How to increase your overhead press

The overhead press is the stubbornest of the five 5x5 lifts. It will stall first, stall most often, and make you question whether you’re actually getting stronger.

You are. The press just doesn’t forgive the same way squats and deadlifts do. The muscles are smaller, the increments are proportionally larger, and there’s nowhere to hide bad technique when you’re standing with a bar overhead.

But the press does respond to smart training. Here’s how to systematically build a stronger one.

Why the press stalls first

Understanding why the overhead press is the hardest lift to progress helps you stop blaming yourself and start fixing the actual problem.

Small muscles, big percentages

The press relies primarily on your front deltoids, lateral deltoids, and triceps. Compare that to the squat, which uses your entire lower body, or the deadlift, which recruits your posterior chain from calves to traps. The press uses less total muscle mass, which means less total force production.

And because you’re pressing less weight overall, each standard 2.5kg increase represents a bigger chunk of your working weight. A lifter pressing 40kg who adds 2.5kg is making a 6.25% jump. A squatter at 100kg adding the same 2.5kg is making a 2.5% jump. The math alone explains why your press stalls while your squat keeps climbing.

Less practice volume

On 5x5, you squat every session (three times per week). You press every other session (roughly 1.5 times per week). Less practice means slower skill development and slower neurological adaptation. Your squat gets 60+ work reps per week. Your press gets 25 reps every other workout.

Strict movement demands

The squat and bench press both allow some compensatory movement. You can grind a squat, use a bit of leg drive on bench, or find your groove on deadlift. The strict overhead press leaves no room for this. Either you press the bar up with your shoulders and triceps, or the bar doesn’t move.

Optimize your form first

Before changing anything about your programming, make sure you’re pressing as efficiently as possible. Form improvements are free kilos - no additional strength required.

Stance and base

Your feet should be roughly hip-width apart, maybe slightly narrower than your squat stance. Some strong pressers prefer a narrow stance with heels together and toes pointed out, creating a triangular base.

Whatever stance you choose, squeeze your glutes and quads hard before you press. Your lower body isn’t moving the bar, but it’s creating the stable platform your shoulders press from. A wobbly base leaks force.

Grip width

Your forearms should be vertical when viewed from the front at the start position. This means your hands are just outside shoulder width. Too narrow puts more stress on your wrists and shifts the emphasis to triceps at the expense of deltoid power. Too wide reduces your range of motion advantage and can impinge your shoulders.

If you’ve been pressing with the same grip for months and it feels wrong, experiment. A quarter-inch adjustment on each side can change the lift completely.

Bar path around your head

This is where most lifters lose efficiency. The bar starts on your front deltoids and must end up directly over your mid-foot with locked arms. But your head is in the way.

The fix: move your head back as the bar passes your face, then push your head forward through the “window” once the bar clears. Think about moving yourself around the bar, not the bar around yourself.

A forward-arcing bar path (pushing the bar out in front of your face) adds unnecessary distance and puts the load in front of your center of gravity. This wastes energy and makes heavy presses feel even heavier.

The lean

A slight backward lean as you initiate the press is normal and helpful. It creates a small angle that gives your deltoids better mechanical advantage for the first few inches off the shoulders. But there’s a line between a slight lean and turning the press into a standing incline bench.

If your torso is leaning back more than 5-10 degrees, or if you feel the press in your lower back, you’ve gone too far. Squeeze your glutes harder to lock your pelvis in place.

For a full breakdown of the movement from start to finish, read the overhead press technique guide.

Get microplates

This isn’t optional advice. Microplates are the single most important investment you can make for overhead press progression.

Why 2.5kg jumps don’t work for long

Standard gym plates only let you add 2.5kg total (1.25kg per side) at minimum. For a 40kg press, that’s a 6.25% jump. Research on strength adaptation suggests 2-3% loading increases per session are sustainable for beginners. At 40kg, that’s 0.8-1.2kg. You’re literally doubling the optimal increment.

This is why lifters stall on press between 35-50kg and assume they’ve hit their genetic limit. They haven’t. They’ve hit the limit of their plate selection.

What to buy

Get a pair of 0.5kg and/or 0.625kg fractional plates. Some companies make magnetic microplates that clip to the bar, which is useful in commercial gyms where fractional plates get lost.

With 0.5kg plates (0.25kg per side), your minimum jump drops to 0.5kg. That 40kg press now increases by 1.25% instead of 6.25%. This is sustainable for months.

How to implement microloading

Start using microplates when you first stall on the press, not before. While you can still add 2.5kg per session, do that. Once standard jumps stop working:

1. Deload 10% as normal after three failed attempts
2. Work back up using 1.25kg jumps instead of 2.5kg
3. When 1.25kg jumps stall, deload and switch to 0.5-1kg jumps

This approach can extend your linear progression on the press by months.

Diagnose your sticking point

Where the bar stops moving tells you exactly what’s weak. Pay attention to your failed reps.

Stuck off the shoulders

If the bar barely leaves your front deltoids or stalls in the first 2-3 inches, your front deltoids are the weak link. This is the most common sticking point because the front delts are in their weakest mechanical position at the bottom.

Fixes:

• Pin press from bottom position: Set safeties at shoulder height in a rack, press from a dead stop. Removes the stretch reflex and builds raw starting strength.
• Pause press: Press the bar 2-3 inches off your shoulders, pause for 2-3 seconds, then complete the rep. 3x5 at 80-85% of your work weight.
• Dumbbell overhead press: Dumbbells allow a more natural pressing path that can strengthen your delts through the bottom range in a slightly different way. Use as an accessory after your barbell pressing.

Stuck in the mid-range

If the bar passes the first few inches but stalls around forehead height, the transition from deltoid-dominant to tricep-dominant is the issue. Your lateral deltoids and upper chest assist in this range, and they’re not strong enough to hand off to your triceps.

Fixes:

• Lateral raises: 3x15-20 with moderate weight. High reps work better for lateral delts. These directly strengthen the muscles responsible for the mid-range.
• Incline bench press: Strengthens the upper chest, which assists in the mid-range of the press. A close-grip incline variation carries over even better.
• Z-press: Seated on the floor with legs straight, press overhead. Removes any leg drive or lean, forcing pure shoulder and core strength. Very humbling, very effective.

Stuck at lockout

If you can get the bar past your head but can’t lock your arms out, your triceps are the limiting factor. Lockout is almost entirely a tricep movement.

Fixes:

• Close-grip bench press: The best tricep builder that also trains the pressing pattern. 3x8 at moderate weight.
• Tricep dips: Weighted if possible. Build overall tricep mass and strength.
• Overhead tricep extensions: Directly trains the tricep in the overhead position. Cable or dumbbell, 3x10-12.
• Board press or floor press: Limits the range of motion to focus on the lockout portion of pressing.

Programming strategies that work

Once your form is dialed in and you have microplates, your programming determines how fast you progress.

Keep strict pressing as the priority

Your 5x5 work sets are the backbone of your pressing strength. Don’t sacrifice these for accessories. Do your 5x5 first, then add assistance work.

If you’re running standard 5x5 and pressing every Workout B, you’re pressing roughly 6 times per month. That’s enough frequency for beginners and early intermediates. Don’t add extra pressing days until you’ve exhausted progression on this schedule.

Use push press for overload

The push press lets you handle 10-20% more weight than your strict press by using leg drive to get the bar moving. Your shoulders and triceps then control the weight overhead.

Why this works: your muscles can handle more weight eccentrically (lowering) and isometrically (holding) than concentrically (pressing). By using leg drive to bypass the weakest part of the lift, you expose your shoulders and triceps to heavier loads during the lockout and the descent.

How to add it: After your 5x5 strict press, do 3x3 push press at 10-15% above your strict press weight. Focus on a controlled descent. This teaches your nervous system what heavier weights feel like overhead.

Strategic accessory selection

You don’t need five pressing accessories. Pick one or two based on your sticking point and do them consistently for 4-6 weeks before evaluating.

Best overall press accessories:

1. Dumbbell overhead press: 3x8-10, fills in strength gaps that barbell pressing misses
2. Lateral raises: 3x15-20, builds the often-neglected lateral delts
3. Close-grip bench or dips: 3x8-10, builds the tricep strength needed for lockout
4. Face pulls: 3x15-20, balances pressing with external rotation work and keeps shoulders healthy

That’s it. Two or three of these after your main pressing work is plenty. Adding more just accumulates fatigue without proportional benefit.

When linear progression ends

Once you’ve exhausted microloading on linear progression, you have several options. Weekly progression programs like Madcow 5x5 or the Texas Method autoregulate volume and intensity across the week, which works well for the press.

Another approach is to press twice per week: one heavy day (5x5 or work up to a top set of 3-5) and one lighter day (3x8-10 at 70-75% for volume). The extra practice and volume can drive progress when once-per-week pressing stalls.

Read more about what to do when you plateau on any lift.

Realistic expectations

Honesty about overhead press progression saves you from frustration and bad decisions.

Rate of progress

• First 1-3 months: 2.5kg per session is realistic if starting from empty bar or light weight
• Months 3-6: 1.25kg per session with microplates is solid progress
• Months 6-12: 1.25kg every other session (every week) is still moving well
• Beyond 12 months: Monthly PRs become the norm, and that’s genuinely good progress

Compare this to squats, where beginners regularly add 2.5kg three times per week for months. The press simply doesn’t work that way. Accept this early and you’ll save yourself from unnecessary program hopping.

Strength standards

Level	Men	Women
Beginner	0.5x bodyweight	0.35x bodyweight
Intermediate	0.75x bodyweight	0.5x bodyweight
Advanced	1x bodyweight	0.75x bodyweight

A bodyweight strict press is a lifetime achievement for most natural lifters. If you press 0.75x bodyweight, you’re legitimately strong overhead.

The relationship between press and bench

Your press will always be weaker than your bench press. Most people strict press 60-70% of their bench. If you bench 80kg, pressing 48-56kg is proportionally strong.

If your press-to-bench ratio is significantly below 60%, your shoulders or triceps may be underdeveloped relative to your chest. Accessory work targeting those areas will help both lifts.

The long game

The overhead press rewards patience more than any other barbell lift. The lifters who build genuinely strong presses aren’t the ones who found a secret program. They’re the ones who showed up consistently, pressed with good form, used microplates, and accepted that progress would be measured in months, not weeks.

Fix your form. Buy microplates. Identify your sticking point. Add the right accessories. And keep pressing. For technique cues on the overhead press and every other movement, check the full exercise guide.

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