Barbell push press
The barbell push press combines a leg-driven push with an overhead barbell press, working your shoulders, arms, thighs and hips. It builds whole-body strength and helps you connect lower-body drive with an overhead effort. You will want to be comfortable supporting a barbell at shoulder height.
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Standing with the bar at shoulder height, you use your legs to help move it overhead, making this a coordinated full-body press rather than a shoulders-only movement. You should feel the main effort through your shoulders and the backs of your upper arms, with your thighs and hips contributing and your middle and upper back keeping you steady.
Choose it when you want to build strength that carries from your legs through your middle and into your arms, while practising a coordinated overhead effort. It suits you if you are already comfortable holding a barbell at shoulder height and overhead. Your shoulders, wrists and elbows should feel comfortable supporting the bar in those positions.
Because the movement asks for coordination and a secure overhead position, it is worth doing near the start of a full-body or shoulder-focused session, while you feel attentive. If you do not have a barbell, a bodyweight squat-to-overhead reach can practise the same connection between your legs and arms, though without the loading.
How to do it
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding the barbell across the front of your shoulders.
Grip the barbell just outside shoulder width, with your elbows pointing slightly forward beneath it.
Bend your knees and hips into a shallow dip, keeping your feet flat and your upper body upright.
Push through your feet to straighten your legs and drive the barbell upward from your shoulders.
Continue pressing the barbell overhead until your arms are straight and the bar is above your shoulders.
Lower the barbell back to the front of your shoulders, returning to the starting position.