Double Barbell Overhead Press

One of my favorite “every now and then” moves for the shoulders is an overhead press done with a barbell in each hand.

To do this exercise, you need to set the pins in the power rack so that they are just below shoulder level. Place (2) olympic bars across the pins and then get between them so that you are facing the side of the power rack, rather than the front.

You will have to experiment with your grip to find just the right spot to have the barbells level-this is very important. Use one hand at a time to test which spot works best. Grip the bars so that they are resting on your shoulders parallel to one another. In the starting position, the bars are resting on the pins and your legs are slightly bent. Stand up with the bars across the shoulders and give the bars a chance to level off.

Press the bars overhead to a locked out position-The reason this is an effective movement is that you must do it slowly and with a great deal of control. If you try to “power” the weight up, you will quickly find the bars whipping up and down and out of control. This will force you to do the press slowly, which is perfect for deltoid and upper back stimulation.

The length of the bars and the nature of this exercise will also have a positive effect on the stablizers of your torso.

Start with the bar-believe me a 45lb bar will feel a lot heavier than a 45lb dumbell. Work on slowly adding reps in a smooth, “near perfect” fashion. The legendary Tommy Kono (and if you dont know who Mr. Kono is, you should) was able to press 135lbs for one rep in each hand at a bodyweight of 175lbs. I was able to duplicate Mr. Kono’s feat last summer, but then I found he that he did it without any ANY COLLARS—back to the drawing board. This is an excellent adjunct move to any pressing program or it can be used for a couple of weeks to give your shoulder joints a break from heavy presses. In addition,
it will draw the confused stares of your fellow gym members, which makes it a perfect exercise to perform.

Keith Wassung

Keith,

I just have to say I love reading all of these articles you have been posting lately, I’m learning a heap of stuff from them as well.

A question about this exercise; are the bars pressed simultaneously or alternately between arms?

Cheers,

Ben

Simultaneously, but there is nothing wrong with doing one arm at time if you wish-few things are set in stone.

Keith,

Nice post. I will give this routine a try. Barbell balancing would be harder than dumbbells.

 A rather different question what do you think of dumbbell/barbell thrusters as a overall body mass builder? You stand with barbells/dumbells at shoulder height and than squat down and when you are coming back up get the dumbells/barbells in overhead lockout position ( I know I didn't have to describe it to you ;))I am thinking of incorporating thrusters in my next gym session onwards.

I am gonna have to give these a try. I got one for ya, a two story deadlift. You will need a safety squat bar to do this. Load up the safety squat bar and load up a barbell on the ground in front of you. Get under the SS bar and walk out, squat down and deadlift the bar on the ground. This is a lot harder than it sounds. 225 on each bar makes for one hard movement.

Joe

Thrusters are a fantastic move. I actually prefer the dumbells to barbells in thrusters as I think it is a little easier in the shoulders.

I think that they are not necessarily a pure “muscle mass development” move, but certainly contribute to development in a in-direct way. I would use them more as a GPP/conditioning move, maybe even use the Tabata protocol and keep the reps up and the rest periods short.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen guys who are trying to gain lean muscle mass and they have kind of hit a sticking point and when they incoporate some olympic lifting type moves
( done with slightly higher reps than traditional O-lift training) or some power and explosive moves-BAM they break through and make impressive gains.

There is a growing “buzz” in the bodybuilding/fitness community about the positive benefits of doing hard cardio movements ( Tabata, HIIT, etc) as opposed to the traditional low intensity, high volume cardio and I am excited to see it. There was an article written in Ironman back in the 70’s, by this guy named Eberhard Schneider, who wrote about how bodybuilders would incorporate intense sprinting and jumping movements into their programs and they always ended up bigger and leaner. It was a great article and I will see if I can find it and maybe even write up the gist of it.

Keith

Keith,

Thanks for the reply. I would love to read about the article if ever you get a chance to post.