Overhead Press
- Intermediate
- Gym
- Functional
The overhead press holds the bar at your collarbones with a grip just outside shoulder-width, then presses it straight up while your core stays braced and your glutes squeezed. Pressing a fixed bar overhead loads the front delts, side delts and triceps together as a standing compound push. Intermediate lifters use it in the gym or in functional training for weight and reps, as a main lift or a finisher.
- Muscles
- Front delts, Side delts, Triceps
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Logged as
- Weight and reps
How to
- Hold the bar at your collarbones, grip just outside shoulders.
- Brace your core and squeeze your glutes.
- Press the bar straight overhead, moving your head back slightly.
- Finish with the bar over your mid-foot, then lower with control.
Form cues
- Keep your ribs pulled down, not flared up.
- Exhale as you press the bar overhead.
- Keep your wrists stacked directly over your elbows.
Common mistakes
- Bar drifts forward instead of straight up. Press in a straight vertical line overhead.
- Lower back arches to help the press. Keep your ribs down and glutes squeezed.
- Head stays still, blocking the bar's path. Move your head back as the bar passes.
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