Can You Do An Overhead Press With Barbells?

A barbell offers several significant advantages over dumbbells when performing the overhead press. Up until 1972, the press, or properly the clean and press was contested in Olympic weightlifting and was considered a true measure of strength. Before the popularity of the bench press, the question of "how much do you press?" always referred to overhead lifting. Consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.

Overhead Press

The overhead, or military press involves pressing a barbell from the shoulders to arms-length overhead. Do not push the bar out away from your face, push it in a straight line. Tilt your head back to get your chin out of the way of the bar. When doing so, do not lean back, simply move your head out of the way of the bar, do not push the bar around your head. Lower the bar to your shoulders under control. Keep your forearms completely vertical at all times. Remember that this is a shoulder exercise, do not knee-kick or drive the bar up with your legs.

Barbell Advantages

The primary advantage of using a barbell is the ability to use more weight. Strength gains are directly related to the amount of weight you push, so press heavy. Size gains depend on weight used as well, so if you want large, strong shoulders, shove a heavy weight straight up. The military press works the shoulders and triceps, and if you do it standing, it recruits practically every muscle of your upper body for stability when lifting.

Variations

Some people can safely press from behind the neck, but this requires flexibility to do so. There is no more inherent danger to the shoulder joint unless you are very inflexible, in which case you should stick to pressing from the front. If you wish to work on your flexibility specifically for this lift, widen your grip and concentrate on pulling the bar down smoothly as you lower it. The goal here is to retract your shoulder blades as you lower the bar. Wide grip pressing can increase the work done by your shoulders while promoting flexibility. Wide grip pressing can be done in front or in back of the neck, and close grip pressing from the front. Close grip pressing will work your triceps even more.

Training

There is no set repetition range you should work in, so train heavy. Heavy is relative. You can gradually add weight to the bar while reducing your repetitions until you are ready to try a maximum effort single repetition. This does not just take strength, it takes technique as well, so do not rush it. Light weights can be done following heavy lifts to work on technique with more control and provide additional work for your shoulders. The volume of training that you perform will contribute to your overall muscle gain.