The push press is a dynamic upper-body pressing exercise. It develops great upper body and core strength, powerful hip extension, and core-to-extremity timing. Read further to learn everything you need to know about the push press:
- What Is the Push Press?
- Push Press Benefits
- Muscle Groups Worked
- How to Prepare for the Push Press
- Equipment Needed for the Push Press
- How to Warm Up for the Push Press
- How to Perform the Push Press
- Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Push Press Modifications
- Push Press Variations
- Common Push Press Workouts
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What Is the Push Press?
The push press is similar to the strict press in that both vertical pressing movements drive the load from the shoulders to overhead. For the push press, however, the movement is initiated with a shallow dip to create knee and hip flexion. This is followed immediately by a rapid hip and knee extension to launch the bar off the shoulders before the arms take over to press the bar to lock out overhead.
Because athletes use their legs and hips to help propel the weight overhead, they can lift quite a bit more in the push press than in the strict press. The push press also teaches core-to-extremity timing and coordination as the muscles of the hips and legs must seamlessly hand off to the arms and shoulder muscles to get the bar overhead. Once this movement pattern has been mastered, a rapid cycle time for multiple reps is possible, increasing the power output potential for this movement. The push press is a great movement to program when a workout demands a vertical pressing movement done for medium to high reps with a heavier load than would be possible with a strict press. Add to this the neurological benefits of this exercise — coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance — and the push press offers significant bang for the buck.
Push Press Benefits
The push press develops upper body pressing strength, power, speed, neurological skills, and stamina.
Strength
In the push press, the prime movers, including the hip flexors, hip extensors (glutes and hams), spinal erectors, and quadriceps, assist the arms in driving the barbell overhead. The incorporation of the legs and hips in the push press enables athletes to lift as much as 30% more weight than with the shoulder press, dramatically increasing pressing strength.
Power
The rapid extension of the legs and hips in the drive portion of the push press trains the athlete to impart forces into the ground quickly or powerfully. Similarly, the drive of the arms to press an already moving bar to lockout also teaches the athlete how to apply force into an implement, quickly.
Speed
As athletes gain mastery of the push press, they become adept at linking reps together. As the bar comes down from overhead (from the previous rep) and reaches the shoulders, the athlete immediately flows into the dip for the next rep. The legs then extend, the bar is driven overhead, and then returned to the shoulders, where the dip is once again seamlessly performed to start the next rep. In this manner, athletes are able to generate a rapid cycle rate in the push press.
Neurological Adaptation
The core-to-extremity aspect of the push press is obvious as a powerful leg drive is used to assist the arms in driving the barbell overhead. Performing the lift properly with the proper sequence of muscle contribution develops the neurological skills: coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance.
Coordination: Great coordination is required in the handoff from the dip and drive of the legs to the pressing of the arms. Any slight misjudgment in the timing between these two elements will negatively affect performance.
Accuracy: The dip of the legs must be “smooth” and not a free fall in order to preserve the line of action and body position. While the drive must be explosive, it is critical the torso remain completely vertical in order to launch the bar straight overhead and not forward. The arms must press the bar overhead hard while also guiding it to the correct finish position. All of these elements must be executed with great accuracy for optimal performance in the lift.
Agility: A critical component of executing an effective push press is the rapid turnaround from the bottom of the dip into the drive. There should be no pause in the bottom of the dip. The athlete must anticipate the bottom of the dip and immediately and rapidly extend the legs and hips out of the bottom in order to take advantage of the stretch reflex and impart as much force as possible on the bar.
Balance: As the bar travels overhead in the push press, it must pass very close to the face and finish directly overhead. Keeping the bar close allows the athlete to stay balanced through the heels with the load at arm’s length overhead. Every fraction of an inch the bar deviates away from the athlete’s body will cause the athlete to be pulled forward. In this way, the push press teaches the athlete how to manipulate the load and stay balanced.
Stamina
Because of the cycle rate and relatively high number of reps that can be performed in the push press with substantial weight, it is a great exercise for building stamina in the shoulders. Sets of 12, 15, or 20 will result in great fatigue and the buildup of lactic acid, thereby developing stamina.
Muscle Groups Worked
The push press incorporates the muscles of the legs, core, shoulders, upper back, and arms.
Legs
The muscles of the legs, including the hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps, contract powerfully to drive the bar overhead. This develops the ability of the athlete to drive forces into the ground quickly, which is important for movements like running, sprinting, and throwing.
Core
The muscles of the core, including the abdominals and spinal erectors, contract isometrically to transfer forces from the leg drive, through the core, into the arms and the bar. The core musculature remains engaged to stabilize the bar overhead. The push press helps develop the midline strength that is so important in athletic movements such as sprinting, throwing, kicking, punching, and jumping.
Shoulder, Upper Back, and Arms
As the arms take over to drive the bar overhead, the muscles of the shoulders, upper back, and arms, including the deltoids, traps, rhomboids, lats, and triceps, contract forcefully. The push press is a phenomenal upper-body strengthening exercise and develops all of these muscle groups.
How to Prepare for the Push Press
Preparing to push press requires assembling the proper equipment and performing a general and specific warm-up to get the body ready to move through the range of motion required.
Equipment Needed for the Push Press
To train the push press, an athlete can use a PVC pipe or barbells of various weights, from 10 to 45 lb, as needed. The weights used should be rubber bumper plates so the athlete can safely drop the bar when needed.
How to Warm Up for the Push Press
To warm up for the push press, the lifter should perform general movements that work every joint through its full range of motion. Air squats, ring rows, lunges, shoulder circles, and push-ups are good choices for the general warm-up. For the specific warm-up, a great option is dumbbell or kettlebell presses with a smooth tempo and pauses at the top and bottom of the movement. The athlete should then be ready to transition to their warmup sets in the push press.
How to Do the Push Press
Performing a push press involves mastering the setup, dip, drive, and press.
Setup
In the setup for the push press, the athlete assumes a hip-width stance, with legs and hips fully extended and the bar racked high along the shoulders. The athlete has a full grip on the bar with the hands just outside the shoulders and the elbows pointing down and out and slightly in front of the bar.
Dip
For the dip, the athlete smoothly and under control, flexes the knees and hips into a shallow quarter squat. It is critical that the athlete’s torso remain completely vertical during the dip, and their weight is shifted back toward the heels.
Drive
Immediately upon reaching the bottom of the dip, the athlete drives through the heels and rapidly and fully extends the legs and hips to impart vertical forces through the upright torso into the bar. The athlete’s heels should remain in contact with the ground until the legs and hips have fully extended.
Press
Once the legs and hips have fully extended, the arms engage and press an already moving bar past the face to a position directly overhead. In the finish position, the athlete pushes up against the bar with active shoulders, legs, hips, and arms fully extended and their weight shifted toward their heels.
Common Push Press Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The most common push press mistakes include forward inclination of the chest in the dip-drive phase, a muted hip, arms pressing before the hips fully extend, and pausing in the bottom of the dip.
Forward Inclination of the Chest
It is very common for the athlete’s torso to lean forward during the dip portion of the push press. This results in the athlete being pulled forward toward the balls of the feet and an inefficient, “looping” bar path. When the athlete is on the balls of their feet, the force they can impart into the ground to drive the bar vertically is reduced, and the ability to use the glutes and hamstrings for this task is compromised. A looping bar path is long and slow, and decreases the weight that can be put overhead. To prevent this forward inclination, the athlete should practice keeping a vertical torso as they dip. At first, they can dip and pause at the bottom to make sure they aren’t leaning forward. Once this has been mastered, they can combine the dip and drive, but do it slowly. When they are able to do this without any forward inclination, they can add speed to the dip and drive before attempting the full movement. Using a PVC pipe instead of a barbell during this progression will help the athlete get sufficient reps without fatiguing and will also allow the athlete to feel the proper position without being reliant on the feedback from the barbell. To help provide a tactile positioning cue, the athlete can perform each step of this progression with their butt and back against a wall. By maintaining contact with the wall, they should remain upright.
The Muted Hip
In the push press, a “muted hip” occurs when the athlete does not flex at the hip in the dip portion of the lift. Instead, there is a straight line from the hip to the knee. If there is no hip flexion, there can be no powerful hip extension, and therefore no powerful drive phase to launch the bar off the torso. In addition, the muted hip prevents the posterior chain from contributing significantly to the drive, resulting in blunted power. Often, this lack of posterior chain engagement is exacerbated because the muted hip position pushes the athlete toward the balls of their feet.
One correction for the muted hip is to encourage the athlete to push the hips back slightly when they dip. Relative to where the hips are positioned during the muted hip, pushing the hips back should result in the hips remaining directly underneath the shoulders. We just need to be careful not to allow the hips to travel too far back, resulting in forward inclination of the torso.
Arms Press Early
It is common for athletes to engage their arms early in the push press as they attempt to get the bar overhead. Ironically, pressing early with the arms stops the full force of the leg and hip extension from being imparted on the bar. This is a core-to-extremity violation and will result in less weight being lifted. To learn the proper timing and coordination of the lift, athletes can practice the full dip and drive without engaging the arms. They can do this with either a PVC pipe or barbell. As the athletes dip and then drive aggressively without engaging the arms, they should be mindful of a couple of things. First, they should focus on what full hip extension feels like. Next, they should observe what happens to the bar when they do fully extend the hips without engaging the arms. They should notice the bar pops off the shoulders and moves vertically past the chin. This transfer of force from the hip extension into the bar that causes the bar to move off the shoulder is the athlete’s cue to engage the arms. With a little practice, the athlete should be able to get this timing right.
Pausing at the Bottom of the Dip
The push press requires the athlete to drive out of the bottom of the dip immediately. If the athlete pauses in the bottom of the dip, much of the stretch reflex in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments will be lost, and the drive portion will be diminished. To remove the pause in the bottom of the dip, a simple drill is to practice the dip and drive at a slow speed, focusing on an immediate turnaround out of the bottom of the dip. As the athlete learns to anticipate the bottom position of the dip and drive instantly out of this position, speed can be added to make the dip-drive more realistic. Once the pause has been removed at full speed, the full movement can be attempted and refined.
Modification
Modifications can be made to the stance, grip, or equipment, and load to accommodate any lifter in the push press.
Stance
Some athletes may require a slightly wider stance to be able to perform the dip with a vertical torso while staying balanced. Athletes with knee pain may want to turn their toes out slightly and push their knees out to track with their toes as they dip, as this often alleviates knee pain in the push press.
Grip and Equipment
Widening the athlete’s grip may help them achieve the proper overhead position if they have tight shoulders. For someone with shoulder or elbow pain, a wider grip may help alleviate the pain. Another option for each of these individuals is to substitute dumbbells for the barbell.
Load
The push press can be scaled using a PVC pipe in order to drill technique and master the movement pattern. For those coming off an injury, practicing with a PVC pipe to start will ensure they are pain-free through the full range of motion.
Push Press Variations
Common variations of the push press include a dumbbell or kettlebell push press and a single-arm push press.
Dumbbell or Kettlebell Push Press
The push press can be done with two dumbbells or two kettlebells. These variations allow for a slightly different range of motion and require the athlete to stabilize each side independently of the other, thereby significantly stimulating the muscles in the shoulder and core. Using dumbbells or kettlebells may also allow athletes to work around certain wrist, elbow, or shoulder issues.
Single-Arm Push Press
Done with a dumbbell or kettlebell, the single-arm push press provides a significant challenge to core musculature as the body attempts to stabilize the uneven loading overhead. The single-arm push press is also a good way to decrease strength imbalances between right and left arms. Single-arm lifting permits more freedom in the movement pattern, allowing an athlete to work around flexibility, mobility, or pain issues.
Common Push Press Workouts
The push press can be used in a variety of workouts, from heavy and low-rep to fast, light, and high-rep.
Fight Gone Bad: 3 rounds for total reps of: 1-minute wall-ball shots (14/20 lb)/1-minute sumo deadlift high pulls (55/74 lb)/1-minute box jumps (20 inches)/1-minute push presses (55/75 lb)/1-minute rowing calories/1-minute rest
Heavy Day: Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps/push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps/push jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps
Jack (Hero WOD): AMRAP in 20 minutes: 10 push presses (85/115 lb)/10 kettlebell swings (35/53 lb)/10 box jumps (20/24 inches)
The Push Press