Exercises · Shoulders

Standing Military Press

Standing Military Press is a beginner-friendly compound exercise for the shoulders, done with barbell. Step-by-step instructions are below; the plain-English guide, common mistakes and sets and reps ranges for this page are still being written.

• Primary musclesShoulders
• Secondary musclesTriceps
• EquipmentBarbell
• LevelBeginner · compound

How to do it

1. Start by placing a barbell that is about chest high on a squat rack. Once you have selected the weights, grab the barbell using a pronated (palms facing forward) grip. Make sure to grip the bar wider than shoulder width apart from each other.
2. Slightly bend the knees and place the barbell on your collar bone. Lift the barbell up keeping it lying on your chest. Take a step back and position your feet shoulder width apart from each other.
3. Once you pick up the barbell with the correct grip length, lift the bar up over your head by locking your arms. Hold at about shoulder level and slightly in front of your head. This is your starting position.
4. Lower the bar down to the collarbone slowly as you inhale.
5. Lift the bar back up to the starting position as you exhale.
6. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

In the app: this exercise is one of 873 in GymPilot's library, with the same photos, form cues and a link back to the moment in an imported video it came from.