Overhead press

Movement

What the body does

The overhead press combines three motions at once, according to one 2022 EMG (electromyography: measuring a muscle’s activity by picking up its electrical signals) study¹. The scapula (shoulder blade) rotates upward, the humerus (upper arm bone) moves into abduction (away from the body’s midline), and the elbow extends¹.

As the arm rises, the upper and lower trapezius and the serratus anterior (a muscle on the side of the chest) work together⁶. They rotate the shoulder blade upward, then control it on the way down⁶. The trapezius is the large muscle across the upper back and neck that moves the shoulder blade.

At the elbow, the triceps brachii and the anconeus (a small muscle at the back of the elbow) straighten the joint⁷. A computer model of the bench press and overhead press found that these elbow straighteners did little early in the lift⁸. They became the main contributors near full extension⁸.

The versions studies have used

The studies on this page tested the press in several forms^2,3,9,10:

• Seated and standing, with a barbell or with dumbbells³.
• With the bar lowered in front of the head or behind the neck, seated^1,2.
• With a barbell or a machine that steadies the load’s path¹.
• With narrower or wider grips on a seated barbell press⁹.
• Over three ranges, from a final elbow angle of 90 to 180 degrees¹⁰.
• With a stable barbell or an unstable Earthquake bar with kettlebells hung from elastic bands¹¹.

One study of 11 resistance-trained men compared grip widths on the seated barbell press⁹. Narrower grips raised the load lifted and the range of motion at the shoulder and elbow⁹. Wider grips reduced the net joint moments (turning effects of a force around a joint) at the elbow⁹. Narrower grips reduced net joint moments at the shoulder⁹.

What it loads

The deltoid

The deltoid is the rounded muscle that caps the shoulder⁷. It has three parts: anterior (front), middle and posterior (rear)¹². The front part raises the arm forward, the middle part raises it out to the side, and the rear part draws it back¹³.

In two seated studies, pressing in front of the head or behind the neck shifted activity between the parts^1,2. In eight competitive bodybuilders pressing seated, the behind-the-neck press excited the medial (middle) and rear deltoid more, and partly the front deltoid¹. In 14 resistance-trained men pressing seated, the in-front press brought higher front deltoid activity on the way up². On the way down, the behind-the-neck press brought higher rear deltoid activity².

Seat, bar and stability

One study compared barbell and dumbbell presses, seated and standing, in 15 healthy men³. They lifted 80% of their one-repetition maximum³. A one-repetition maximum is the heaviest weight a person can lift once in a given exercise. The results differed by muscle³:

Comparison (80% of one-repetition maximum)	What changed
Seated versus standing barbell press	Rear deltoid about 25% lower seated3
Standing barbell versus standing dumbbell press	Front deltoid about 15% lower with the barbell3
Standing barbell versus standing dumbbell press	Triceps about 39% higher with the barbell3

Of the four presses, the standing dumbbell press had the greatest stability requirement³. It showed the highest deltoid activity but the lowest one-repetition maximum³. In a separate study of eight competitive bodybuilders, the authors concluded that a barbell press excites muscles more than a machine press¹.

The triceps and trapezius

The triceps brachii is the three-headed muscle on the back of the upper arm that straightens the elbow. An anatomy study notes that the triceps has historically been described as three heads, long, lateral and medial, joining into one insertion on the olecranon¹⁴. The olecranon is the bony point of the elbow. The distal triceps tendon has its own entry. In the 14 resistance-trained men pressing seated, the behind-the-neck press brought higher triceps and upper trapezius activity on the way down².

One study of six experienced lifters tested three ranges of the military press¹⁰. The authors report that pressing to a final elbow angle of 180 degrees, the widest range, raised EMG activity in all eight muscles measured¹⁰. That was compared with the closest range, a final elbow angle of 90 degrees¹⁰.

The chest

The pectoralis major is the large, fan-shaped muscle at the front of the chest¹⁵. It inserts on the humerus, and its tendon has its own entry, the pectoralis major tendon¹⁵. In eight bodybuilders pressing seated, the in-front press favoured the pectoralis major¹. In 14 trained men pressing seated, it brought higher pectoralis major activity on the way up².

The trunk

The seated-versus-standing trunk data come from dumbbell presses, not barbell presses¹⁶. Two abdominal muscles were measured¹⁶. The rectus abdominis is the long, flat muscle running down the front of the abdomen. The external oblique is the outermost of the three flat muscles on each side of the abdomen. In 15 healthy men pressing two dumbbells at once at 80% of their one-repetition maximum, both were less active seated¹⁶:

Muscle	Activity seated, lower than standing by
Rectus abdominis	About 81%16
External oblique	About 58%16

The erector spinae is the group of long muscles beside the spine that straighten the back. In the same men, its activity was similar seated and standing, pressing with one arm or both¹⁶.

An unstable bar

In 12 men pressing 50% of their one-repetition maximum, an unstable Earthquake bar raised activity in several muscles¹¹. The bar had kettlebells hung from elastic bands, and it was compared with a stable straight barbell¹¹. The muscles that rose were¹¹:

• the biceps brachii, the two-headed muscle on the front of the upper arm¹¹;
• the erector spinae and the rectus abdominis¹¹;
• the latissimus dorsi, the broad, triangular muscle of the lower back^7,11;
• the pectoralis major¹¹;
• the rhomboids (muscles between the shoulder blades) and the serratus anterior¹¹.

A systematic review and meta-analysis pooled 28 studies, with 579 participants, comparing unstable with stable training¹⁷. A systematic review searches for all the research on a question in a set, checkable way; a meta-analysis pools the results into one answer. Compared with stable training, unstable training significantly raised activity in the rectus abdominis, erector spinae and internal and external obliques¹⁷. The internal oblique is the middle of the three flat muscles on each side of the abdomen. Unstable training also significantly raised biceps brachii, trapezius, serratus anterior and triceps brachii activity¹⁷.

In the same review, unstable training did not significantly change deltoid activity compared with stable training, across 7 studies with 327 participants¹⁷. The review’s shoulder press subgroup showed a negative effect of unstable conditions on erector spinae activity¹⁷. Across all exercises, the pooled erector spinae result was an increase¹⁷.

Reports of shoulder and neck problems

Two reports connect the press with shoulder or neck problems^4,18. One studied 159 healthy men: 123 who weight-trained at least twice a week and 36 controls who did not⁴. Exercises in the “high-five” position, such as behind-the-neck lat pull-downs and the military press, were associated with clinical characteristics of anterior shoulder instability⁴. The authors call for trials to test whether the exercises are a cause⁴.

A scoping review looked at shoulder injuries in weightlifting more widely⁵. It found that the injuries reported centred mainly on anterior instability and overuse⁵. Among the risk factors it identified was lifting with the upper limb in a vulnerable position, alongside age, incorrect technique and overtraining⁵. It reports that one included study, by Gross and colleagues, stressed exercising with the arm abducted and externally rotated as a key risk factor⁵. External rotation means turning the arm outward.

The other is a single case report¹⁸. It describes a 21-year-old cadet with a fracture (break) of the spinous process of C6 (the sixth vertebra of the neck)¹⁸. A spinous process is the bony point that sticks out from the back of a vertebra, one of the bones stacked to form the spine. The fracture was found after he did multiple sets of overhead shoulder presses, with the bar resting across his lower neck and shoulders¹⁸.

How the body adapts

No study on this page measured muscle size after weeks of overhead press training. The training studies below used other exercises that work some of the same muscles^19,20.

• In 24 resistance-trained men and women, eight weeks of lateral raises twice a week thickened the lateral (middle) deltoid by 3.3% to 4.6%¹⁹.
• In 24 healthy men, ten weeks of bench pressing three times a week enlarged the front deltoid, pectoralis major and triceps more than in controls²⁰.

Progressive overload

A position stand is a formal paper setting out an expert group’s agreed view. A 2026 one describes progressive overload as the need to increase the stimulus placed on the muscle throughout a training programme²¹. One study followed a Smith machine shoulder press over 10 weeks²². A Smith machine is a barbell that slides up and down on fixed vertical rails. Other studies, including one in gymnasts, trained the press as one lift among several^{23,24,25,26,27}.

A 10-week Smith machine press study

One study followed 24 men with at least 4 years of strength training through 10 weeks of the press²². The planned load rose from about 65% of one-repetition maximum for 3 sets of 8, to about 90% for 3 sets of 2²². Each session’s load was adjusted until the first repetition’s speed matched the planned speed²². Mean one-repetition maximum rose 17.5%, from 57.6 to 67.7 kg²². The study had no control group, the people in a trial who do not get what is being tested²².

As one lift among several

A randomised trial in 30 male collegiate gymnasts used a seated Smith machine press for six weeks²³. The gymnasts trained the bar dip and the pull-up as well as the press, so the press results come from the whole programme²³. One group lifted 75% of one-repetition maximum for 3 sets of 10²³. Another lifted 30% with blood flow restriction, a cuff around the limb that partly limits its blood flow²³.

Loads were re-set from a new one-repetition maximum test after week 3, which the authors describe as maintaining progressive overload²³. Both groups gained more than gymnasts doing regular gymnastics training alone: about 9.8 kg and 7.1 kg, against 2.7 kg²³. The two training groups did not differ significantly²³.

In the studies below, the press was also trained alongside other lifts, so their results come from the whole programme, not the press alone^24,25,26,27:

Who trained, and for how long	What was compared	Press result
16 trained men, 6 weeks24	Loads set from bar speed in real time, or from a one-repetition maximum tested beforehand24	Strict overhead press one-repetition maximum rose 6% with both24
48 men new to weight training, randomised, 6 months25	1, 3 or 5 sets per exercise25	5-repetition maximum rose in each group; a significantly larger gain with 5 sets was reported only for other lifts25
20 young women new to structured resistance training, randomised, 8 weeks26	4 sets of 5–7 or 2 sets of 10–14 repetitions, to momentary muscular failure26	Significant gains with both, reported as similar, 3.0 kg on average26
33 trained men, randomised, 8 weeks27	Self-chosen rest or a fixed 75 seconds between sets27	Strength rose 6.7% and 6.1%, with no significant difference between groups27

A 5-repetition maximum is the heaviest load a person can lift five times. Momentary muscular failure is the point in a set where another full repetition cannot be completed. In the rest trial, the fixed rest was 37% more time efficient²⁷.

Connections

The muscles it works

• The deltoid, whose parts’ activity changed with bar path and seat in the studies above^1,3.
• The rectus abdominis and external oblique, less active seated in dumbbell presses¹⁶.
• The erector spinae, similar seated and standing in dumbbell presses¹⁶.
• The latissimus dorsi, more active with an unstable bar¹¹.

The tendons it loads

• The distal triceps tendon, which an anatomy study notes has historically been described as the single insertion of the triceps’ three heads on the olecranon¹⁴. Grip width changed the joint moments at the elbow in a seated barbell press⁹.
• The pectoralis major tendon, which joins the chest muscle to the humerus¹⁵. The in-front press favoured this muscle in seated studies^1,2.

Sources

1. Coratella G, Tornatore G, Longo S, Esposito F, Cè E (2022). Front vs Back and Barbell vs Machine Overhead Press: An Electromyographic Analysis and Implications For Resistance Training.. Frontiers in Physiology. doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.825880 PMID 35936912
2. Padovan R, Toninelli N, Longo S, Tornatore G, Esposito F, Cè E, Coratella G (2026). High-Density Surface Electromyography Excitation in Front vs. Back Overhead Press Prime Movers.. Journal of Human Kinetics. doi:10.5114/jhk/205466 PMID 42713087
3. Saeterbakken AH, Fimland MS (2013). Effects of body position and loading modality on muscle activity and strength in shoulder presses.. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e318276b873 PMID 23096062
4. Kolber MJ, Corrao M, Hanney WJ (2013). Characteristics of anterior shoulder instability and hyperlaxity in the weight-training population.. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e318269f776 PMID 22836608
5. Daher M, Jabre S, Casey JC, Fares MY, Boufadel P, Lopez R, Lawand J, Mansour J, Abboud JA (2025). Shouldering the load: A scoping review of incidence, types, and risk factors of shoulder injuries in weight-lifting athletes.. Shoulder & Elbow. doi:10.1177/17585732241258743 PMID 39552690
6. Elder A, Powers CM (2025). Scapular Stabilization for Shoulder Pain: Putting the Cart Before the Horse?. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. doi:10.26603/001c.128049 PMID 39906061
7. Betts JG, Young KA, Wise JA, Johnson E, Poe B, Kruse DH, Korol O, Johnson JE, Womble M, DeSaix P (2022). Anatomy and Physiology 2e. OpenStax. Link
8. Evangelista P, Rum L, Picerno P, Biscarini A (2025). Decoding the Contribution of Shoulder and Elbow Mechanics to Barbell Kinematics and the Sticking Region in Bench and Overhead Press Exercises: A Link-Chain Model with Single- and Two-Joint Muscles.. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. doi:10.3390/jfmk10030322 PMID 40843853
9. Gundersen AH, Krosshaug T, Mausehund L, van den Tillaar R, Larsen S (2026). The impact of grip width on kinetics and kinematics in the shoulder press among resistance-trained men.. Sports Biomechanics. doi:10.1080/14763141.2025.2590028 PMID 41335596
10. Paoli A, Marcolin G, Petrone N (2010). Influence of different ranges of motion on selective recruitment of shoulder muscles in the sitting military press: an electromyographic study.. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181d756ea PMID 20508462
11. Williams MR Jr, Hendricks DS, Dannen MJ, Arnold AM, Lawrence MA (2020). Activity of Shoulder Stabilizers and Prime Movers During an Unstable Overhead Press.. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000002660 PMID 29889776
12. Vohra A, Paul B, Saunders P, Galal Y, Yao S, Hui C, Lederman E, McKee M, Shah A (2024). Anatomic variations of the deltoid muscle insertion: a cadaveric study.. JSES International. doi:10.1016/j.jseint.2024.01.013 PMID 38707574
13. Stokey PJ, Kaur S, Lee A, Behrens K, Ebraheim N (2024). Anatomy and Deficiency of the Deltoid Muscle: A Review of Literature.. Orthopedic Reviews. doi:10.52965/001c.115352 PMID 38562147
14. Barco R, Sánchez P, Morrey ME, Morrey BF, Sánchez-Sotelo J (2017). The distal triceps tendon insertional anatomy-implications for surgery.. JSES Open Access. doi:10.1016/j.jses.2017.05.002 PMID 30675548
15. Solari F, Burns B (2023). Anatomy, Thorax, Pectoralis Major Major.. StatPearls. PMID 30252247
16. Saeterbakken AH, Fimland MS (2012). Muscle activity of the core during bilateral, unilateral, seated and standing resistance exercise.. European Journal of Applied Physiology. doi:10.1007/s00421-011-2141-7 PMID 21877146
17. Bao Z, Wang S, Li Z (2025). Effects of unstable training on muscle activation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of electromyographic studies.. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.19751 PMID 40718776
18. Watson DJ, Dolbeer JA (2017). C6 Spinous Process Fracture in a Young Adult.. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy. doi:10.2519/jospt.2017.7357 PMID 28859595
19. Larsen S, Wolf M, Schoenfeld BJ, Sandberg NØ, Fredriksen AB, Kristiansen BS, van den Tillaar R, Swinton PA, Falch HN (2025). Dumbbell versus cable lateral raises for lateral deltoid hypertrophy: an experimental study.. Frontiers in Physiology. doi:10.3389/fphys.2025.1611468 PMID 40692697
20. Lanza MB, Prado GC, Lacerda LT, Dinardi RR, Carvalho Junior LH, Diniz RC, Lima FV, Chagas MH, Martins-Costa HC (2024). Muscle hypertrophy response across four muscles involved in the bench press exercise: Randomized 10 weeks training intervention.. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2024.07.054 PMID 39593465
21. Currier BS, D'Souza AC, Singh MAF, Lowisz CV, Rawson ES, Schoenfeld BJ, Smith-Ryan AE, et al (2026). American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews.. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003897 PMID 41843416
22. Hernández-Belmonte A, Martínez-Cava A, Morán-Navarro R, Courel-Ibáñez J, Pallarés JG (2021). A comprehensive analysis of the velocity-based method in the shoulder press exercise: stability of the load-velocity relationship and sticking region parameters. Biology of Sport. doi:10.5114/biolsport.2020.98453 PMID 34079168
23. Li A, Tang J, Zheng K, Chen J, Wang G, Feng D (2026). Effects of low-load blood flow restriction vs. high-load resistance training on upper-body strength in male collegiate gymnasts: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness. doi:10.1016/j.jesf.2026.200456 PMID 41732289
24. Dorrell HF, Smith MF, Gee TI (2020). Comparison of Velocity-Based and Traditional Percentage-Based Loading Methods on Maximal Strength and Power Adaptations.. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000003089 PMID 30946276
25. Radaelli R, Fleck SJ, Leite T, Leite RD, Pinto RS, Fernandes L, Simão R (2015). Dose-response of 1, 3, and 5 sets of resistance exercise on strength, local muscular endurance, and hypertrophy. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000758 PMID 25546444
26. Cholewa JM, Rossi FE, MacDonald C, Hewins A, Gallo S, Micenski A, Norton L, Campbell BI (2018). The Effects of Moderate- Versus High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Growth, Body Composition, and Performance in Collegiate Women. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000002048 PMID 28699923
27. Simão R, Polito M, Freitas de Salles B, Marinho DA, Garrido ND, Junior ERTS, Willardson JM (2020). Acute and Long-Term Comparison of Fixed vs. Self-Selected Rest Interval Between Sets on Upper-Body Strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000003606 PMID 32826830
28. Beck M, Varner W, LeVault L, Boring J, Fahs CA (2020). Decline in Unintentional Lifting Velocity Is Both Load and Exercise Specific. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000003786 PMID 32740288

Every source the library cites

Changes

• October 23, 2026 Added a Progressive overload section.
• September 29, 2026 Added a figure showing where it sits, links to the exercise pages that load it, and tighter wording in a few places.