Muscle Growth Secrets: Wide Shoulders

In a quest to be cutting-edge, personal trainers have devised several new exercises using various equipment. These include things like Bosu ball push-ups and Bosu ball bench presses. In my opinion nearly all of these exercises are pointless if you are training to increase strength and gain muscle size. Time and time again the classic exercises beat-out the new exercises. There are various reasons for this, which I won’t get into right now, but if you need evidence then simply observe the strength levels of those who train with these exercises.

The point is that even though these new exercises are ineffective, they have caught-on in some gyms simply because they are different. This is not so devastating in itself, but many of these new exercises seem to have removed the classic exercises from the gym entirely. One such classic exercise is the overhead press. Now, the overhead press has always been somewhat of an endangered animal due to the huge popularity of the bench press, but now it is nearly extinct in most gyms. So it is time for a reintroduction to this classic strength builder.

As mentioned, the bench press is by far the most popular variation of the press, likely due to its activation of the pecs. However, if you have become too bench press obsessed in your programming you have likely seen a plateau in your strength and size gains. One of the best ways to get your bench press increasing again is to increase your strength in the overhead press. By focusing on the overhead press the deltoids, triceps, and upper back will all get stronger and bigger, which will translate to a bigger bench press. I strongly recommend that most trainees forego the bench press altogether for at least 6 weeks out of the year to focus on the overhead press. Do not worry about your bench press strength, it will be much better when you return to it.

There are many ways that overhead presses can be done. The first obvious choice is whether to use dumbbells or a barbell. You can then choose to be seated or standing. Here we are going to focus on the standing barbell variations as these will usually give you the best results.

Standing Front Overhead Press

This is the classic version of the overhead press, with the bar in front of the body at the collarbones. The bar is pressed overhead until the elbows are straight. The end position is with the bar directly over the head, even with the ears.

Standing Behind-the-Neck Overhead Press

This variation is the same as the Front Overhead Press, except that the bar starts resting on the upper back, just as you would for a high-bar back squat. From this position the bar is pressed overhead and then returned to the upper back.

Standing Bradford Press

The Bradford Press is a mix of the Front and Behind-the-Neck Presses. The starting position is the same as the Front Press. From this position the bar is pressed to a position just above the head and then brought down onto the upper back. From the upper back the bar is pressed as in the Behind-the-Neck Press, but only to a level slightly above the head and then brought back to the front of the body. This is one repetition.

Push Press

The Push Press is a variation on the Front and Behind-the-Neck Presses, although it is usually performed with the bar in front of the head as in the Front Press. From this position the motion of the arms is the same as in the Front Press. The only difference is that the movement is initiated with a slight bend in the knees followed by an explosive extension of the knees. This brings the leg muscles into play which will allow you to use more weight.

Incorporate one or more of these overhead pressing variations in your workout program in place of the bench press. If you do I know you will be ecstatic with the strength and muscle gains you experience.