Pressing overhead?

The shoulder press is a very common lift, and while this post applies to every athlete looking at functional training, it also gives good guidance on programming overhead press movements for youth.

I came across the following video on YouTube last night. I have repeatedly pitched Mike Boyle’s book “New Functional Training for Sports” (#ad) multiple times because he significantly contributes to this training discipline, but it’s also a great resource! In the video, he discusses the topic of the overhead press movement.

Regarding youth training

There is still value in overhead presses with a barbell, but Boyle makes excellent points regarding the natural movement of an arm required for a press. This is an even stronger argument regarding youth athletes not progressing to overhead presses with a barbell too early, if at all.

As a youth athlete progresses from using a band (see video), the next natural step would be to add load using a kettlebell or a dumbbell. As they continue to gain power through the exercise, you can shift to increasing load or repetitions per the focus of their program.