Off-Season Weight Training: Overhead Press & Arms

Inflicting our will on others for their own betterment - Overhead Press and Arm Training

Off-season weight training is the time to attack weak points instead of endlessly repeating the same squat, bench press, and deadlift template. In this Marty Gallagher RAW article, Marty and six-time world powerlifting champion Kirk Karwoski use the overhead barbell press, press-behind-the-neck, bicep curls, and dumbbell triceps work to address a very specific problem: strong drug-free lifters with excellent squats and deadlifts but lagging bench presses.

Sunday Weight Training at Don Berry’s Country Gym

Six-time world powerlifting champion Kirk Karwoski and I train a bunch of local guys every Sunday at 9 am at Don Berry’s country gym. Our weightlifting workouts are studies in no-frills minimalism: we take barbell squats, bench presses, and deadlifts to high art. Kirk and I teach these lifts as they were taught to us; all lifts are done with our signature techniques. We do little else, maybe some arm training like dumbbell extensions or bicep curls. Our strength tribe is always expanding and contracting, on any given Sunday we might get as many as 20 trainees or as few as 5, depending on time of year and nearness of any competitions.

For me, training locals for free is not entirely altruistic. I use this fabulous assortment of regular dudes as mice in my own ongoing control study. I test out our Old School strength training strategies and tactics on this new generation of fit, eager men. To a man, these mice have all obtained stratospheric gains in lean muscle mass and pure power. And all using the sparse tactics, extreme infrequency and the intricate techniques Kirk and I insist on. Many of our locals have morphed and are now gleefully misshapen, with outsized muscles protruding in every direction.

The group, as is its habit, competes in local powerlifting competitions. They are self-motivated in this regard. Kirk and I never push or prod them insofar as when to compete, how often or where. We certainly do push and prod them in our Sunday training sessions. After the most recent competition, Kirk and I stepped back and tried to look at the group as a collective whole: what were the group’s strengths and weaknesses? Kirk and I had several observations. Everyone’s squats and deadlifts pretty much kicked ass. And everyone’s bench presses pretty much sucked.

These are lifetime drug-free guys. Everyone works serious jobs and most have families and kids. Few have time to train during the week. As a group they are, with one exception, in shape and tall for their weight classes. People tall in relation to their bodyweight suffer in the bench press. The bench favors the short, stout and thick. Rarely do any of our boys get out squatted or out deadlifted in drug-free local meets. Conversely, everyone’s bench press lags badly in relation to their squats and deadlifts.

Why Use the Overhead Barbell Press for a Lagging Bench Press?

Kirk suggested auxiliary bench work: he was a big fan of the 45-degree seated incline bench press and back in the day had pushed 445 x 5 in the 45-degree incline weighing 265. We did not have an incline bench with fixed uprights, so for our country lifters this was not a practical option. I noted that none of these guys, with one exception, had ever done an overhead press, except on weight machines at commercial gyms. Weight machines are the lite beer of progressive resistance training. We drink whiskey. I wanted to show these press virgins how to do the overhead press, using a highly specific technique.

Why bother doing heavy overhead barbell presses at all? Elite powerlifters, elite bench pressers, starting with Marvin Eder and Pat Casey, discovered that improvements in the heavy overhead barbell press automatically improved the flat bench press. The overhead press stresses muscles critical in bench pressing: the triceps, front and side deltoids and the upper pecs. The overhead barbell press stresses these key bench press muscles in a different, yet similar fashion and because of the extreme similarity there is transference.

Immortal powerlifters, men like Joe Ladiner and Ed Coan, favored the seated press-behind-the-neck. Both men were capable of a 400-pound behind-the-neck barbell press, as was Pat Casey, both men weighing around 225. Optimally, the press-behind-the-neck is done seated using a special bench with a high set rack that requires a training partner to lift off, spot and help rerack the weight. We didn’t have the special bench; however, we still did the PBN, standing, light and precise, emphasizing the extreme lockout.

The front barbell overhead press does not require a special piece of equipment or a training partner. When done right, the barbell overhead press is inarguably superior to all other shoulder exercises. The front press done right packs on muscle in all the right places and this additional muscular firepower converts into bigger benching.

The Off-Season Shoulder Press Specialization Plan

We put a half-dozen of our better lifters through an elemental pressing regimen: 5-6 sets of front presses followed up by 3-4 sets of standing behind-the-neck press. Since they were all overhead press virgins, they were weak as kittens. This was good news: with some concentrated focus and effort, their weak-ass overhead presses could be brought up quickly and easily, and these quick and easy increases in overhead pressing would jack up their flat benches. It also jacked up their musculature.

The overhead press technique I insisted on was the opposite of the pressing style taught by mainstream instructors. Traditionally the barbell or free weights are rested on the shoulders before commencing the upward push. The payload is then heaved upward to ¾ lockout before the weight is allowed to freefall back down to the shoulders. The lifter will then rest the power bar on his shoulders to gather himself for the next rep. Toss the weight up, never completely lock out, rest on the shoulders between reps.

I don’t allow any of this. The emphasis is shifted: we start with an intense lockout. A proper lockout is where all the muscle-building and strength-increasing benefits occur. At the conclusion of each press rep, the elbows need to be completely locked, the deltoids are rotated inward and pushed upward to accentuate the lockout. The triceps and deltoid are flexed to the point of cramping at the conclusion of every rep. This technique makes light weights heavy.

After the extreme lockout, the bar is lowered to a laid-back, inclined torso, touching the clavicles. The weight is not paused; the lifter uses a controlled touch-and-go style. This controlled rebound creates the beginning of the next rep that ends in yet another ultra-hard, ultra-accentuated lockout. For the duration of the set, the payload is never allowed to settle on the shoulders.

A pre-loaded barbell is set on a squat rack. The lifter breaks the bar from the rack and steps back as if setting up to perform a front squat. Once this front squat start position is assumed, follow these overhead press technical points.

Jon Ward from Colosseum Strongman performing a front barbell press off the rack.

Barbell Overhead Press Technique

• Open the stance, shoulder width; too many men pinch their stance.
• Flex the thighs and glutes hard. This is your press platform. Stabilize.
• Lay back enough so the bar clears the chin on the way up.
• Push up and back.
• When pressing, lean away from the bar at the sticking point.
• From ankle to shoulder, the body assumes a slight bow.
• Shoulders always stay over the ankles when bowing.
• Straighten the bow as you approach lockout.
• Lock out hard and completely; hold the payload for a beat before lowering.
• Touch and go at the bottom of the rep.
• Don’t let the bar or bells settle on the shoulders.
• Use 5-rep sets and work up to a single top set of 5 reps.
• Drop the poundage down considerably and commence standing press-behind-the-neck.
• Accentuate the lockout.
• Lower only to the hairline.
• Make small poundage increases.
• Use 5-rep sets and work up to a single top set of 5 reps.

After performing 4-5 sets of barbell front press working to a max 5, followed by 3-4 sets of behind-the-neck press working up to a max 5-rep set, the boys were shock-blasted to a man. The group dynamic took everyone’s game to the next level. Within the Sunday format, we would insert the front press/PBN sequence after squatting and bench pressing.

Dumbbell Arm Training After the Overhead Press

After blasting the overhead press, front and back, our crew of locals were dragging ass. Muscles they never knew they had in their upper-back were screaming bloody murder. Kirk and I had them swing right into some serious arm training. Steep incline bicep curls taken to failure, these were super-setted, alternated, with twin overhead dumbbell tricep extensions, also taken to failure.

We had the boys pick bells they could handle for 8-10 super-strict reps in the incline curl. If a man uses a pair of 40-pound dumbbells, he would rep the bells to failure on steep incline curls, then immediately throw those same 40s overhead and commence the strict dumbbell tricep French presses. These were taken to failure also. We had them perform two super-sets with heavier bells on each set, four sets total, all to failure.

The boys from the neighborhood, to a man, were left writhing in complete muscular meltdown. To a man they were pleading, “No Mas!” Exhausted, swollen, exuberant yet depleted, these boys now understood the sheer degree of physical effort required to favorably alter the composition of the human body. Nothing less than herculean effort will suffice. We were giving the boys a taste of that.

“Go home, eat a rotisserie chicken, drink a half gallon of whole milk. Take a power nap. Grow while you sleep.” Kirk sent them on their way. Their hands shook badly as they went to put the key in the ignition for the drive home.

After six consecutive weeks of this once-a-week pressing protocol, everyone looked swollen in their upper torso; oddly, everyone’s traps really improved. The entire shoulder girdle grew. Everyone agreed, the muscle most stressed by barbell pressing were the triceps. All were shocked at how weak they were. Again, concentrated effort brought everyone’s pressing up quickly. Discovering weak points is a wonderful thing.

Equipment Pairings for Off-Season Overhead Press Training

This off-season shoulder press and arm specialization plan does not need a room full of equipment, but it does need stable tools. A serious setup starts with dependable Olympic weightlifting bars, quality weight plates, and enough rack height and floor space to perform the overhead barbell press with control.

For powerlifting-style barbell work, lifters can compare the Iron Cowboy Powerlifting Bar and urethane Olympic plates with grips when building a repeatable loading setup for squats, bench press, deadlifts and overhead pressing. Rack-based work can be built around a Body-Solid Commercial Half Rack where space and training style make a half-rack practical.

Machine-based pressing is not a replacement for the hard free-weight work Marty describes, but the right machine can serve a role in commercial gyms, institutional fitness rooms and high-use training spaces. For facilities that need controlled shoulder pressing or supplemental arm work, options such as the Body-Solid Series 7 Linear Bearing Smith Machine, the Arsenal Reloaded Linear Smith Shoulder Press, and the TKO Achieve Duals bicep curl/tricep extension machine can support supplemental training when they fit the program.

Training Note

This article is strength training commentary, not medical advice or a universal training prescription. Heavy overhead barbell pressing, standing press-behind-the-neck, bench press specialization, and arm work to failure require technical control, appropriate loading, a stable rack setup, recovery, and competent coaching when needed. The useful lesson is not reckless poundage; the useful lesson is to find weak points, train them with precision, and make off-season weight training productive.

Off-Season Weight Training FAQ

Why use the overhead press in off-season weight training?

The overhead press attacks the triceps, deltoids, upper pecs, and shoulder girdle in a way that can carry over to a lagging bench press. Marty’s point is that off-season weight training is the time to specialize, experiment and build weak links without abandoning the main lifts.

How can overhead barbell pressing help the bench press?

The overhead barbell press stresses several of the same muscles used in bench pressing, especially the triceps, front deltoids, and upper pecs. When those muscles get stronger and more muscular, the bench press can benefit from the added pressing horsepower.

What is the difference between front press and press-behind-the-neck?

The front press is performed with the bar starting near the clavicles and pressing overhead from the front of the body. The standing press-behind-the-neck starts from behind the head and, in Marty’s protocol, is done lighter and precisely with an emphasized lockout.

Why does Marty emphasize the overhead press lockout?

Marty shifts the emphasis to the hard lockout because he believes the muscle-building and strength-increasing benefit comes from fully locking the elbows, rotating and pushing the deltoids upward, and forcing the triceps and shoulders to finish every rep completely.

Why add bicep curls and triceps work after overhead pressing?

After the heavy pressing sequence, steep incline dumbbell curls and overhead dumbbell triceps extensions add targeted arm work. The triceps are especially important because they contribute heavily to pressing power and bench press lockout strength.

What equipment supports this type of shoulder press training?

A practical setup includes an Olympic barbell, weight plates, a power bar or general lifting bar, a stable squat rack or half rack, and dumbbells for arm specialization. Commercial facilities may also use shoulder press and bicep/triceps machines as supplemental tools.