Overhead Press (Barbell)
Stand with a barbell at the shoulders and press it overhead to arm's length. Also called OHP, Military Press, Standing Press, Strict Press and Shoulder Press (Barbell).
- Pattern
- Press overhead
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Works
- Front delt, side delt, triceps
- Loads
- Shoulders, elbows, wrists, lower back
If something hurts
Not medical advice. Sharp pain, numbness or swelling needs someone qualified to look at it.
Each swap below spares one joint.
Shoulder Landmine PressTry it if it feels okay
Presses at an angle, so the shoulder never goes straight overhead and the wrist stays neutral.
Elbow Front Raise (Dumbbell)
A raise's elbow stays fixed, so no elbow bend loads it.
Wrist Landmine Press
Presses at an angle, so the shoulder never goes straight overhead and the wrist stays neutral.
Lower back Shoulder Press (Dumbbell)
Seated and braced, so the back stays out of it.
When it stalls, these usually help
Rebuilds the vertical pull that holds the shoulder blades the press works from.
Adds pulling volume without loading the lower back, so it does not eat into recovery.
The top of a press is triceps work, and close-grip bench trains it with more weight.
Direct side-delt work, which pressing only partly covers.
How Swolver coaches it
This lift is read from your own sessions. When it goes flat for four weeks, Swolver names the likely cause in plain words, such as weekly sets that dropped, and the one change to make. The rules are all on the method page.