Form guide

Overhead press form guide

Updated 14 May 2026

The overhead press trains your shoulders, upper chest, triceps and core by pressing a barbell from the front-rack position to full lockout overhead.

The 3 most common mistakes

01
Pressing the bar in a straight line through your face.
You have a head in the way. Move it out of the path first, then back under as the bar passes.
02
Excessive back arch.
Leaning back too far turns the press into an incline bench. Some lean is fine; lying on your back is not.
03
Bar finishes in front of your head.
If the bar locks out forward of your ears, the shoulders are doing the holding work the bones should. Get it stacked.

01
Move your face out of the way, then push your head through.
Pull your chin back as the bar leaves the front rack. As it clears your forehead, push your head forward under it.
02
Squeeze glutes and brace abs.
Turn your body into one stiff piece. Lower-back arch comes from a loose core, not a strong one.
03
Finish with the bar over the back of your head.
Stacked joints — bar, shoulders, hips, ankles — are the strongest, safest lockout.

01Set the bar in the rack just below shoulder height. Grip just outside shoulder-width.
02Step under the bar so it rests on your front delts and upper chest, elbows under the bar.
03Unrack with your legs. Step back, feet hip-to-shoulder width.
04Take a big breath, brace your core, squeeze your glutes.
05Pull your chin back. Press the bar straight up.
06As the bar clears your forehead, push your head forward to finish under the bar.
07Lock out fully: elbows extended, biceps near your ears, bar over the back of your head.

Stand strict. No leg dip — that's a push press, a different lift.
The press is the slowest-progressing lift. Get small (1.25 kg / 2.5 lb) micro-plates and use them.
If lockout is the weak point, add direct triceps work twice a week.

The standing military press: A biomechanical analysis — Saeterbakken AH, Fimland MS.. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2013).