Oh, wise ones ... overhead press
JTS_go
Posts: 65 Member
Oh, wise, experienced lifters, what is the secret to the overhead press? I'm trying to keep my abs and glutes clenched. I'm having a really hard time keeping my elbows in front of the bar, but working on it. I just could not do 60 lbs last night. Had to take it back down to 55. All my other lifts are coming along nicely and not anywhere near failure.
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OHP is a killer. It just is. This is the lift most people, men and women, stall on first. Many women find it difficult to make the 5 lb increase and use fractional weights to have a smaller weight progression. Form can play a part in overall ability, but most often the limiting factor is shoulder strength. You may want to work with a different progression style (smaller weight increases, add reps to sets, do a progressive lift) as a way to build the strength without feeling defeated by the standard 5 lb progression.
Here is a good intro to form video from Mark Rippetoe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJFjYyA40ss 0 -
^^ What she said.
Also, congratulate yourself for those 55 lbs and don't sweat it. Because you're completely normal, and the secret you're asking for doesn't exist.
As a woman, you will usually fail on the OHP first, and you will progress on it the slowest.
That means keep doing what you're doing, make sure your form is solid, and let your upper body catch up.
I finally had to purchase flat washers to be able to add weight increments less than 5 lbs to my OHP because simply I couldn't progress in 5's anymore with it. I now use partials for my bench press also.
Which means for you that bench will probably be next. Just FYI. Just so you're prepared.
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I'm struggling with the OHP too (and also the bench press). Has anyone tried working on your trouble areas on the "off" days? For example, if I do my normal SL schedule M-W-F, I would go and do some bench presses and/or OHPs on T-Th-S. Would this help? Hurt? I was thinking that since the weight is still too low on those, it shouldn't (in theory) overtax the muscles to work on them daily.0
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If you do that, you won't really be giving your muscles time to recover. Just because the weight might be low, that doesn't mean your muscles aren't working hard! It really just takes patience, and creativity, to keep progressing on your upper body lifts. Like jstout suggested, I have had great success doing both added-rep progressions and working with fractionals. So on my OHP, after I failed 3 times in a row trying to get 70 pounds, I dropped back to 60, did 5x5, then 5x6 my next session, then did 65 5x5, then 5x6, and nailed 70 when I tried it again. Now I am using fractionals to move forward, and I dropped back to 3x5 on OHPs because I needed something crazy like 3 and a half minutes between sets. Patience and persistence - things we need to embrace with every lift at some point in time or another!0
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You´re doing fine. I´m at 50 pounds and very impatient- but I´ll get there, when I get there. There´s no secret, just keep trying.0
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Awesome. Thanks so much! I've already got the washers ready to do smaller increases, so I'll go on to that. My bench is still pretty good. Rows are going to be the next stall I think. Good to know that I'm still on track.0
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OHP are so tough! The key thing I've learned from reading and watching Starting Strength is to make sure your barbell is traveling in a straight vertical line. You will have a tendency to push the bar out a bit to go around your face but you need to actually move your face BACK and keep the bar in the same spot you started on your chest. It makes it a million times easier if you get this part of the form down. Also make sure when you start, you don't start the bar down too low on your chest. it should be up close to your collar bones. Otherwise you're putting in extra, unnecessary effort.0
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I think the OHP seems hard because it is the compound lift where you move the least amount of weight. Compared to what you are squatting or deadlifting, it seems like you're not making any progress.
If it makes you feel better, go back into the dumbbell area of the gym and see how much people are pressing using dumbbells. You will see that nobody is moving really big weights on that lift (if they are doing it at all), unless you are in an elite powerlifting gym.
I see the OHP equivalent of quarter-squats a lot at my gym: guys who move 135 lb or more by jumping up and down or not bringing the bar down at all. (Yes, I know the push press is a thing, but I wonder if these guys could move anywhere near that much weight in a strict press without using the stretch reflex or their legs.)0 -
I did my first w/o B today and couldn't do OHP. Barbell is 20kg and only managed 1 rep with VERY bad form. I'm doing miltary press with 2 x 7.5kg dumbbells until I'm stronger. I expected to struggle with this one. I may add some extra upper body exercises until I can at least use the barbell0
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As everyone else said, there is no real secret. It is just plain hard (and awesome of course ;-). I would suggest deloading every time you fail, not every three times, and every time you drop back down five pounds, try to add an extra couple of reps and/or an extra set to increase your strength. The fractionals should help too.
Good luck!0 -
Check out this video (sorry, you'll have to cut and paste)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMAiNQJ6FPc
Mark Rippetoe changed the Overhead Press in his 3rd Edition of Starting Strength. Basically you use hip movement to get the bar up. I've been able to increase my Overhead Press by 10 lbs doing it this way (which is huge for this lift)0 -
fab video, suggest you stick it in the 'useful videos' section too so we can find it again. I didn't watch all 35 minutes of it, and I did think of that 'knee bone connected to the thigh bone' song at one point, but excited to go and try it out now! 0
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fab video, suggest you stick it in the 'useful videos' section too so we can find it again. I didn't watch all 35 minutes of it, and I did think of that 'knee bone connected to the thigh bone' song at one point, but excited to go and try it out now!
Whoops-Forgot how long it is but worth watching. Good suggestion-will post link in the Useful Videos thread0 -
I had the same question. I felt defeated tonight when I could only do one full set at my work weight weight of 55lbs. I managed warming up with 45lbs just fine. Then struggled a bit with the 5 reps on my first work set. I could only manage 3 reps on the rest of my sets. I feel better now that I know I'm not the only person that has issues with the dreaded overhead press.0
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Right there with everyone else. Today I struggled with 60 lbs. I won't increase the weight for next time. I will work at that weight again the next time and focus more on my form.0
