EXERCISE · BARBELL
Overhead Press
Your head is in the way of a straight bar path overhead, and what you do about that is the whole lift. You need a slight lean back from your upper body, not your lower back—you're not bending your spine, you're shifting your whole body to get out of the bar's way. Set up with the bar high on your chest, elbows slightly forward. Brace hard: tight core, squeezed glutes, tension everywhere. Push your hips forward slightly to shift that upper back angle, then stand up explosively while pressing the bar straight overhead. The bar travels up and slightly back, passing through your beard space. Drive hard with your legs—this is not an arms-only lift. Lock out at the top with full shoulder engagement, bar over your torso. The slight upper back lean is biomechanically necessary to clear your head; the common mistake is getting creative with your lower back to move heavier weight.