Learn the push press: the dip, the leg drive and the lockout in plain English, a coaching video, answers to common questions, and free push press progress tracking with rep PRs and tonnage.
The push press is an overhead press that starts with your legs. With the bar on the front of your shoulders, you dip a few inches at the knees, drive up hard, and let that drive launch the bar so your arms can finish the press to lockout.
The leg drive lets you put more weight overhead than you can press strictly, usually about a fifth more. That builds power from the ground up, strong shoulders and triceps at lockout, and confidence holding heavy weight overhead.
Keep your torso upright and your heels down in the dip, and reverse it fast. The bar should leave your shoulders from the leg drive before your arms take over. Sets of 3 to 5 reps suit most lifters.
Log your push presses and this page charts your rep PRs and tonnage, ready to read beside your strict press.
A strict press uses only the upper body, with the knees locked from start to finish. A push press adds a short dip and drive from the legs to get the bar moving. See the strict press guide for the stricter lift.
Most lifters push press about 20 percent more than they strict press. The better your timing between the leg drive and the press, the bigger that gap can be.
In a push press your legs straighten once and stay straight while your arms finish the lift. In a push jerk you bend your knees a second time to drop under the bar and catch it on locked arms.
Shallow, only a few inches. A short, quick dip with an upright torso sends the bar straight up. A deep, slow dip turns it into a squat and takes the snap out of the drive.
It helps many lifters, because it gets you used to heavier weight overhead and strengthens the top half of the press. Train both and watch them rise together.
Once a week works well, either after your strict press or on a separate overhead day.
