Seated Barbell Military Press.
The seated barbell military press drives a bar overhead from a seated, supported position, so the legs and lower back are taken out of the lift. With nothing to drive from below, the shoulders and triceps own the full press.
Step by step.
Set up on a bench with a back support and a rack at about shoulder height. Take a grip just wider than your shoulders.
Unrack the bar or have a spotter hand it off, holding it at shoulder level just in front of your face. This is the start.
Brace your core, press the bar straight up, and move your head back slightly so the bar clears your chin.
Lock out overhead with the bar over the back of your head and the shoulders stacked under it.
Lower under control back to your collarbone, taking about twice as long down as up.
Keep your back against the pad. If you have to lean back to press, the weight is too heavy.
Sitting down strips the cheat out of overhead pressing. A standing overhead press lets you dip the knees and feed in leg drive to start the bar, even without meaning to, but pinned to a seated bench the only engine is your shoulders and triceps. That makes the seated military press a more honest read on pure pressing strength, and a better size builder, because the delts cannot hand the hard part off to your legs.
The bench back rest is a trap if you let it be one. Lifters lean into it and turn the lift into a steep incline press, which feels stronger because it has quietly become an easier exercise. Keep your torso vertical and your back flat on the pad. If you are cranking into a backbend to move the bar, you have left the press behind and started benching at an angle.
Clear your face honestly. The bar has to travel around your chin, so tuck your head back slightly as it passes, then bring it through under the bar at the top. Pressing forward around a still face is how shoulders get cranky. Straight line up, head out of the way, head back through.
Make it a primary upper body strength lift in the 5 to 8 range. The supported position lets you load it hard, and it feeds straight into your standing overhead press by building the raw shoulder strength leg drive can otherwise mask. Program the top sets off your one rep max instead of working up by feel.
Common questions.
They serve different goals. The seated military press removes leg drive, so it isolates the shoulders and triceps and builds pure strength and size. The standing overhead press involves the whole body and trains total stability. Many lifters press seated for development and standing for carryover.
No. Leaning into the back pad turns the movement into a steep incline press and shifts the load to the upper chest. Keep your torso vertical and your back flat on the pad. If you can only move the bar by arching back, the weight is too heavy for a true press.
Tuck your head back slightly as the bar rises so it clears your chin, then bring your head through under the bar as you lock out. The bar should travel straight up while your head moves out of the way and back. Pressing forward around a still head stresses the shoulders.
Standing lets you feed in a little leg drive to start the bar, even without trying. Seated removes that, so the shoulders do everything and the number drops. That is the point. The lighter seated load builds the raw pressing strength your legs were quietly covering when you stood.
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