Front delts exercise
Barbell Push PressHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Front delts
- Also works
- Triceps, Quads, Glutes
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Advanced
How to do it
How do you do the Barbell Push Press?
- Rest the bar on your front shoulders, hands slightly wider than shoulders.
- Dip a few inches by bending your knees, chest upright.
- Drive up hard with your legs and push the bar overhead.
- Lock your arms with the bar over the back of your neck.
- Lower the bar to your shoulders, bending your knees slightly to cushion it.
Cues
- Short dip, straight down
- Legs first, then arms
- Head through at the top
Common mistakes
- Leaning forward in the dip; keep your chest up and dip straight down.
- Dipping too deep; bend only to a quarter squat.
- Pressing before the legs finish; let the leg drive start the bar.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Standing, no bench. Weight over the whole foot, a little towards the heels. Bar in the front rack: resting on the front deltoids and collarbones, between the throat and the top of the shoulders. Closed, pronated grip, slightly wider than shoulder width (clean grip): target 1.3× shoulder (biacromial) width, with the hands deep under the bar and the grip relaxed. Elbows down, slightly in front of the bar and a little out to the sides. Torso upright, head neutral.
The movement
Dip (knees and ankles bend, torso vertical) then an immediate, fast reversal: legs and hips drive up hard, heels may rise slightly at the end of the leg drive, and the arms then push the bar the rest of the way. The bar travels straight up from the shoulders; the head moves back briefly to let the bar pass the chin and face, then forward again under the bar. The knees do not re-bend under the bar (that would be a push jerk). Lowering: the bar comes back to the rack under control while the knees bend slightly (about 10–20°) to cushion it, then straighten.
End position
(turnaround point): two points matter. - Bottom of the dip: knees bent to a quarter squat at most, no deeper than 10% of body height (about 15–17 cm of bar drop for a 1.75 m lifter). Torso stays vertical; the hips go straight down, not back. Knees track over the toes. Bar and arms stay exactly as in the rack. - Lockout overhead: legs straight again, elbows extended 175–180°, bar over the base of the neck, slightly behind the ears from the side. Head pushed "through" the arms to neutral. Feet flat.
Tempo
Stand 0.4 s, dip 0.4 s, drive and press 0.6 s (fast), hold lockout 0.5 s, lower to the rack with a soft knee bend 1.5 s, settle 0.4 s.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stance width (heels) | hip width | hip to shoulder width | |
| Toe-out | 12° | 5–20° | |
| Grip width (× shoulder width) | 1.3× | 1.1–1.5× | |
| Dip depth (bar drop) | 15 cm | 10 cm to 10% of height | |
| Torso lean in dip | 0° (vertical) | 0–5° | |
| Heel lift at end of drive | 1–2 cm | 0–3 cm | |
| Elbow at lockout | 178° | 175–180° | |
| Bar at lockout (side view) | over base of neck | over ears to just behind ears | |
| Knee bend when catching the lowered bar | 15° | 10–20° |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Barbell Push Press is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
