bar to your shoulders. That is one rep.
7. Breathe out, raise your chest and set your forearms vertical. Don’t bend your legs because you’ll take the work away from your shoulder muscles by using stronger muscles in your legs which would defeat the purpose of this exercise. You want to keep your hips and knees locked from start to finish. If you can’t lock in your knees and hips, then the weight is too heavy.

The overhead press looks dangerous because you’re putting weight right above your head, but it is a lot safer than the squat or bench press. If you aren’t able to push the weight, you can simply lower it back your shoulders. Then return it to the floor or drop the bar if you use bumper plates. Don’t worry, you won’t get stuck under the bar.

-Terry Asher