How to Do Push Press: Muscles Worked & Proper Form

Muscles Worked in the Push Press

Primary muscles worked:

• Front Deltoid

Secondary muscles worked:

• Quads
• Glutes
• Adductors
• Lower Back
• Trapezius
• Triceps
• Lateral Deltoid

How to Push Press

1. Clean a bar to your shoulders, or lift it out from a rack.
2. Let the bar rest against the front of your shoulders, with your grip slightly outside your shoulders.
3. Inhale and lightly brace your core.
4. Bend your knees, and then forcefully push yourself and the bar upwards using your legs.
5. When your legs are extended, immediately start pressing the bar with your arms, until your arms are fully extended.
6. With control, lower the bar back to your shoulders.

Commentary

The push press is a variant of the overhead press where you use your legs to help lift the bar. In the push press you only bend your knees once, when you accelerate the bar, as opposed to a jerk, where you bend your knees a second time to catch the bar on straight arms.