Who Should Do?
Average Gym Goers
The average gym goer’s main training focus is to build muscle and improve function using a range of compound and isolation exercises.
This allows them to target many muscle groups in a time-effective manner. However, this doesn’t mean their training is reserved for strict movement patterns.
Adding a dynamic compound movement such as the barbell push press can improve functional strength and overhead lifting capacity. This can improve other lifts in the gym and enhance function during daily living activities.
This makes it a great fit for a full-body program or at home shoulder workouts.
Bodybuilders
Bodybuilding requires focused muscle contraction using volume and intensity. As part of this, progressive overload is needed to promote muscular hypertrophy.
The barbell push press is a large compound movement that can target multiple muscle groups at a high intensity. This allows us to perform the press with a heavy load, creating overload to stimulate muscle growth.
Consider adding the barbell push press to your back and shoulder workout.
Athletes
The barbell push press is an incredible tool for athletes. Athletes aim to develop strength and power through functional, compound movements.
The barbell push press simultaneously targets the upper and lower body while recruiting the core. This provides an effective stimulus to promote full-body power and functional strength, which can be carried over to improve performance.
Who Should Not Do?
People With Shoulder Impingement Injuries
If you’re suffering from a shoulder impingement injury, it may be best to avoid the barbell push press.
The barbell push press is a complex movement that typically places a lot of stress on the shoulder joints during the pressing movement. If there are any weaknesses or form deviations, it can lead to poor technique and further injury.
If you suspect you have an impingement injury, consult your physical therapist.
People with Lower Back Pain
People with lower back pain should refrain from doing the barbell push press. Research shows that lower back pain is one of the most common complaints during weightlifting. This is mainly due to incorrect exercise performance and poor exercise choices.
The barbell push press places a significant amount of stress on the lower back. As we unrack the rack and press overhead, our lower back needs to stabillize our body. This keeps it in a stable body position.
If suffering from lower back pain, fixed-path resistance machines and seated exercises provide better options.
Benefits Of The Barbell Push Press
Builds Muscle
Muscle building requires a systematic training approach. During this, the main determinants of muscular hypertrophy include performing adequate volume and ensuring progressive overload. This means you need to perform enough training and provide a suitable resistance challenge each week.
The barbell push press is a compound exercise that uses multiple muscle groups. Therefore, it provides a great way to ensure adequate training volume. Alongside this, it is a challenging exercise to perform, providing a suitable exercise stimulus.
Improves Performance
Athletic performance requires strength, power, coordination, and balance. Strength and power are developed by moving near-maximal loads, at a high intensity to stimulate fast-twitch muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are primarily involved in strength and power movements.
The barbell push press is a prime example of strength and power movement. It targets and conditions our legs, hips, core, shoulders, back, and arms to coordinate dynamic movement.
Performing the barbell push press with high intensity can be used to develop explosive power. Generating force with the entire body is suitable for sports with similar movement patterns such as throwing and hitting.
Develops Strength
Overhead press movements make up a large proportion of strength-based movements including the military press and the clean-and-jerk. Add the barbell push press If you want to develop strength. Evidence shows that the push press enhances power development and maximal strength.
The barbell push press develops functional strength by improving motor control and coordination, This transfers to everyday movement patterns including lifting and lowering objects from overhead. Therefore, the push press is great for improving strength and improving your lifts in the gym and daily function.
Frequently Asked Questions
The barbell push press works the deltoids, triceps, gluteus, quadriceps, and calves. This makes it a powerful full-body movement that is great for developing muscle mass, strength, and power.
The push press uses the legs and hips to generate momentum, while the military press is performed with strict form. The push press is better suited to athletes for developing power, while the military press is better for muscle hypertrophy.
Yes, barbell push presses build muscle. To promote muscle hypertrophy, perform 8–12 repetitions at 60%–80% of the maximum weight you can lift for one repetition.
The number of barbell push press reps you should perform is based on your training goals. For strength, aim for 1–5 repetitions. For hypertrophy, perform 8–12 repetitions, and for power perform 3–5 repetitions.
Resources
Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.
- Schoenfeld, B.J., Grgic, J., Van, D.W. and Plotkin, D.L. (2021). Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports, [online] 9(2), pp.32–32. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9020032.
- Nuzzo, J.L., Pinto, M.D., Kazunori Nosaka and Steele, J. (2023). Maximal Number of Repetitions at Percentages of the One Repetition Maximum: A Meta-Regression and Moderator Analysis of Sex, Age, Training Status, and Exercise. Sports medicine. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-023-01937-7.
- Adel Elzanie and Varacallo, M. (2024). Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Deltoid Muscle. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537056/#:~:text=The%20deltoid%20originates%20from%20the,deltoid%20tuberosity%20of%20the%20humerus [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Lake, J.P., Mundy, P.D. and Comfort, P. (2014). Power and Impulse Applied During Push Press Exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, [online] 28(9), pp.2552–2559. doi:https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000000438.
- Stokey, P.J., Kaur, S., Lee, A., Behrens, K. and Nabil Ebraheim (2024). Anatomy and Deficiency of the Deltoid Muscle: A Review of Literature. Orthopedic reviews, [online] 16. doi:https://doi.org/10.52965/001c.115352.
- Tiwana, M.S., Sinkler, M.A. and Bordoni, B. (2023). Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Triceps Muscle. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536996/ [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Kholinne, E., Rizki Fajar Zulkarnain, Yu Cheng Sun, Lim, S., Chun, J.-M. and Jeon, I.-H. (2018). The different role of each head of the triceps brachii muscle in elbow extension. Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica Turcica/Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica, [online] 52(3), pp.201–205. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aott.2018.02.005.
- Hisayo Nasu, Phichaya Baramee, Natnicha Kampan, Akimoto Nimura and Akita, K. (2019). An anatomic study on the origin of the long head of the triceps brachii. JSES open access, [online] 3(1), pp.5–11. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jses.2019.01.001.
- Europe PMC (2016). Europe PMC. [online] Europepmc.org. Available at: https://europepmc.org/article/nbk/nbk513334#free-full-text [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Adel Elzanie and Borger, J. (2023). Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Gluteus Maximus Muscle. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538193/ [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Henson, B., Kadiyala, B. and Mary Ann Edens (2023). Anatomy, Back, Muscles. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537074/ [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Ourieff, J., Scheckel, B. and Agarwal, A. (2023). Anatomy, Back, Trapezius. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK518994/ [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Mehmet Micoogullari, S. Fatma Uygur and H. Baran Yosmaoglu (2023). Effect of Scapular Stabilizer Muscles Strength on Scapular Position. Sports health, [online] 15(3), pp.349–356. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/19417381231155192.
- Europe PMC (2016). Europe PMC. [online] Europepmc.org. Available at: https://europepmc.org/article/NBK/nbk532946 [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Europe PMC (2016). Europe PMC. [online] Europepmc.org. Available at: https://europepmc.org/article/nbk/nbk459362 [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Lung, K., Kayla St Lucia and Lui, F. (2024). Anatomy, Thorax, Serratus Anterior Muscles. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531457/ [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Jeno, S.H. and Varacallo, M. (2023). Anatomy, Back, Latissimus Dorsi. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448120/ [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Guler, O., Oguzhan Tuncel and Bianco, A. (2021). Effects of Functional Strength Training on Functional Movement and Balance in Middle-Aged Adults. Sustainability, [online] 13(3), pp.1074–1074. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031074.
- Plotkin, D., Coleman, M., Derrick Van Every, Maldonado, J., Oberlin, D., Israetel, M., Feather, J., Alto, A., Vigotsky, A.D. and Schoenfeld, B.J. (2022). Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations. PeerJ, [online] 10, pp.e14142–e14142. doi:https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14142.
- Xiao, W., Kim Geok Soh, Mohd, Talib, O., Bai, X., Bu, T., Sun, H., Popovic, S., Bojan Masanovic and Gardasevic, J. (2021). Effect of Functional Training on Physical Fitness Among Athletes: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in physiology, [online] 12. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.738878.
- Stone, M.H., W. Guy Hornsby, Suarez, D.G., Duca, M. and Pierce, K.C. (2022). Training Specificity for Athletes: Emphasis on Strength-Power Training: A Narrative Review. Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology, [online] 7(4), pp.102–102. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk7040102.
- Singh, H., Thind, A. and Mohamed, N.S. (2022). Subacromial Impingement Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Existing Treatment Modalities to Newer Proprioceptive-Based Strategies. Curēus. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.28405.
- Fares, M.Y., Fares, J., Salhab, H.A., Khachfe, H.H., Bdeir, A. and Fares, Y. (2020). Low Back Pain Among Weightlifting Adolescents and Young Adults. Curēus. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.9127.
- Schoenfeld, B.J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R. and Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, [online] 51(1), pp.94–103. doi:https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000001764.
- Suchomel, T.J., Nimphius, S. and Michael Henry Stone (2016). The Importance of Muscular Strength in Athletic Performance. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291153075_The_Importance_of_Muscular_Strength_in_Athletic_Performance [Accessed 19 Jul. 2024].
- Lake, J.P., Mundy, P.D. and Comfort, P. (2014). Power and Impulse Applied During Push Press Exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, [online] 28(9), pp.2552–2559. doi:https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000000438.
- Soriano, M.A., Suchomel, T.J. and Comfort, P. (2019). Weightlifting Overhead Pressing Derivatives: A Review of the Literature. Sports medicine, [online] 49(6), pp.867–885. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01096-8.
- LIM, C., NUNES, E.A., CURRIER, B.S., MCLEOD, J.C., AARON and PHILLIPS, S.M. (2022). An Evidence-Based Narrative Review of Mechanisms of Resistance Exercise–Induced Human Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, [online] 54(9), pp.1546–1559. doi:https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000002929.
0 Comments