Push Press

The push press starts with the bar racked on the front of the shoulders in an overhead-press rack position. The lifter executes a shallow knee dip — 6 to 10 degrees of knee flexion, heels stay on the floor, torso stays vertical — and then drives aggressively out of the dip, using hip and knee extension to transfer momentum into the bar. At the point of peak bar velocity, the arms take over and press the bar to lockout.

Leg drive makes the push press heavier than a strict overhead press for almost all lifters — a typical ratio is 115 to 130 percent of a strict press. That additional load at the top (where the triceps and shoulders lock the bar out) is the training benefit: the shoulders and triceps experience a heavier load than they could in a strict press, while the leg drive handles the weakest portion of the movement.

The push press is not a substitute for the strict press — it is a supplement. Running only push presses turns into a CrossFit-style thruster and neglects pure shoulder strength. Most programming pairs one strict press movement and one push press movement across the training week, or alternates them week to week.

In LiftProof, push presses are tracked as their own lift. The training max is distinct from the overhead press training max and typically runs about 20 to 30 percent higher. The exercise fits naturally into strength programs as a supplemental lift on the overhead press day or as a primary movement on an explosive-strength day.

• Rack the bar on the front of the shoulders — elbows slightly in front of the bar
• Vertical torso through the dip — knees bend, hips do not hinge
• Dip shallow — 6 to 10 degrees of knee bend is enough
• Drive the floor away explosively — the bar should feel weightless at the transition
• Press the head through at lockout — bar stacks over the mid-foot

• Dip too deep — turns the push press into a thruster and kills bar speed
• Leaning back during the dip — the torso has to stay vertical or the bar path breaks
• Losing the rack mid-dip — the bar dips slower than the body and the pressing position collapses
• Soft at the lockout — leg drive gets the bar moving, but the triceps still have to finish it

• overhead press→
• close grip bench press→