Push Press
By adding a quick dip and drive from the legs, you can move more weight overhead than a strict press allows, overloading the lockout and building explosive power. It teaches the whole body to transfer force from the ground through the bar, a skill that carries over to athletics. Treat it as a power movement with lower reps and crisp technique.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Body part
- Shoulder
- Type
- Functional, Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Deltoid Anterior
- Browse by movement
- Vertical Press
- Target
- Deltoid Anterior
- Secondary
- Deltoid Middle, Triceps Brachii Long Head, Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Triceps Brachii Medial Head, Trapezius Upper
- Tertiary
- Vastus Lateralis, Rectus Femoris, Gluteus Maximus, Erector Spinae
How to do it
- 1
Take a shoulder-width grip on a racked barbell and unrack it onto the front of your shoulders.
- 2
Stand tall with feet hip-width, abs braced, and elbows slightly in front of the bar.
- 3
Dip a few inches by bending the knees, keeping your torso upright.
- 4
Reverse the dip explosively, driving through the legs to launch the bar upward.
- 5
As the bar leaves your shoulders, press it the rest of the way to a locked-out overhead position, then lower under control.
Tips
- Keep the dip shallow and vertical; letting your knees cave or torso pitch forward wastes the drive.
- Time the arm press to take over exactly as the leg drive finishes for a seamless launch.
- Finish every rep with the bar stacked over your midfoot and ears, not out in front.
Variations
Common mistakes
- A second, smaller knee bend appears as the bar comes off the shoulders, which turns the lift into a push jerk and drops you under a bar you meant to drive up.
- The bar bumps the chin because the head never moves; pull the head back a couple of inches as the bar leaves the shoulders, then push it back through as the arms lock out.
- Elbows sag under the bar in the rack, so the weight rolls onto the fingers and the first inch of drive goes into resettling it rather than moving it.
- Touch-and-go reps get run without a breath, and by the third the brace is gone; reset the rack, take air and set the trunk again on every rep.
- Bouncing the bar off the shoulders to start the next rep steals the dip and sends the bar forward, so the arms spend the rep chasing it out in front of your base.
Frequently asked
- How many sets and reps of the barbell push press should you do when you are new to the exercise?
- Treat it as a power lift: 4 to 5 sets of 3 reps with two to three minutes of rest, loaded at roughly what you can strict press for 5. Sets above 6 reps turn it into a breathing exercise and the rack position falls apart. Add weight when every set moves fast, not when you can grind one more rep.
- What can I do instead of the barbell push press at home or without a rack?
- Two dumbbells cleaned to the shoulders give you nearly the same lift with no rack needed, and a single kettlebell push press works if that is what you own. With no equipment, a loaded backpack held at the chest keeps the dip and drive, though the load runs out quickly. If the rack is the only problem, clean the bar from the floor and keep the sets to three reps.
- What is the push press for, and when is it the wrong lift?
- It builds overhead power and lockout strength and teaches the force transfer from the ground through the bar that carries into jerks, throws and overhead sport. It is a poor hypertrophy lift, because the legs take away the hardest part for the shoulders, and a poor choice if you cannot hold a front rack with a tall torso or lack the shoulder range to finish with the bar over your ears. Learn the strict press first.
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