Upper Body Lifts + Progressions for my people with limited overhead ROM
are you….
📍Training at home
📍low on equipment
📍having difficulty pressing overhead without arching your back?
📍 Looking for some new workout moves?
Well in today’s blog I am going to go over several pressing options, ranked from easiest to hardest in my opinion, and how to properly progress from one to the next.
Landmine Press
Why the Landmine and not a strict press??
I love the landmine press for the peeps out there who are lacking some range of motion overhead.
What we commonly see in the gym that is no Bueno :
Person pressing overhead with an excessive arch in their low back
Person pressing out in front of their shoulders instead of straight up towards the sky
Instead of pressing with shit form that will eventually land you in injury land the landmine allows you to still strengthen your press while you work on improving your overhead range of motion. The landmine press in addition to shoulder flexion exercises will have you pressing overhead like a boss without breaking your back. So ditch the ego and put in the work to improve that overhead position.
How to do it :
Place a plate on the ground and place one end of your barbell in the groove on the center of the plate
Position yourself underneath the other side of the barbell
Pressing can be done both from a standing position or a half-kneeling position ( half kneeling will really force you to keep a tight core and is a great way to level up your unilateral pressing movements
You can decrease your distance from the anchor point to make your pressing more vertical as you see fit.
Load weight on the end to change resistance and difficult
Db Strict Press
The tried and true strict press. Can be done in a variety of setups, standing, seated, single-arm half kneeling or in the infamous floor seated version (the z press- to come later). Each variation is slightly different from one another.
If you notice you have a pretty large discrepancy from one side of your body to the next, I’d recommend starting with the single-arm option and begin on the weaker side. The thought process, we only want to lift what the weaker side can on the stronger side, possibly even a few fewer reps for a couple of weeks. The goal here is to get the strength to be equal on both sides, think about it as giving your weaker side a chance to catch up to the other side.
If you just came from doing the landmine press and you’ve been working on your range of motion overhead I would suggest starting with your back supported in the seated position. This will allow you to focus a little bit more on your overhead position and not be so worried about what your core and back are doing. Of course, it goes without saying you're core should be braced but this will keep your back in check a little more vs. the standing position.
After the seated position feels strong I would progress to either the half-kneeling position or the standing variation.
How to do it :
Dbs start on shoulders
squeeze your butt + brace your core and press straight up
Arnold press | Half kneeling, Standing or Seated Variations
The Arnold press is arguably my favorite pressing movement right now. If you follow our FBA at-home workout plans you know what I am talking about.
Why do I love it so much?
The Arnold press targets all 3 sections of your deltoid muscle (the bump on top of your shoulders). Just like training in different planes of motion is important so is targeting all aspects of a muscle. Most people are already doing a fair amount of pressing via bench press or push-ups so their front deltoid gets some action, but not all are also taking the time to target both the medial and rear aspects of the deltoid. Sooo….. We Arnold press, targeting the entire shoulder in one move. Especially beneficial if you are on a time crunch like most of my clients but you still want to make sure you are doing ALL the things to stay healthy and active.
Half-Kneeling vs. Seated/Standing | Unilateral v. bilateral movements
Choose seated if trouble maintaining a neutral spine
If you still have a muscle imbalance from above, stick with the unilateral version of the press until strength is equal.
Kneeling version if you want to add some core focus into your unilateral press
Lastly, the standing version. Full body working much harder to maintain neutral spine here. I recommend filming yourself from an angle so you can keep an eye on your pressing movement pattern as well as your back.
z press
In my opinion, this one is the toughest. You will position yourself on the ground in an L position ( if tight hamstrings, take a slight bend to your knees here. Now with zero leg drive, you will press the weight overhead. Arguably the hardest press variation I’ve ever tried because it is purely shoulders + core, and your overhead range of motion must be on point. For those two reasons, I rank this the most difficult pressing option.
These movements are a great way to isolate progress your overhead press especially if you struggle to get your arms over your head. Of course, in addition to progressing your lifts, you will also need to do some corrective exercises and more than likely some myofascial release at some point.
Squat University on Instagram is a great resource for ALL the things in regards to mobility assessments and corrective work.
For more At Home Workout Ideas check out:
Upper + Lower Body movements with a foam roller
Want to learn more stuff about your lifts and why you’re doing them???
Come Join the FBA team and learn while you lift. Knowledge is power and I am here to not only take the guesswork out of your workouts but also teach you along the way. From exercise selection, to reps, sets, and tempos inside Fitness By Ashley's personalized programming you will get it all.