Military Press (barbell)
The Military Press is a classic exercise that can increase bodyweight strength tremendously and has been a longtime favorite of strongmen and women alike for well over a century yet you will rarely see it performed in gyms these days. Typically this is because it is commonly perceived to be dangerous for the lower back. This is true IF it is performed incorrectly.
We find that many of the most effective exercises can be harmful if performed incorrectly. In our eyes this is not a reason not to do them but rather it is a reason to take the necessary time, effort, study, and focus to learn to do them 100% correctly and thereby allow oneself to cash in on the phenomenal results that can be obtained and simultaneously avoid the dangers that incorrect form bring with them.
We consider this exercise to be one of the primary bodyweight strength tools for vertical pressing strength and yet the exercise does not directly use your bodyweight as resistance. However it does require you to have a very strong body awareness from head to toe in order to be performed properly and it creates a high level of vertical pressing strength that can be measured precisely as progress is made. One of the few truly bodyweight based exercises for vertical pressing is the Handstand Pushup. While that is an excellent exercise and is a great way to confirm your actual possession of genuine bodyweight strength it is not an exercise with which we can precisely increase resistance through the adding of incremental weights as your strength grows over time. This is simply because it is nearly impossible to add weights to your body when in a handstand position. For this reason, we consider the Military Press to be the most important exercise and primary bodyweight strength tool for vertical pressing strength.
The Military Press should be performed in a standing position and should be started by walking up to a squat rack or power rack of some sort with the barbell racked on the rack at about shoulder level. Grasp the bar at a Clean width grip (slightly wider than shoulder width - many people find that the most comfortable width is about a thumbs length from the inside of the knurl of the barbell). After confirming that your hands are evenly placed on the barbell, step back from the rack while holding the bar on your shoulders with a tight grip in your hands.
Look up towards the ceiling, keep your core tight (brace your abdomen as though someone is about to punch you in the stomach), keep your hips forward (centered under the bar), keep your legs and glutes (butt muscles) strong and tight, and then begin to press the barbell upwards toward the ceiling. Once the bar get above your face level, lower your chin back down so that you are now looking straight ahead instead of up. Continue the press until both of your elbows and should have locked out completely at the top. In order to achieve a complete lockout at the top you will need to allow your arms to shift backward slightly to keep the bar centered over your shoulder girdle.
As the bar shifts back you will need to shift your hips back as well in order to keep them centered under the bar to protect your back. If you keep your hips forward at this point, there would be nothing supporting your back and you could potentially injure your lower back. This is precisely the mistake that most people make when they perform this exercise and it is precisely why they shy away from Military Press, thinking that there is a flaw in the exercise itself making it inherently injure prone. If you will simply perform this exercise perfectly and insure that your hips are centered below the bar and shift backward as you press the bar up and back then you can prevent the lack of support and stability that results from a failure to do so.
After you have reached a complete lockout of the shoulders and elbows at the top of the movement (with your hips back under the bar and your face looking straight ahead) you can now begin to lower the bar back down again. It is important that you are as precise about lowering the bar correctly as you were about raising it correctly. On the way down, once the bar reaches the top of your head, turn your face upward to the ceiling again, shift your hips forward again so that they stay under the bar giving you a base of support, and keep your core and your legs strong and tight (the legs and hips are your foundation on any standing exercise so they MUST be strong, stable, and tight throughout the movement in order for the rest of the body to be stable - just like the foundation of a house). Once you reach the collarbone level, smoothly change the direction of the barbell and begin the next upward press of the bar for your next rep. Do not let your shoulder relax at the bottom of the movement. Keep them tight throughout the smooth change in direction from down to up. This is very important. If you let the muscles relax at the bottom of the movement then you lose all of the tension that gives them the strength to push back up and it puts more pressure on the shoulder joints. On the first rep of the set you have no choice but to start from the bottom with relaxed shoulders because you are just starting the set. For this reason, you may often notice that the first rep of a Military Press is often much more difficult than the second rep. This is because the shoulders do not have the pre-tension in them that they have in them on the subsequent reps of the set.
Disclaimer - We do not recommend performing any exercise without the supervision of a highly qualified bodyweight strength professional present with you. This detailed exercise description is for informational purposes only. Consult your physician before attempting any strength training program or attempting this exercise or any of the other exercises on www.getrealstrength.com
We find that many of the most effective exercises can be harmful if performed incorrectly. In our eyes this is not a reason not to do them but rather it is a reason to take the necessary time, effort, study, and focus to learn to do them 100% correctly and thereby allow oneself to cash in on the phenomenal results that can be obtained and simultaneously avoid the dangers that incorrect form bring with them.
We consider this exercise to be one of the primary bodyweight strength tools for vertical pressing strength and yet the exercise does not directly use your bodyweight as resistance. However it does require you to have a very strong body awareness from head to toe in order to be performed properly and it creates a high level of vertical pressing strength that can be measured precisely as progress is made. One of the few truly bodyweight based exercises for vertical pressing is the Handstand Pushup. While that is an excellent exercise and is a great way to confirm your actual possession of genuine bodyweight strength it is not an exercise with which we can precisely increase resistance through the adding of incremental weights as your strength grows over time. This is simply because it is nearly impossible to add weights to your body when in a handstand position. For this reason, we consider the Military Press to be the most important exercise and primary bodyweight strength tool for vertical pressing strength.
The Military Press should be performed in a standing position and should be started by walking up to a squat rack or power rack of some sort with the barbell racked on the rack at about shoulder level. Grasp the bar at a Clean width grip (slightly wider than shoulder width - many people find that the most comfortable width is about a thumbs length from the inside of the knurl of the barbell). After confirming that your hands are evenly placed on the barbell, step back from the rack while holding the bar on your shoulders with a tight grip in your hands.
Look up towards the ceiling, keep your core tight (brace your abdomen as though someone is about to punch you in the stomach), keep your hips forward (centered under the bar), keep your legs and glutes (butt muscles) strong and tight, and then begin to press the barbell upwards toward the ceiling. Once the bar get above your face level, lower your chin back down so that you are now looking straight ahead instead of up. Continue the press until both of your elbows and should have locked out completely at the top. In order to achieve a complete lockout at the top you will need to allow your arms to shift backward slightly to keep the bar centered over your shoulder girdle.
As the bar shifts back you will need to shift your hips back as well in order to keep them centered under the bar to protect your back. If you keep your hips forward at this point, there would be nothing supporting your back and you could potentially injure your lower back. This is precisely the mistake that most people make when they perform this exercise and it is precisely why they shy away from Military Press, thinking that there is a flaw in the exercise itself making it inherently injure prone. If you will simply perform this exercise perfectly and insure that your hips are centered below the bar and shift backward as you press the bar up and back then you can prevent the lack of support and stability that results from a failure to do so.
After you have reached a complete lockout of the shoulders and elbows at the top of the movement (with your hips back under the bar and your face looking straight ahead) you can now begin to lower the bar back down again. It is important that you are as precise about lowering the bar correctly as you were about raising it correctly. On the way down, once the bar reaches the top of your head, turn your face upward to the ceiling again, shift your hips forward again so that they stay under the bar giving you a base of support, and keep your core and your legs strong and tight (the legs and hips are your foundation on any standing exercise so they MUST be strong, stable, and tight throughout the movement in order for the rest of the body to be stable - just like the foundation of a house). Once you reach the collarbone level, smoothly change the direction of the barbell and begin the next upward press of the bar for your next rep. Do not let your shoulder relax at the bottom of the movement. Keep them tight throughout the smooth change in direction from down to up. This is very important. If you let the muscles relax at the bottom of the movement then you lose all of the tension that gives them the strength to push back up and it puts more pressure on the shoulder joints. On the first rep of the set you have no choice but to start from the bottom with relaxed shoulders because you are just starting the set. For this reason, you may often notice that the first rep of a Military Press is often much more difficult than the second rep. This is because the shoulders do not have the pre-tension in them that they have in them on the subsequent reps of the set.
Disclaimer - We do not recommend performing any exercise without the supervision of a highly qualified bodyweight strength professional present with you. This detailed exercise description is for informational purposes only. Consult your physician before attempting any strength training program or attempting this exercise or any of the other exercises on www.getrealstrength.com