How to Overhead Press Without Hurting Your Shoulders

How to overhead press safely is mostly about two things: where the bar travels, and whether your ribcage stays where it should. Get those right and the press is one of the better things you can do for shoulder health, not a threat to it.

The bar has to pass your face, not go around it

Set the bar on the front of your shoulders with a grip just outside shoulder width and elbows slightly in front of the bar rather than flared out sideways. Tuck your chin back, press up in a straight line, and push your head through once the bar clears. If the bar travels forward in an arc, you end up holding weight in front of your centre of mass, which is where both shoulder and lower back complaints come from.

The lower back arch

Leaning back to get the bar up is the most common fault. It happens when the shoulders cannot reach full overhead range, so the spine makes up the difference. Squeezing the glutes and bracing the ribs down fixes some of it. If it persists, your overhead mobility is the limiting factor and that needs addressing before the weight goes up.

Programming it sensibly

The press progresses slowly compared to the lower body lifts. That is normal, not a sign you are doing it wrong.

• Start with dumbbells if overhead range is limited, since they let the shoulders find their own path
• Five to eight reps suits learning the movement
• Expect small jumps, often 1 to 2.5kg at a time
• Seated pressing removes the lower back question if that is your issue
• Stop the set if you feel pinching at the front of the shoulder, and check the bar path first

Frequently asked questions

• Is overhead pressing bad for the shoulders? No. Pressing with poor overhead range or a forward bar path is. The lift itself builds shoulder resilience.
• Behind the neck or in front? In front for almost everyone. Behind the neck demands range most people do not have.
• Why is my press so much weaker than my bench? That is normal. The bench uses more muscle and a far more stable position.