3 Movements for Monster Delts

Pushing heavy weight overhead is one of the quickest ways to big delts and a strong press. The 'overhead press' is a loose term that encompasses all forms of overhead movements: jerks, push presses, and strict presses.

Strict Press

This one is pretty straight forward; it entails grabbing a weight and moving it over your head strictly through the use of your arms. This means there is no leaning or kicking with legs. Since seated presses are the favorite of the gym masses, this is probably your default movement. However, since seated presses require much less energy than the standing version, I'm inclined to consider this cheating anyways. Standing presses are the gold standard in upper body movements. It's not enough to get a hard lean into a bench, get a handoff from your gym buddy, drop the bar to the top of your forehead, and spit and strain as you turn what should be a basic shoulder movement into a half-rep incline press. Set the bar in the squat rack and press from your collarbone for a quick reality check as to how badass you are not.

A strong standing strict press relies on stability just as much as raw pressing power. Make sure your feet are parallel and your gut is tight. There should be little to no backwards lean as you press the weight. I also find that driving your elbows up into the rack position helps give a good pop off of your chest. The press should be fast and smooth and track closely enough to your face that you can smell the barbell.

This is probably the best demonstration of overhead pressing power ever. Before the strict press was excluded from olympic weightlifting, it was common for guys to get a 'kick' with a quick backward lean.

Push Press

This is the strict press's cooler cousin. A push press begins with a fast leg drive to get the weight moving and finishes with a strong press to lockout. This conditions your arms and legs to move as a chain, forcefully transferring energy from the ground, through your midsection, and out your fist. There is no better exercise for developing a knockout punch. It also results in a huge overload on your primary pressing muscles. Depending on how fast your leg drive is, you may be using weights up to 100lbs. over your strict press numbers. This overload means more tension on the working muscles, which will lead to a breakthrough in mass development.

The setup should look just like the strict press, but really emphasize bringing your elbows up in the rack position. Keeping your torso completely upright and your weight balanced evenly on your feet, push your hips back and bend your knees slightly. The point is to distribute the load evenly across your hips and knees without causing the bar to come forward. Reverse directions explosively, launching yourself from your heels to your toes. As you extend fully on to your toes, press the bar as hard as you can to lockout and push your head forward. The bar should be directly over the middle of your foot and just above the back of your head.

Notice how Koklyaev keeps the movement smooth. His transition from leg drive to arm drive is flawless.

Push Jerk

The push jerk takes the push press one level higher. The setup will be the same, but as you extend fully you will dip back under the bar instead of pressing it to lockout. This is how big numbers are put up in strongman contests around the world. It requires speed, flexibility, and coordination, along with the balls to get under a weight that's much higher than your max strict press. At this point, the movement is less of a press than a demonstration of quickness and technical prowess, but the overload factor still plays a role. From personal experience I can tell you that my delts exploded from a year of doing heavy jerks and little else. My best push jerk went from 275 to 365 for a double in this time, and my pressing strength has been on another level since.

To understand the push jerk, you must understand your own body mechanics. The idea is to drive up forcefully, and when the weight is accelerating upwards, drop back underneath it and catch it at arms length. This means you don't drop under the bar until you have applied every bit of force you have in you into moving it upwards. As you drive, make sure you 'finish' the triple extension: your ankles, knees, and hips should all be fully extended.

Pay attention to the elbows: the high rack position makes the leg drive much more efficient.


Picking a technique depends on your goals. I recommend strict presses with the occasional push press worked in for simple mass building. If you ever want to compete, you will eventually have to be comfortable with a push press or jerk. You might as well start now. The techniques require a month or so of light practice, and when you let loose, it pays off. Just pick a technique and stick with it. Every ounce you put on the bar will translate into mass on your frame.