Easy methods to Do the Seated Overhead Press: Muscle tissue Labored, Type & Alternate options

Overhead urgent is likely one of the handiest methods to construct your shoulders.

And whereas there are lots of overhead urgent workouts to select from, one which undoubtedly deserves a spot in your program is the seated overhead press.

That’s as a result of it permits you to raise heavy weights safely and progress frequently, which is important for gaining muscle and power.

On this article, you’ll be taught what the seated barbell overhead press is, why it’s useful, which muscle tissues it really works, how you can do it with correct type, the very best seated overhead press alternate options, and extra.

What Is the Seated Overhead Press?

The seated overhead press is an upper-body train that includes urgent a barbell vertically over your head from a seated place.

It’s virtually equivalent to the standing overhead press, the one distinction being you carry out the seated overhead press whereas sitting on a bench in the course of a squat rack as a substitute of standing.

Seated vs. Standing Overhead Press: Which Is Higher?

The standing press outshines the seated variation in the case of full-body muscle engagement, coaching a lot of the muscle tissues in your higher physique and plenty of extra in your decrease physique, too.

The seated press tops the standing variation in different areas, although: 

1. It emphasizes the shoulder muscle tissues extra.
2. It permits using barely heavier weights.
3. It’s simpler to carry out accurately.

In different phrases, they each have advantages, which is why it doesn’t make sense to suppose by way of seated vs. standing overhead press. As a substitute, you’ll possible profit from together with each workouts in your program.

A great way to do that is to incorporate the seated overhead press in your program for 8-to-10 weeks of coaching, take a deload, then substitute the seated overhead press with the standing overhead press for the next 8-to-10 weeks of coaching.

Then, you’ll be able to both proceed alternating between the workouts each few months or persist with the one you like.

That is how I personally like to prepare my coaching, and it’s much like the tactic I advocate in my health books for women and men, Greater Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger. 

(And if you happen to’d like much more particular recommendation about how it is best to arrange your coaching to achieve your well being and health targets, take the Legion Energy Coaching Quiz, and in lower than a minute, you’ll know the right power coaching program for you. Click on right here to test it out.)

Seated Overhead Press: Advantages

Most individuals consider the seated barbell overhead press as a shoulder train.

Whereas it’s true that the seated overhead press trains all three heads of the deltoids to a excessive diploma, it additionally successfully trains a number of different main upper-body muscle teams, together with your again, abs, pecs, and arms.

It’s additionally properly suited to serving to you acquire muscle and power as a result of:

1. It’s a barbell train, so it permits you to practice with heavy weights, which is vital for getting stronger over time.
2. It doesn’t require as a lot steadiness because the standing variation, so studying and performing it’s extra easy.
3. It’s simple to arrange, so that you don’t should waste vitality or danger damage stepping into place the best way you may through the dumbbell overhead press.
4. It permits you to add weight in small increments, which is vital for long-term progress.

Furthermore, the seated overhead press permits you to deal with 10-to-20% extra weight and progress quicker than the standing variation, which suggests it’s wonderful for progressively overloading your shoulder muscle tissues.

The one draw back in comparison with the standing press is that it doesn’t activate as a lot whole-body muscle, supplying you with barely much less muscle-building bang on your buck.

Seated Overhead Press: Muscle tissue Labored

The primary muscle tissues labored by the seated overhead press are the . . 

Right here’s how they appear in your physique:

Seated Overhead Press: Type

One of the best ways to discover ways to do the seated overhead press is to separate the train into three components: arrange, descend, and press.

Step 1: Set Up

Place an adjustable bench (set to the upright place) in the course of a squat rack going through out of the rack. Sit within the seat, press your again towards the backrest, and attain your arms overhead. Be aware of the peak of your wrists in relation to the rack—that is the peak it is best to set the barbell on the hooks.

Regulate the rack’s hooks to the specified top, set the barbell within the hooks, and sit down. Plant your ft on the ground simply outdoors of shoulder-width together with your knees bent at 90 levels, and drive by your ft to push your self towards the backrest.

Grip the barbell as laborious as attainable together with your palms going through away from you and thumbs wrapped across the bar, barely wider than shoulder-width. Maintain the bar low in your fingers, nearer to your wrists than your fingers. Bend your wrists simply sufficient to permit the bar to settle into the bottom of your palms, however not fold again at a 90-degree angle.

Right here‘s how your wrists ought to look:

Take a deep breath into your abdomen, raise the bar off the hooks, and maintain it together with your arms straight, instantly above your head.

Step 2: Descend

Preserving your elbows flared at round 45 levels relative to your torso, decrease the bar to the peak of your collarbone, taking care to maneuver your head backward because the bar nears the highest of your head.

Don’t let the barbell fall towards your torso or attempt to decrease it slowly—all the descent ought to be managed however take lower than a second.

Step 3: Press

Whereas driving your ft into the ground and your again towards the backrest, push the bar towards the ceiling. As quickly because the bar passes your eyes, push your head and chest ahead and underneath the bar. Maintain pushing till your arms are straight and you come back to the beginning place.

Right here’s the way it ought to look once you put all of it collectively:

The Finest Seated Overhead Press Alternate options

1. Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press

The seated overhead dumbbell press trains the shoulder, triceps, and higher chest equally to different overhead urgent workouts. The primary advantages of the seated overhead dumbbell press are that it has an extended vary of movement than the barbell variation, which tends to be higher for muscle progress, and it trains all sides of your physique independently, so it’s train for locating and fixing muscle imbalances.

2. Machine Seated Overhead Press

Typically talking, machines aren’t as efficient as free weights for gaining muscle and power. Nonetheless, the machine seated overhead press is a viable possibility if you happen to’re working round an damage or need to change up your coaching.

3. Arnold Press

The Arnold press trains the shoulders in an analogous option to the seated overhead press, however due to the best way you rotate your wrists within the Arnold press, you emphasize your aspect delts barely extra. That mentioned, you’ll be able to raise extra weight on the seated barbell overhead press than on the Arnold press, which possible makes the positive aspects from each workouts roughly equal.