How to do the overhead press
The standing barbell press builds strong shoulders and a stable torso. Here's how to keep the bar path straight, stop the lean-back and add weight in small steps.
The Helthy team · Updated · 7 min read
- Works
- Front delts
- Also works
- Side delts, Triceps, Upper chest
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
The overhead press is the strictest test of upper-body strength in the gym. You stand, the bar starts on your collarbones, and nothing but your shoulders and triceps gets it overhead, with your legs, glutes and trunk holding you still underneath. Dumbbells and machines are easier to learn, but the barbell version lets you load heavier and add weight in small, trackable steps, which is why we'd make it the main shoulder lift for most people who have a rack.
How to do the overhead press
- Set the bar in the rack at about armpit height. You want to step under it with slightly bent knees and stand up to unrack, not rise onto your toes to reach it.
- Grip just outside shoulder width. Your forearms should be vertical when you look at them from the front and from the side. Wrap your thumbs, and set the bar low in your palm so it sits over your forearm bones instead of bending your wrists back.
- Unrack and take two steps back. Stand with your feet about hip width apart. The bar rests on your front delts at collarbone height, with your elbows slightly in front of the bar.
- Squeeze your glutes and brace. Take a big breath into your belly, tighten your abs as if you're about to be poked in the stomach, and keep your ribs down. Your body should feel like one solid piece from knees to shoulders.
- Press straight up and pull your head back. Tuck your chin slightly so the bar can pass close to your nose and forehead without hitting you. The bar goes up in a straight line, not forward around your face.
- Push your head through once the bar clears your forehead. Your head moves forward under the bar as you lock your elbows. At the top, the bar, your shoulders, hips and midfoot should stack in one vertical line when seen from the side, with your arms fully straight.
- Lower the bar back to your collarbones. Pull your head back again as it passes your face, and let it settle on your front delts before the next rep.
It should feel hard in your shoulders and triceps, with your abs and glutes working hard to keep you still. If your lower back is the thing that's tired at the end of a set, you're leaning back too far.
Cues that help mid-set
"Head through the window." Picture a window frame made by your arms at the top. Pushing your head through it gets the bar over your midfoot instead of hanging out in front of you.
"Squeeze a coin between your glutes." It sounds silly and works well. Tight glutes lock your pelvis, which stops the lower back from arching as the rep slows down.
"Elbows under the bar." If the bar drifts forward off the bottom, your elbows have usually flared out behind it. Keep them just in front and the bar travels straight up from the start.
"Push yourself away from the bar." Some people find this easier than thinking about pushing the bar up. You'll feel your body move under the bar at the top, which is exactly what should happen.
If none of those land, film a set from the side and watch the bar. The picture is often clearer than any cue.
Common mistakes
Leaning back into a standing incline press. When a rep gets hard, the hips drift forward and the lower back arches until you're pressing at an angle, which moves the stress off your shoulders and onto your lower back. The usual cause is a weight that's too heavy, with loose glutes a close second. Squeeze your glutes, keep your ribs down and drop the weight until every rep finishes with your body vertical.
Pressing the bar forward around your face. Lifters who are nervous about hitting their chin push the bar out in front of them. A bar a few inches forward feels much heavier, the same way a full shopping bag is easy to carry at your side and awful at arm's length. Pull your head back instead of moving the bar out of its path.
Stopping short at either end. Starting each rep from chin height, or stopping with bent elbows at the top, lets you use more weight while skipping the hardest parts of the lift. Touch your collarbones at the bottom and lock your elbows at the top of every rep.
Flaring the elbows behind the bar. If your elbows point out to the sides at the bottom, your forearms aren't vertical and the bar starts its trip already drifting forward. Bring your elbows slightly in front of the bar, and bring your grip in a touch if that feels awkward.
Bending the wrists back. When the bar sits up in your fingers, your wrists fold back and the press leaks power (and your wrists will tell you about it the next day). Roll the bar down into your palm so it's stacked over your forearms.
Breathing and bracing
Take your breath at the bottom with the bar on your collarbones, then brace before you press. Hold it until the bar is past your forehead and breathe out as you finish the lockout. On a set of 5 you can take a fresh breath at the bottom of each rep. The brace matters more here than on the bench press because nothing is supporting your back; your abs and glutes are the bench.
Sets, reps and how much weight to use
For strength, do 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 6 reps. For muscle growth, 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 12 works well. Use a weight you could still get 2 or 3 more reps with, and rest two to three minutes between sets. Put it first in the session on the days you train it, or second after the bench press. Expect it to feel harder than it looks: most people press about 60 to 70% of what they bench.
Warm up by building toward your working weight. If your working sets are 95 lb (43 kg):
- Empty bar for 10 reps
- Empty bar for 5, pausing at the top
- 65 lb (30 kg) for 5
- 80 lb (36 kg) for 2 or 3
New lifters can start with the empty bar (45 lb or 20 kg). If that's too heavy for 5 clean reps, start with dumbbells for a few weeks rather than cutting the range. Add 5 lb (2.5 kg) a session while the reps stay clean. The overhead press stalls sooner than any other barbell lift because the shoulders are small muscles, so switch to 2.5 lb (1 kg) jumps early, or add a rep each week before adding weight, as covered in our progressive overload guide. If you log every set in Helthy, new personal records are flagged at the end of the workout, which makes slow progress easier to see.
Here's roughly what people lift for their normal working sets:
| Bodyweight | beginner | intermediate | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | 25 lb (11 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) | 85 lb (39 kg) |
| 160 lb (73 kg) | 30 lb (14 kg) | 65 lb (29 kg) | 105 lb (48 kg) |
| 190 lb (86 kg) | 40 lb (18 kg) | 75 lb (34 kg) | 125 lb (57 kg) |
| 220 lb (100 kg) | 45 lb (20 kg) | 90 lb (41 kg) | 145 lb (66 kg) |
| 250 lb (113 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) | 100 lb (45 kg) | 165 lb (75 kg) |
The honest caveat: progress here is slow even when you're doing everything right, and a 5 lb gain in a month is a good month for an intermediate lifter. Don't take the advanced column as a target.
Variations and alternatives
- Shoulder press machine: a fixed path and a back pad, so you can push close to failure safely. Good for higher-rep sets after the barbell work.
- Dumbbell shoulder press: each arm moves on its own, which is kinder to shoulders that don't like a fixed bar. It also shows up a weaker side quickly.
- Seated barbell press: takes your legs and hips out of it. Use a bench with an upright back, and keep your hips on the seat so it doesn't turn into an incline press.
- Push press: a small knee dip and drive lets you handle heavier weights overhead. It's a separate lift, so we'd keep it as an extra rather than a replacement for strict pressing.
- Landmine press: the bar moves up and forward at an angle, which suits people who can't raise their arms fully overhead without pain.
Pair any of them with lateral raises. Pressing works the side delts less than people assume.
Overhead press questions
Is the overhead press bad for your shoulders?
Not for most people with healthy shoulders who press with the bar over their midfoot and build up gradually. The trouble usually comes from pressing with the bar forward, too much weight too soon, or pushing through pain. If it hurts at the same point every rep for more than a week or two, even with lighter weights, get it looked at by a physical therapist.
Should I press standing or seated?
Standing, for most people. It trains your whole body to hold still under load, and it's harder to hide a lean-back when there's no pad behind you. Seated is fine as a second shoulder exercise or if your lower back is sore.
Should I press behind my neck?
We'd skip it. It needs a lot of shoulder mobility that most people don't have, and it doesn't do anything a front press, dumbbell press and lateral raises can't do between them.
Why is my overhead press so much weaker than my bench?
That's normal. The bench press uses your chest, a bigger muscle, and you're lying on a stable surface. A press around 60 to 70% of your bench is typical, so 185 lb (85 kg) on the bench usually means something like 115 to 125 lb (52 to 57 kg) overhead for the same reps.