I half repped OHP 135 once and I immediately died, So I went back to doing 1000lb above knee rack pulls and it fixed my herniated disc, cured my autism and cleared my skin
It does feel that way for me and what was once scoffed at as a waste of time and not conducive to "size", is my favorite exercise. If I were designing work outs for people, whether strength training, hypertrophy specific, etc I would prescribe the OHP as absolutely core and essential to the program. If for nothing else than the health of your rotator cuffs.
@Jurica Sambol Currently, I'm only training 3 days a week, with 3 main movements, since the body only pushes, pulls and squat, and has the longer ROM than the rest, I only do chin ups, ohp and squats, let's see how ...
I shifted my focus from benching to OHP a while back and haven't noticed a considerable drop in bench strength despite only treating incline and flat as accessory movements. I'd say if nothing else the OHP is more fun overall because nothing feels more badass than lifting a couple hundred pounds over your head. It's like a primitive satisfaction.
I feel adding OHP to powerlifting competition would make it more entertaining and bring in more crowd. People will stop asking how much do you bench after that.
@@metalrocks999 I disagree about ditching the squat it sounds like you want to turn powerlifting into strongman, I prefer strongman so I follow that instead of powerlifting. Strict OHP should definitly be a part of powerlifting I agree there. Also need to do something about the silly back arches that enable a 3 inch ROM bench press too its silly and partly why people are not interested in powerlifting.
unlockthepower wow you’re such an idiot, you’re the same guy who thinks OHP’ing is a full body exercise. You also think benching drug free will get you pecs that are too big. Go back to kindergarten.
The Strict OHP is also in my opinion more useful for your everyday activities than the bench press. You use your shoulders with everything your arms does way more than the chest does.
@@thatoneguy8493 Not just that but people would rather sit and do shoulder presses. Or do machine presses. Because they are easy. Just like doing pullups or chinups from a pull-up bar. People would rather use the lat pull down machine. Because it is easy.
@scars133 when I was training in a gym I could press 70kg but not bench 100, the proportion between the two are fucked for me! Now I'm on the home gym but still haven't bought a bench
Angel Duarte Ehh, believe what you want lol. 135 is light weight dude... I’m actually working on 275 OHP right now, with a 300 goal within the next year. However, my strict press is only 200 at the moment.
90% of my press training is the OHP and 10% bench. Doing this for like 2 years Now and seen insane results. The people who only bench look year in and year out the same....
It's the greatest upper body push excerise. The carry over to all the other pushes is insane. If you never ever benched, and only did ohps from the time you started lifting, and worked up to doing let's say 185 for 5s. If you started benching, you'd be at or close to 225 already. Meanwhile, if you only benched and got to 225 for bench, then started ohp, you might not even be able to do 135. You this all the time actually.
I go up 5 pounds every one to two weeks. Currently at 145 for 2x6. I press 3 times a week and I started with really easy weight and just keeping adding weight. I take deloads every 4-6 weeks to reduce my built up fatigue. Press is hard but fun
Of course it is, it's an extremely hard lift which means less weight can be done which means that if you progress st the same percentage of weight of the lift over time it will be a lot harder to see noticable progress than lifts where more weight can be used. If you think that's bad, try training strict curl for strength. It's taken me two years to add 12 lbs!
Accessories matter a lot. Once plateaued at 105 for 8 reps, focused on one-arm DB presses for two weeks and could suddenly hit 115 for 8 reps with ease
mrigue56 I was doing a cut for 3 of the months so gains would not be as good as if I was in a surplus the entire time. I took my 75x10 OHP to 115x5. I still have a long way to go but I can definitely tell the difference is my shoulders and upper body in general. Hope this helped.
This is so true. I have implemented OHP in my offseason training due to my nagging pain in my left shoulder and I have no pain executing the lift. I hope it helps my Bench as much as I think it will and as much you say brother! Keep up the grind! I respect your content a lot!
i used to have pain in my weak shoulders because of not doing shoulder work til i watched some of your previous vids advocating OHP over bench press and now my shoulders are 100% better
lifted for 5+ years with decent results using very minimal OHP. Recently I decided to make it my main focus in my program and I finally feel BIG, I feel solid as fuck in the shoulders, chest and traps like I never have before. It's the secret man, swear.
i've been doing OHP for the past 2 months and kinda just threw bench to the side, and bro, OHP is so much more enjoyable and feels way better in my opinion. It also has made my shoulders and traps feel and look fucking great.
It's crazy. Had annoying impingement from benching all the time, switched to OHP and my shoulder feels much better. There's definitely merit to this lift!
I’ve been following Alex for many many years and he just doesn’t miss. I’ve always wanted to do some OHP specialization but I’ve been afraid of losing bench gains. I recently started playing rugby and it’s made me realize that the OHP specialization is absolutely the way to go if I want to get legit strong and prevent injuries.
I got 18 reps on the kinobody challenge on Monday beating his 16, then he got 23 Tuesday. But he’s been training high reps for a while. Alex do it. Omar is very strong for his weight- so underrated.
Baris Goker both of em did shit reps id be interested in seeing some clean full lock out reps even with a little bounce of the chest the lockout is where the bread is buttered
I had significant gains on my bench press after taking years off from it and focusing on the overhead press. For a few years my only chest work was a few sets of pushups after my shoulder workout.
This video changed my life. You were the only one to say the OHP also hits the upper back. Its a 2 in one lift. Everyone focuses on "delt hypertrophy" and dont realize the splashover efftect. Nobody else studied strongmen except you Alex. Nobody else.
Man I appreciate your videos! Thank you for what you do! Everyday I’ll watch one or two videos of yours while I’m working out while listening to music, it’s awesome. I’m straight up a novice man, I’ve only been working out for 4 months and I’m pretty happy with the results so far. The only thing about being a novice is I don’t always understand working out terminology, like a lot of work outs that are mentioned, that might even be obvious I just don’t know. I understand the simple and popular ones like bench press, dead lift and push ups, workouts like that, but there are many I hear that I’m just not familiar with. I don’t know if you have the time but if you ever get a chance maybe you could do a video on your top 30 favorite workouts! That would be cool. Mad respect for you man. God bless!
Did a crazy amount of volume yesterday on strict OHP with pause at the bottom of every rep. Shoulders felt completely blasted right after with only 2 minute breaks, huge pump. 4 reps @RPE6 4 reps @RPE7 4 reps @RPE8 for 5 sets.
I have been training strict press on the regular for several years. Saw great results with lifting three times a week and doing the Clean & Press each session. The only real drawback is overuse. It is important to vary grip width from time to time, do heavy and light sessions and sometimes doing some more flat benching. Close-grip flat benching using the same grip width as your OHP can be very beneficial; the big benefit from benching is it lets you train your pressing muscles while deloading your spine. But barring very few exceptions, a big overhead press requires a lot of overhead pressing! Here's a treat for all strict pressing lovers out there = ua-cam.com/video/hr0_-rscOrU/v-deo.html What is more badass than a strict overhead press? A strict overhead press where you first clean the bar!
yep. and all those half repping assholes are whining that OHP doesn't train your side delts and traps at all, only your front delts. With OHP it's crucial to go full rom. From chest to get that upper pec involvement to full lockout to get traps and side delts
My bench has always plummeted when I’ve specialized In OHP and neglected for a period of time, however when I focus on my benching/horizontal presses my ohp stays the same. Not knocking the OHP at all as it is one of my favorite lifts, but just giving some food for thought before you dive in.
I totally agree about the shoulder safety. I will emphasize OHP in my training or swap it for bench if my shoulders are getting beat up from benching a lot. In fact, I was getting issues with bench again, and since I've been consistent with OHP the pain has gone away. Scapular movement is important and benching a lot (with the requirement of keeping scapula retracted) puts you in an unathletic position. I would put Viking press in the same category (what an amazing exercise). I got a Viking attachment from EliteFTS to use with my landmine attachment, great investment.
I hit 100kg and 35x60kg on OHP when gyms were closed. In all honesty I made the best gains during this period, entire body just grew and became stronger and more explosive, I attribute it all to overhead pressing and squatting every 3-4 days
If everyone OHP'd from day one,the commonly held belief that shoulders wear out with age would become a myth,i'm going to prove that the press beats benching for longevity of shoulder power & boulder shoulders.Hopefully your massive outreach will get through to younger lifters.
@@chrisstanley9477You'll be glad you focused on OHP's as opposed to bench presses,when your peers are nursing wrecked rotator cuffs and pulled pecs and your still banging & clanging heavy iron in 30 years time 😉
My ohp went up 30lbs without even training it, I was focusing on bench press and got it from 235 x 5 to 315 x 5 in 6 months. OHP went from 185lbs to 215lbs for 1RM just by focusing on bench press while bulking & following Texas Method...
Thats great results, assuming you just didnt get fat (is super easy to ger strong while getting fat) Getting stronger and building muscle while remaining lean is the real challenge, and quite hard to do.
man i seriously commend and respect Alpha for this shit man, all the serious introspective thinking that goes into understanding the optimal training. like people don't understand how much time you would waste if you didnt have this info as a natural body builder.
Bench is honestly overrated. Especially flat bench. Gives you man titties. I think most gym goers have kind of a pec fetish. Incline does have a place though. Not to mention bench press is a very unnatural exercise, because your shoulders dont move, they stay tucked to the bench, also doesn't have as much real world carry over. Weighted pushups are actually much better IMO. Just place the plates on your upper back and there you go
SejeSteen This is my alt account, and you won’t get huge titties from benching unless you’re on drugs, and I never said benching is more manly dumbass. Also, overhead presses don’t work Shoulders much more than benching does. Your side delts don’t get worked with overhead presses unless you’re doing dumbbell or behind the neck presses. Regular military presses don’t work side delts any more then bench presses do, unless you take a wide grip and risk injuries. Nice try though.
SejeSteen your comment got 7 likes while you strawmanned me and told a blatant lie. That shows how stupid people are. Doing 15-20 good sets of bench a week will fully develop front delts for 99.999% of people (unless your MRV is lesser/higher), and strict presses don’t work side delts well at all. Overhead Pressing fucks with your ability to do horizontal presses, and I’m saying horizontal presses are more important because without them you neglect your chest. Without ohp’ing you don’t neglect anything, you get enough front delt work from horizontal presses, enough upper back work from deadlifts & rows, enough tricep work from horizontal presses & direct Tricep Work, and enough core work from squats & deadlifts + any direct core work you do. So why should I be doing vertical presses if they just hinder my ability to hit my MRV on horizontal presses?
@@legend2kill I was 210. Volume will help like all lifts but its a grind. Take your time. I pressed 3 times a week both heavy and light. I made sure my lats, abs and glutes were strong too.
@@DrTopLiftDPT but i always feel the same way about the arch on the bench, people are arching more and more, its basically 2 inch ROM for a lot of guys.
Something I noticed with the Overhead Press is the importance of mental strength as well. While a few doubts can affect your performance for a lot of exercises, the biggest impact for me was having doubts or not feeling so well while doing this exercise. I'm following a 5x5 program and during good days I can push 3 sets of 5 reps with 20 kilo's + bar before dropping to lower weigths. But the moment a doubt or "meh" gut feeling occurs, my strength drops to 4 reps with 15 kilo's. I can be doing the 20 kilo's set, pushing for 5 and out of nowhere a feeling of doubt blocks my performance entirely for the next rep and I cannot even lift the bar up anymore. I don't have a wireless headset for listening to workout music, so every time I exercise it's a small battle between me and my brain. Mind over body, folks... It's a real thing. Also, looking extra clean and slick today on this video Alex!
Man, just keep your mind positive.. I do 5x5 also.. Once i get past set #3 i know i am over the hump. I look forward to those last 2 sets. Also make sure you are resting enough between sets.
ive got that too but more on bicep exercises, but i found that if my mind comes into play i deadlift and after a few reps its gone cause deadlift takes a lot of focus on how im doing it
i've been alternating OHP and pause bench on a day by day basis hitting both exercises 3 times a week since i'm at the gym 6x a week, and OHPing has made my shoulders feel so much healthier and flat benching has never felt better.
It is also my favourite lift along chinups (sick superset by the way) but it's absolutely not the safest. Depending on the balance of your muscles and neck flexibility it's one of the easiest ways to herniate a cervical disk (like I did, doing a warmup set with refined form). I strongly advice to get your neck, upper back and traps checked before attempting to specialize in OHP.
I train athletes and I agree.. 9/10 ppl that start to get issues with impingement are the ones that don’t keep their back tight (scapulae pulled down and back) during the lift.
How can you get impingement when the scapula rotates up when you overhead press ?. Now you can injure your back from leaning to far. Rippetoe even talks about this.
Full Body Joe Because some of the tendons of the rotator cuff run under the acromion process of the scapula, and the subacromial space is limited. Keeping the mid to lower back tight prevents the humerus from impinging those tendons in that space during overhead movements. It’s less of a problem for seasoned lifters who have proper form. I work primarily with high school athletes (beginners).
I know this video is from four years ago but FYI in terms of safety it's really easy to pass out grinding a heavy overhead press. I definitely recommend using a rack when available for low rep work.
OHP is my main pressing exercise followed by weighted dips and push ups. Focusing on OHP and squats at the moment and when I get strong in both I will have a really good physique. Already have strong pull up.
Does the standard, standing OHP attribute any muscle/strength gains to the rear delt? I've heard a lot of arguments and disputes over it with no real agreement.
Better than bench press imo. Puts on More mass than bench press, gives way More aesthetic look aswell as its easier to perform (you only need a barbell & weights)
Hi Alex! My gym’s ceiling is low so I can’t lock an OHP, The obvious variations are a seated press and a Z press. What would you recomend to keep high excersise rotation? Thank you
yeah totally agree.the ohp is the lift.ive done 210 strict.my all time strength hero vasily alexeev could Olympic press over 500 there is not a man alive today that can do that.as could serge redding.keep pressing.
I've got some nice crunchy painful shoulders from benching so i replaced bench with ohp about a week ago. At this point i don't care if i ever bench again.
I half repped OHP 135 once and I immediately died,
So I went back to doing 1000lb above knee rack pulls and it fixed my herniated disc, cured my autism and cleared my skin
Lmaoooo
Dan Jeffersan lol
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Dan Jeffersan I would like but it’s at 420
LOL
In my opinion.OHP is one of the most manliest lift out there and develops true pressing power.
Fuck yeah
Manly indeed👌🏻👌🏻
It does feel that way for me and what was once scoffed at as a waste of time and not conducive to "size", is my favorite exercise. If I were designing work outs for people, whether strength training, hypertrophy specific, etc I would prescribe the OHP as absolutely core and essential to the program. If for nothing else than the health of your rotator cuffs.
@Christopher Huber
Damn... you reminded me of how much I loved Seinfeld
Dumbell shoulder press is better for me
Forgot to mention, the OHP (especially paused) will also build your upper chest! This is truly a serious lift
How do u pause with OHP, where would u pause?
@@pino_559 on the top of your chest after each rep
@@pino_559 collarbone
@Jurica Sambol
Currently, I'm only training 3 days a week, with 3 main movements, since the body only pushes, pulls and squat, and has the longer ROM than the rest, I only do chin ups, ohp and squats, let's see how ...
@Jurica Sambol
Excuse me, what Phil video do you say you've seen?
I shifted my focus from benching to OHP a while back and haven't noticed a considerable drop in bench strength despite only treating incline and flat as accessory movements. I'd say if nothing else the OHP is more fun overall because nothing feels more badass than lifting a couple hundred pounds over your head. It's like a primitive satisfaction.
Wait...a couple hundred pounds? Dude you're strong!
a couple hundred pounds over your head? damn...
How many Sets/Reps are you doing of OHP?
100%.
I feel adding OHP to powerlifting competition would make it more entertaining and bring in more crowd. People will stop asking how much do you bench after that.
ua-cam.com/video/Z4l6eH-lmMA/v-deo.html it was a one time but was hard to judge and was easily cheated
They need to add press to powerlifting. Start deadlifting with hummer tires and ditch the squat and start pulling monster trucks.
@@metalrocks999 I disagree about ditching the squat it sounds like you want to turn powerlifting into strongman, I prefer strongman so I follow that instead of powerlifting. Strict OHP should definitly be a part of powerlifting I agree there. Also need to do something about the silly back arches that enable a 3 inch ROM bench press too its silly and partly why people are not interested in powerlifting.
@@metalrocks999 You literally just described strongman lol
@@tjcogger1974 yes they should just do strongman
it's good because there's just no such thing as having 'too big' delts
Fact
Right, but you can definitely have too big pecs or too tight pecs from benching.
unlockthepower if you’re on drugs
unlockthepower wow you’re such an idiot, you’re the same guy who thinks OHP’ing is a full body exercise. You also think benching drug free will get you pecs that are too big. Go back to kindergarten.
True
The Strict OHP is also in my opinion more useful for your everyday activities than the bench press. You use your shoulders with everything your arms does way more than the chest does.
Super true
Finally this is becoming a trend. OHP is the ultimate demonstration of strength, great video.
This is one of my favorite lifts for about 5/6 months now. I don't see guys doing this lift at my gym.
You’re in the wrong gym buddy
@@anthonyalbarran7683 Naa Man, He will be one of the strongest guys in his gym..
@@thatoneguy8493 Not just that but people would rather sit and do shoulder presses. Or do machine presses. Because they are easy.
Just like doing pullups or chinups from a pull-up bar. People would rather use the lat pull down machine. Because it is easy.
@@anthonyalbarran7683 I have a membership in a few gyms in my country. I have seen 2 guys going this lift in about 3 years :)
@@thatoneguy8493 And it feels right. No shoulder problems or anything. I also do volume and strength training on this.
Your current haircut + beard style really suits you bro, specifically the thicker chin beard since it's not too long\short
Thanks man
@@AlexLeonidas yah bro you look like a thic warrior bahhaa
This^
Coincidentally, today I hit an OHP pr even having lost 10kg, delts are going strong!
Yo nice bro!
Grats man that motivational as fuck !!!
Brazilian?
@scars133 when I was training in a gym I could press 70kg but not bench 100, the proportion between the two are fucked for me! Now I'm on the home gym but still haven't bought a bench
@@henriquef5892 sim
Do the Kinobody 135 ohp challenge !!
Anthony Morabito also remember he’s not aloud
To wear equipment
Surfclam did 22 reps
Half repping fluff don't count
Challenge? 135 is warmup lol.
Angel Duarte Ehh, believe what you want lol. 135 is light weight dude... I’m actually working on 275 OHP right now, with a 300 goal within the next year. However, my strict press is only 200 at the moment.
Dude that haircut looks great
Eric bugenhagen does this
90% of my press training is the OHP and 10% bench.
Doing this for like 2 years Now and seen insane results. The people who only bench look year in and year out the same....
@St. Petersberg not even close. with incline there pretty much is no traps, no side delts, no upward rotation of the scapula, no core
@@puppy8125 Building a strong OHP will have a greater effect on shoulders than a strong incline end of story.
How many Sets/Reps are you doing of OHP?
@@simon8377 I do 5x5 on OHP 3 times a week on the 4th I mix it up between push press or power clean and press.
@@Jafmanzwho asked?
I love OHP. I've been doing it way more lately and have noticed big changes in my shoulder width and my bench press has even gotten stronger as well.
It's the greatest upper body push excerise. The carry over to all the other pushes is insane. If you never ever benched, and only did ohps from the time you started lifting, and worked up to doing let's say 185 for 5s. If you started benching, you'd be at or close to 225 already. Meanwhile, if you only benched and got to 225 for bench, then started ohp, you might not even be able to do 135. You this all the time actually.
Man progression on the OHP is difficult af at least for me
I go up 5 pounds every one to two weeks. Currently at 145 for 2x6. I press 3 times a week and I started with really easy weight and just keeping adding weight. I take deloads every 4-6 weeks to reduce my built up fatigue. Press is hard but fun
Of course it is, it's an extremely hard lift which means less weight can be done which means that if you progress st the same percentage of weight of the lift over time it will be a lot harder to see noticable progress than lifts where more weight can be used. If you think that's bad, try training strict curl for strength. It's taken me two years to add 12 lbs!
It's difficult for everybody because small muscles being worked like in bb curl.
Accessories matter a lot. Once plateaued at 105 for 8 reps, focused on one-arm DB presses for two weeks and could suddenly hit 115 for 8 reps with ease
I bought some micro plates on Amazon. Expensive though:$40. Brand:Micro Gainz. But helped me make progress and move forward.
Been prioritizing ohp for the last year over bench and the gains have been unreal 👍
Subie876 can you share some numbers?
mrigue56 I was doing a cut for 3 of the months so gains would not be as good as if I was in a surplus the entire time. I took my 75x10 OHP to 115x5. I still have a long way to go but I can definitely tell the difference is my shoulders and upper body in general. Hope this helped.
This is true. I don’t have a labrum in my shoulder anymore, barbell OHP gives me less issues than barbell Benchpress.
You don’t feel unstable?
Ben Salinas not too much. And there’s many variations you can do that will help
Another benefit? No one does this at most gyms so there's no waiting around for a bench lol.
Overhead press is easily one of my favorite exercises
This is so true. I have implemented OHP in my offseason training due to my nagging pain in my left shoulder and I have no pain executing the lift. I hope it helps my Bench as much as I think it will and as much you say brother! Keep up the grind! I respect your content a lot!
i used to have pain in my weak shoulders because of not doing shoulder work til i watched some of your previous vids advocating OHP over bench press and now my shoulders are 100% better
Great to hear bro!
Literally been working on my pull-ups and OHP and my whole upper body has exploded. Good shit.
>tried it because it’s “completely safe.”
>dropped bar on my head
>in hospital
Polkamon the nose clip will happen eventually, and it’ll never happen again
Jack Harman twas but a joke. I’ve hit my nose plenty of times lol
Whatever it takes goddamnit.
@@TacBandit this is so true hahahahah i only hit my nose once
Polkamon You must have shitty coordination then.
I'd say the OHP is my favourite exercise along with weighted dips.
Alex 'for the most part' Destiny
Yeahhhhhhhh
I hit 135 OHP a little ago!!!!! On my way to 200 and ain't nothing gon stop me.
How long did it take for you to get to 200.. did u? 4 years later
lifted for 5+ years with decent results using very minimal OHP. Recently I decided to make it my main focus in my program and I finally feel BIG, I feel solid as fuck in the shoulders, chest and traps like I never have before. It's the secret man, swear.
i've been doing OHP for the past 2 months and kinda just threw bench to the side, and bro, OHP is so much more enjoyable and feels way better in my opinion. It also has made my shoulders and traps feel and look fucking great.
in those 2 months, did you notice any gains
How many Sets/Reps are you doing of OHP?
Get some delts that'll make em melt..
I have pretty much replaced heavy benching with heavy overhead pressing
It's crazy. Had annoying impingement from benching all the time, switched to OHP and my shoulder feels much better. There's definitely merit to this lift!
Great info, also your haircut is on point man. Rock on
I’ve been following Alex for many many years and he just doesn’t miss. I’ve always wanted to do some OHP specialization but I’ve been afraid of losing bench gains. I recently started playing rugby and it’s made me realize that the OHP specialization is absolutely the way to go if I want to get legit strong and prevent injuries.
I got 18 reps on the kinobody challenge on Monday beating his 16, then he got 23 Tuesday. But he’s been training high reps for a while. Alex do it.
Omar is very strong for his weight- so underrated.
This is my favorite exercise along with dips. Shoulders feel great during and after doing them!
Omar and Kino are having a standing OHP 135 lb challenge.
How many reps can you get?! Kino just did 23
I'd say Alex could get more
@@legend2kill dont kino have a stronger ohp?
Kino did 16 half reps and Omar did 22 or 23 reps, kinobodu does not know how to overhead press correctly..
Baris Goker both of em did shit reps id be interested in seeing some clean full lock out reps even with a little bounce of the chest the lockout is where the bread is buttered
Sounds like a fun challenge
One big advantage is that it makes you look like an alpha rather quick but developping your shoulders and traps like crazy.
Cs Life yea and upperchest!
I had significant gains on my bench press after taking years off from it and focusing on the overhead press. For a few years my only chest work was a few sets of pushups after my shoulder workout.
This video changed my life. You were the only one to say the OHP also hits the upper back. Its a 2 in one lift. Everyone focuses on "delt hypertrophy" and dont realize the splashover efftect. Nobody else studied strongmen except you Alex. Nobody else.
Man I appreciate your videos! Thank you for what you do! Everyday I’ll watch one or two videos of yours while I’m working out while listening to music, it’s awesome. I’m straight up a novice man, I’ve only been working out for 4 months and I’m pretty happy with the results so far. The only thing about being a novice is I don’t always understand working out terminology, like a lot of work outs that are mentioned, that might even be obvious I just don’t know. I understand the simple and popular ones like bench press, dead lift and push ups, workouts like that, but there are many I hear that I’m just not familiar with. I don’t know if you have the time but if you ever get a chance maybe you could do a video on your top 30 favorite workouts! That would be cool. Mad respect for you man. God bless!
The best upper body barbell excercise ever. In my opinion.
Did a crazy amount of volume yesterday on strict OHP with pause at the bottom of every rep. Shoulders felt completely blasted right after with only 2 minute breaks, huge pump.
4 reps @RPE6
4 reps @RPE7
4 reps @RPE8 for 5 sets.
I have been training strict press on the regular for several years. Saw great results with lifting three times a week and doing the Clean & Press each session. The only real drawback is overuse. It is important to vary grip width from time to time, do heavy and light sessions and sometimes doing some more flat benching. Close-grip flat benching using the same grip width as your OHP can be very beneficial; the big benefit from benching is it lets you train your pressing muscles while deloading your spine. But barring very few exceptions, a big overhead press requires a lot of overhead pressing!
Here's a treat for all strict pressing lovers out there = ua-cam.com/video/hr0_-rscOrU/v-deo.html
What is more badass than a strict overhead press? A strict overhead press where you first clean the bar!
Alex my man you look gorgeous now. Keep it up.
best haircut uve ever had
See so many guys half repping the OHP to hit higher weight all the time. I go full ROM touching the upper chest.
yep. and all those half repping assholes are whining that OHP doesn't train your side delts and traps at all, only your front delts. With OHP it's crucial to go full rom. From chest to get that upper pec involvement to full lockout to get traps and side delts
This is the only way how this lift should be performed.
Its stupid half repping it just takes away your power and explosiveness that the lats give you at the bottom of the movement.
Much more practical than benching too, I'm gonna focus on ohp, dips and maybe pushups.👍
Mr. Potato head add some pull ups bro
My bench has always plummeted when I’ve specialized In OHP and neglected for a period of time, however when I focus on my benching/horizontal presses my ohp stays the same. Not knocking the OHP at all as it is one of my favorite lifts, but just giving some food for thought before you dive in.
Damn, with all this lifting / running hybridisation and eventually cutting even further than before, you’ll have a truly insane physique
Yep love this lift!
Thx for the info through 👍
One time I OHP'ed 225 at the gym... And 3 girls tried to Hawk Tuah me right there in the rack!
I totally agree about the shoulder safety. I will emphasize OHP in my training or swap it for bench if my shoulders are getting beat up from benching a lot. In fact, I was getting issues with bench again, and since I've been consistent with OHP the pain has gone away. Scapular movement is important and benching a lot (with the requirement of keeping scapula retracted) puts you in an unathletic position. I would put Viking press in the same category (what an amazing exercise). I got a Viking attachment from EliteFTS to use with my landmine attachment, great investment.
Awesome brother
you don't need to keep your scapula retracted. why would you...
I hit 100kg and 35x60kg on OHP when gyms were closed. In all honesty I made the best gains during this period, entire body just grew and became stronger and more explosive, I attribute it all to overhead pressing and squatting every 3-4 days
Dame good point. This by far my fav exercise.
Benching started to hurt my shoulder every time. Switched to ohp and all pain went away. Slowly adding weight
Love the OHP. Been doing it a lot for the past couple months. My best is 140 right now.
my gym doesn't have a power rack 😞
Last time i had to power clean it then Jerk all the weight up then do the reps.
@@fliwizz1487 saddest story ever
@@fliwizz1487 Much better. The Clean & Press is more difficult.
If everyone OHP'd from day one,the commonly held belief that shoulders wear out with age would become a myth,i'm going to prove that the press beats benching for longevity of shoulder power & boulder shoulders.Hopefully your massive outreach will get through to younger lifters.
You are the KING of OHP my guy, you've inspired me to cut down on bench and do more OHP
@@chrisstanley9477You'll be glad you focused on OHP's as opposed to bench presses,when your peers are nursing wrecked rotator cuffs and pulled pecs and your still banging & clanging heavy iron in 30 years time 😉
My ohp went up 30lbs without even training it, I was focusing on bench press and got it from 235 x 5 to 315 x 5 in 6 months. OHP went from 185lbs to 215lbs for 1RM just by focusing on bench press while bulking & following Texas Method...
Grats
@@AlexLeonidas Didn't mean to brag, just wanted to share my progress haha
Thats great results, assuming you just didnt get fat (is super easy to ger strong while getting fat)
Getting stronger and building muscle while remaining lean is the real challenge, and quite hard to do.
@@jcobjason3 yeah agree, i surely gained a bit of fat but its worth the strenght gains
Very true about injury prevention and also healing. Concentrating on this exercise helped get my shoulder back in the game.
Bench press is a bro move. Press is one of the big three, being squat/deadlift/press.
stoempert lmao squat and deadlift isn’t necessary
This has been the main lift I've been working on. Great video!
Idk about that, my shoulder press went up and no change in bench
man i seriously commend and respect Alpha for this shit man, all the serious introspective thinking that goes into understanding the optimal training. like people don't understand how much time you would waste if you didnt have this info as a natural body builder.
Currently PR is 175lbs. 225 IM COMING FOR YOU
Edit: NEW PR 185 for a double
What is it now
Christian 1000 for 10 reps
OHP is a much more athletic movement than the Laydown press, AKA Bench Press
@PullupM8 You're literally saying having huge titties is manlier than wide, broad shoulders!?
Bench is honestly overrated. Especially flat bench. Gives you man titties. I think most gym goers have kind of a pec fetish. Incline does have a place though. Not to mention bench press is a very unnatural exercise, because your shoulders dont move, they stay tucked to the bench, also doesn't have as much real world carry over. Weighted pushups are actually much better IMO. Just place the plates on your upper back and there you go
BTW GOOD PHYSIQUE=/=ATHLETIC
SejeSteen This is my alt account, and you won’t get huge titties from benching unless you’re on drugs, and I never said benching is more manly dumbass. Also, overhead presses don’t work Shoulders much more than benching does. Your side delts don’t get worked with overhead presses unless you’re doing dumbbell or behind the neck presses. Regular military presses don’t work side delts any more then bench presses do, unless you take a wide grip and risk injuries. Nice try though.
SejeSteen your comment got 7 likes while you strawmanned me and told a blatant lie. That shows how stupid people are. Doing 15-20 good sets of bench a week will fully develop front delts for 99.999% of people (unless your MRV is lesser/higher), and strict presses don’t work side delts well at all. Overhead Pressing fucks with your ability to do horizontal presses, and I’m saying horizontal presses are more important because without them you neglect your chest. Without ohp’ing you don’t neglect anything, you get enough front delt work from horizontal presses, enough upper back work from deadlifts & rows, enough tricep work from horizontal presses & direct Tricep Work, and enough core work from squats & deadlifts + any direct core work you do. So why should I be doing vertical presses if they just hinder my ability to hit my MRV on horizontal presses?
One of the best fitness channel. No Bs.
I remember when I first pressed 200lbs. Felt epic.
At what bw? I'm 150lbs, max is 175, shud I increase volume to get max up?
@@legend2kill I was 210. Volume will help like all lifts but its a grind. Take your time. I pressed 3 times a week both heavy and light. I made sure my lats, abs and glutes were strong too.
@@legend2kill add volume, and practice heavy singles.
@@legend2kill At ur bodyweight ur ovp is strong man. If u want a bigger ovp increase ur bodyweight.
@@sheadoherty7434 damn 200 overhead sounds brutal, especially strict.
I’m late but man I’m outta breath doing this exercise I feel it in my core man this exercise is no joke ima add this to my workouts for shoulders
I want to do 165 @ 132, rn my max is 135. It's my favorite lift.
OHP unironically changed my life
Back in the day this was tested in Olympic weightlifting until 1972. What a shame , please bring back the clean and press
rockstar s mg - because people kept leaning back more and more
@@DrTopLiftDPT but still it was an awsome feat of strength and the solution is simple: you lean back you get a fucking red light
@@DrTopLiftDPT but i always feel the same way about the arch on the bench, people are arching more and more, its basically 2 inch ROM for a lot of guys.
Cameron Gormley - agree!
rockstar s mg - yea i agree. But the guy below mentions the bench arch. Its like the same problem
I absolutely love the strict overhead press!
Something I noticed with the Overhead Press is the importance of mental strength as well.
While a few doubts can affect your performance for a lot of exercises, the biggest impact for me was having doubts or not feeling so well while doing this exercise. I'm following a 5x5 program and during good days I can push 3 sets of 5 reps with 20 kilo's + bar before dropping to lower weigths. But the moment a doubt or "meh" gut feeling occurs, my strength drops to 4 reps with 15 kilo's. I can be doing the 20 kilo's set, pushing for 5 and out of nowhere a feeling of doubt blocks my performance entirely for the next rep and I cannot even lift the bar up anymore.
I don't have a wireless headset for listening to workout music, so every time I exercise it's a small battle between me and my brain. Mind over body, folks... It's a real thing.
Also, looking extra clean and slick today on this video Alex!
Man, just keep your mind positive.. I do 5x5 also.. Once i get past set #3 i know i am over the hump. I look forward to those last 2 sets.
Also make sure you are resting enough between sets.
ive got that too but more on bicep exercises, but i found that if my mind comes into play i deadlift and after a few reps its gone cause deadlift takes a lot of focus on how im doing it
amazing content as always alex
great stuff
Thanks a lot brother, much respect
Doing that today actually (: thanks for the vid!
Let's get it!
Am I the only who gets a rush when doing this , I love it
i've been alternating OHP and pause bench on a day by day basis hitting both exercises 3 times a week since i'm at the gym 6x a week, and OHPing has made my shoulders feel so much healthier and flat benching has never felt better.
It is also my favourite lift along chinups (sick superset by the way) but it's absolutely not the safest. Depending on the balance of your muscles and neck flexibility it's one of the easiest ways to herniate a cervical disk (like I did, doing a warmup set with refined form). I strongly advice to get your neck, upper back and traps checked before attempting to specialize in OHP.
Can you talk about your upcoming video(s) with Jeff Nippard?
I train athletes and I agree.. 9/10 ppl that start to get issues with impingement are the ones that don’t keep their back tight (scapulae pulled down and back) during the lift.
How can you get impingement when the scapula rotates up when you overhead press ?. Now you can injure your back from leaning to far. Rippetoe even talks about this.
Full Body Joe Because some of the tendons of the rotator cuff run under the acromion process of the scapula, and the subacromial space is limited. Keeping the mid to lower back tight prevents the humerus from impinging those tendons in that space during overhead movements.
It’s less of a problem for seasoned lifters who have proper form. I work primarily with high school athletes (beginners).
OHP is also my number 1 exercise for good posture, it sorts out your thoracic spine like no other
I use OHP for shoulder health. Blows my mind people disregard it for the same reasons.
OHP is love OHP is life
I know this video is from four years ago but FYI in terms of safety it's really easy to pass out grinding a heavy overhead press. I definitely recommend using a rack when available for low rep work.
OHP is my main pressing exercise followed by weighted dips and push ups. Focusing on OHP and squats at the moment and when I get strong in both I will have a really good physique. Already have strong pull up.
Changed out my sitting DB press for OHP because of this video
Can you create an OHP specialization program? I'd love to buy that !!
He already has one. It's called Alpha Body program. There's 2 OHP Specialization routines, as well as 2 Bench Press.
@@joescugoza5486 oh dang and it's only $20?! Thank you
No Limits Li of course! Tons of knowledge in it.
vertical presses have never ever hurt my shoulders and I do them often, bench press on the other hand did.
Does the standard, standing OHP attribute any muscle/strength gains to the rear delt? I've heard a lot of arguments and disputes over it with no real agreement.
In my opinion, it does contribute especially if doing multiple variations.
Thanks brah. Love the content
Not at all. OHP is complete opposite of what rear delts do.
Better than bench press imo. Puts on More mass than bench press, gives way More aesthetic look aswell as its easier to perform (you only need a barbell & weights)
Hi Alex! My gym’s ceiling is low so I can’t lock an OHP, The obvious variations are a seated press and a Z press. What would you recomend to keep high excersise rotation? Thank you
yeah totally agree.the ohp is the lift.ive done 210 strict.my all time strength hero vasily alexeev could Olympic press over 500 there is not a man alive today that can do that.as could serge redding.keep pressing.
How do I get my OHP strength back soon
I could 148lbs 1RM strict @135lbs
Now I can only do 105lbs for 4-6 reps @128lbs
Stop using meth and heroin.
@salad snek thanks mate, will try it and watch Brian
@@kaikkimoi holy fuck dude
I've got some nice crunchy painful shoulders from benching so i replaced bench with ohp about a week ago. At this point i don't care if i ever bench again.
In b4 coach makes a video about this
I ran smolov jr for bench for a period of time worked great, now I’m doing it with Ohp, let’s get stacked brethren
Can you get the same results from Hand Stand Press as OHP?
Pretty similar size gains especially if using higher volume.