In a world full of benching bro’s, one of the most badass lifts of all time has been left for dead. I’m calling any and all bro’s who care about their gainz to take up their shovels and accompany me to the grave. We’re bringing the overhead press back.
Why? Because the overhead press is the best upper body lift in existence. No questions asked. Sorry, bench press.
This isn’t an article hating on the bench press. I’ve already done that before. I have no problem admitting that I love the bench, but I don’t think it’s the end all be all of pressing movements.
The overhead press though? That motherfucker is the manliest movement of all upper body lifts.
Don’t believe me? How many people do you know who can bench press 225lbs? Probably quite a few.
How many people do you know who can overhead press 225lbs? You might be hard pressed to find more than 2-3 unless you train at a place like Gold’s Gym in L.A.
That’s because the overhead press is by far and away one of the most difficult movements to do in the gym. Most people out there can’t even lift their bodyweight overhead. Which is a damn shame, because in the world of old school strength, that’s a classic standard.
Seriously, back in the 70’s dudes were lifting 500+ lbs overhead. Today we’ve got more sophisticated drugs and training routines, and we’re not touching 500lbs. That’s a failure as men.
You need to get back to overhead pressing.
Building massive shoulders is something we all aspire for. Massive shoulders signify strength. People look at you differently, in a good way. That’s just a fact of life when you’ve got cannonballs for delts.
Unfortunately in today’s world where far too many gym goers worry about things like lateral raises done on a bosu ball for shoulder training, people forget the best shoulder builder in history.
The overhead press.
The overhead press puts an insane amount of stress on your delts, triceps, and traps. Build those three muscle groups and you’re well on your way to looking more yoked than the average bro out there.
Not only do you look more yoked, you actually have functional strength. For all the shit that term gets, we know that when it comes to the ability to lift heavy things overhead that is far more functional than the ability to press things off your chest.
Unless of course you find yourself trapped beneath a bus. Even in this unlikely event, you’ll still be fine because your shoulders will be jacked from all the overhead pressing.
Total body strength.
The overhead press builds total body strength unlike any other upper body lift in existence. Find a man who can press is bodyweight, and that is one strong motherfucking man.
Why? Because there’s something awesome that happens when you start lifting heavy shit overhead. You get strong shoulders, strong arms, a strong back, strong abs, and even stronger legs.
All because you started lifting heavier shit overhead.
How to build your overhead press.
So you’re down to try and get your man card back? Props to you, bro. The answer to a bigger overhead press, and bigger lifts across the board is simple:
Overhead press more.
Okay, that much is obvious. It’d be cruel to leave you with that alone. So instead, I’ve got a shoulder workout with a pressing emphasis for you to use 2x a week for the next 6 weeks. In 6 weeks you should have bigger shoulders and be a hell of a lot stronger than you are today.
- Barbell overhead press: 5×5
Start the workout with a classic 5 sets of 5 routine, so you can start making the necessary neural adaptations to lift heavy shit overhead.
- Dumbbell Arnold press: 3×8
Think about pressing out and up in order to place more emphasis on the delts here. Last set drop set to failure.
- Wide grip upright row: 4×8
Take an extra wide grip here, so you place more emphasis on the delts. Be strict with form. But if you need a little hip momentum to get your last couple of reps, that’s okay.
- Farmer walks: 5×30 yards
Pick up heavy dumbbells, ideally about ½ your bodyweight in each hand. 5 sets of 30 yards, with about 90 seconds rest between each set. Farmer walks are an excellent lift to build trap, core, shoulder, and upper back strength. All things that will help you get a bigger overhead press.
Happy pressing, bros. I look forward to seeing you along the road to badassery.