Improve Your Overhead Press With These 5 Movements
Overhead Pressing
Pressing is one of the 5 foundational movement patterns I discuss in my free eBook EMBARK, among others such as: squat, hinge, pull, and core. Pressing covers all the muscles needed to push things away from you, or push you away from something, such as in a push-up. These include:
Pecoralis Major and Minor (The Chest)
Anterior Deltoid (The Front of The Shoulder)
Triceps Brachii (The Back of The Upper Arm)
And to a lesser extent:
The Lateral Deltoid
The Muscles of The Rotator Cuff
Core Stabilizers
The Upper Back Musculature
Pressing can be further denoted into horizontal and vertical pressing. Horizontal pressing would be a push-up or a bench press, this targets the chest more, whereas vertical pressing would be a shoulder press or a jerk, which targets the shoulder more.
Why is it Important?
Overhead pressing is used in daily life when putting dishes into a cabinet, reaching for something off a shelf overhead, or in sports such as weightlifting or volleyball.
Although its use in everyday life is rare, this doesn’t make overhead pressing any less important than other movements. Even without overhead pressing in daily life, practicing the movement under load can help preserve shoulder joint-health, improve posture, and train positions you don’t normally enter in your day-to-day.
Can’t I just incline press?
Incline presses are great exercises. They can be a staple press in a good program, and they provide a transitionary movement between flat and overhead positions if overhead pressing isn’t possible for you yet. However, substituting these two isn’t an equal or more beneficial trade. The old saying “if you don’t use it, you lose it” comes to mind here. If you never enter overhead positions, you will slowly lose your strength and range of motion in those positions. So, if you are doing only incline presses, including some of the following movements will most likely still benefit you.
Movement 1: Superman Variations
How to Perform the Superman Exercise:
Start Position: Lie face down on a mat or flat surface with your arms extended straight in front of you, thumbs up and legs fully extended. Keep your neck neutral, looking down at the floor.
Engage Core: Brace your core to avoid arching your lower back excessively during the movement.
Lift Your Limbs: Simultaneously lift your arms, chest, and legs off the ground as high as possible by engaging your lower back, glutes, and shoulders. Keep your arms extended, palms facing down, and legs straight.
Hold the Position: Pause at the top for 1-2 seconds, ensuring that you maintain control and do not over-extend your back.
Lower Slowly: Slowly lower your arms, chest, and legs back to the starting position.
Variation: Adding Load for Pass-Throughs
An advanced variation of this can be done by holding a loaded bar or PVC.
In the middle of the rep, when legs and arms are fully lifted, let the bar pass overhead so it reaches your back, squeezing your shoulders together.
Gently tap your back to complete the movement, then return the bar replicating the same shoulder activation.
*This is an advanced movement, and should be performed without load first*
Movement 2: Kneeling T-Spine/Lat Stretch
How to Perform the Kneeling T-Spine/Lat Stretch:
Start Position: Kneel so your thighs are perpendicular to the floor. Rest your elbows on an elevated surface.
Engage Core: Brace your core and bring your lower back into a neutral, flat position. This will avoid arching your lower back excessively during the movement.
Drop Your Head: Let your shoulders lower, supporting your weight with the elbows and knees. Let your head pass through your elbows and let your upper back relax without losing the neutral lower back.
Flex Arms: Bring your hands to your upper back, bending at the elbow, this will stretch the triceps.
Hold the Position: Pause at the top for 1-2 seconds, ensuring that you maintain control and do not over-extend your lower back.
Raise Your Head: Reverse the movement, raising your head, extending your arms, and rounding your upper back.
Benefits for Overhead Pressing:
Thoracic Spinal Extension: This movement increases the range of motion in your thoracic spine for extension. This will help improve your overhead pressing range of motion and prevent excessively extending your lower back.
Shoulder Range of Motion: This movement stretches the muscles that could limit your overhead range of motion if tight.
Spinal Control: This movement teaches you to move your thoracic spine without losing a neutral low-back position.
The Kneeling T-Spine/Lat Stretch is excellent for improving shoulder range of motion, improving thoracic spine extension, and enhancing spinal control.
Movement 3: T-Spine Pullovers
How to Perform the T-Spine Pullover Exercise:
Start Position: Begin by lying on a foam roller that supports your thoracic spine (this can also be done on a flat bench if this is too big of a jump for you) with your feet flat on the ground. Bring your arms extended straight above your chest. Your hands should be positioned over your chest with a slight bend in your elbows.
Lower Your Hands: Slowly lower your hands backward over your head in a controlled motion. Keep your elbows slightly bent and your arms extended, ensuring that your shoulder joints move through a full range of motion.
Feel the Stretch: Continue lowering the weight until you feel a stretch in your chest and lats. Avoid overextending and keep your core engaged to protect your lower back.
Hold The Position: Hold this stretch for 1-2 seconds, maintaining the core engagement to protect your lower back.
Return to Start Position: Reverse the motion by pulling your hands back over your chest, focusing on using your lats and chest muscles to bring your hands back to the starting position.
Variation: Adding Dumbbells
Perform the same movement, while holding dumbbells in your hands.
*This is an advanced movement, and should be performed without load first*
Benefits for the Overhead Position:
Shoulder Mobility: By moving the arms through a full range of motion overhead, the pullover increases shoulder flexibility and mobility, helping to achieve better positioning during overhead lifts.
Lat and Scapular Strength: The lats play a key role in stabilizing the shoulder joint during overhead movements. Strengthening the lats through the pullover improves overall shoulder stability and control when pressing weights overhead.
Core Engagement: The pullover requires core engagement to prevent excessive arching of the back, which translates into better core stability for maintaining posture during overhead movements.
Thoracic Spine Mobility: This movement increases the range of motion in your thoracic spine for extension. This will help improve your overhead pressing range of motion and prevent excessively extending your lower back.
The pullover is an excellent exercise for developing the upper body muscles, essential for strong, stable, and efficient overhead movement.
Movement 4: Shoulder Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs)
How to Perform Shoulder CARs:
Start Position: Begin by standing or sitting with your spine in a neutral position and your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your core engaged and your posture upright. Raise your right arm straight out in front of you to shoulder height, with the palm facing down.
Engage the Shoulder: Slowly rotate your shoulder, keeping the elbow fully extended and the palm facing down. Begin by moving your arm in a circular motion, leading with your thumb as you move it away from your body and towards the ceiling.
Complete the Circle: Continue rotating your arm backward in a controlled, circular motion, bringing it behind your head and down your back, while maintaining full extension. As you complete the rotation, your thumb should be facing upward, and your palm should face inward.
Return to Start Position: Reverse the motion slowly, bringing your arm back forward through the same controlled path to the starting position, with your palm facing down again.
Benefits for the Overhead Position:
Increased Shoulder Mobility: The controlled rotation through the shoulder joint improves overall mobility, helping to increase the range of motion necessary for a proper overhead position.
Rotator Cuff Health: The rotator cuff muscles are essential for stabilizing the shoulder during overhead movements. By engaging and strengthening them, CARs help prevent injury and ensure better control when the arm is lifted overhead.
Joint Health and Lubrication: CARs improve the joint's fluidity and health by encouraging the production of synovial fluid, which lubricates the shoulder joint and helps maintain long-term mobility.
Better Posture for Overhead Lifts: Performing CARs regularly can help maintain healthy scapular mechanics and improve posture, making overhead lifts feel more stable and less stressful on the shoulders.
Shoulder CARs are a valuable exercise for enhancing shoulder mobility, stability, and control.
Movement 5: Z-Press
How to Perform the Z-Press:
Start Position: Sit on the floor with your legs extended straight in front of you and your feet together. Keep your back straight and engage your core. Hold a barbell (or dumbbells) with both hands at shoulder-width, with the bar resting on your upper chest and your elbows bent at about 90 degrees.
Grip and Posture: Ensure your grip is firm and your elbows are tucked under the bar or weights. Maintain a tall, upright posture with your chest proud and your lower back not over-arched.
Press the Weight Overhead: With a controlled motion, press the weight overhead by extending your arms. Focus on driving with your shoulders and engaging your core to avoid any excessive leaning back.
Lockout at the Top: Once the barbell (or dumbbells) is overhead, ensure that your arms are fully extended with your shoulders shrugged slightly upward to lock the position in place.
Lower Slowly: Lower the weight back to the starting position in a controlled manner, keeping the movement steady and focusing on maintaining proper posture throughout the descent.
Repeat: Perform the desired number of repetitions while maintaining proper form. Ensure that you keep your core engaged and avoid leaning backward as you press the weight.
Benefits for the Overhead Position:
Core Stability: The Z-Press demands a high level of core activation to keep the torso upright without the assistance of a backrest, helping to build better posture and stability for overhead movements.
Reinforcing Overhead Strength: The Z-Press helps to strengthen the overhead position under load, without compensation. This reinforces the adaptations developed from the previous movement.
Eliminates Leg Assistance: Since you perform the Z-Press sitting on the floor with your legs extended, you remove the ability to use the lower body for momentum, forcing the upper body to do all the work, which increases shoulder and core activation.
Enhanced Overhead Lockout: The emphasis on pressing overhead with strict form helps improve the lockout position, making it easier to hold heavy weights overhead in various lifts like the strict press, push press, or jerks.
The Z-Press is an effective exercise for reinforcing overhead strength, stability, and mobility.
I hope these movements help you sharpen your overhead pressing strength, mobility, and overall performance! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @aidanjmetcalfe.
“If you have a body, you are an athlete”
