Overhead Press

How to perform the Overhead Press

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, bar resting in the rack at roughly upper-chest height — about the level of your collarbones.
2. Grip the bar just outside shoulder width with a full grip and wrists stacked over elbows; the bar sits on the heel of the palm, not the fingers.
3. Unrack the bar to a front-rack position with elbows slightly in front of the bar, chest tall, glutes and abs braced to lock the ribcage down.
4. Press the bar straight up; once it clears your face, drive your head and chest forward through the window of your arms so the bar finishes over the mid-foot.
5. Lock out at the top with the bar over your ears, biceps next to your head, and the shoulders shrugged actively into the bar.
6. Lower the bar back to the front rack under control, pulling the head back out of the way; reset the brace before each rep.

Suggested working range: 6–8 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Common mistakes

• •Pressing the bar forward in an arc instead of straight up, so it finishes over the front of the head rather than the mid-foot.
• •Leaning back into a standing bench press rather than locking the ribs down over the pelvis.
• •Forgetting to drive the head and chest forward through the bar at lockout, leaving the shoulders in a compromised position.
• •Letting the elbows drift behind the bar at the start of the press, so the load is held with the front delts instead of the whole shoulder girdle.

Variations & alternatives

Swap in a related movement if equipment, recovery, or progression demands it.