Gym Challenge – November

Overhead barbell push press

Test your strength endurance

The idea is to do as many overhead push presses as you can in 1 minute with 50% of your body-weight. The main muscles this works are the shoulders and other muscles are quadriceps and triceps.
Each go is one, one minute set – this would work as a replacement for one of your sets of finisher…

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• Make sure you’re properly warmed up
• Select a barbell that is the equivalent to 50% of your body-weight
• Starting with it at chest height, dip your knees slightly (not a squat) and push the barbell up over your head
• Exhale through upward movement phase
• For a rep to count, your arms must lock-out at the top
• Lower the barbell back down to your shoulders
• Inhale during the downward movement
• Rinse and repeat as many times as you can in the minute

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The leader board will be up in the gym.

The push press is similar to the military press; however, the movement is started by a ‘push’ from the legs which begins the momentum of the exercise.

The push press is set-up by taking a barbell and putting it on the anterior deltoids. Slightly flex the hips and knees (keeping the core still) and, by extending the knees, follow with an explosive push upward to move the barbell from the shoulder to above the head until the elbows are fully locked out. Then the weight is then slowly lowered back to the shoulder.

The overhead press (no push from the legs) is a highly effective compound upper-body exercise. Performing it standing, rather than seated,  recruits more muscle groups to maintain balance and support the lift.