The shoulder press (strict press) takes a barbell from your shoulders to locked arms overhead with your legs straight. It is the first lift in CrossFit's press progression (shoulder press, then push press, then push jerk), and CrossFit names three key elements: a neutral spine, a straight bar path and a correct overhead position. With no leg drive your hips and legs only hold you steady, so you press less weight here than in the push press, and the overhead position you learn carries over to every overhead lift.
Set up braced
Take the bar from a rack set at about shoulder height, or clean it to your shoulders. Step back with your back tall.
a short, controlled walk-out, not a stagger.
Use a full grip with your hands just outside your shoulders. If tight shoulders or shoulder or elbow pain get in the way, go slightly wider.
the whole hand wrapped around the bar.
Rest the bar high on your shoulders, touching your torso, with your elbows below and slightly in front of the bar, pointing down and out.
the bar sitting on you, not held up by your hands.
Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, legs and hips straight, heels down. Take a breath and brace: tighten your abs, glutes and quads so your spine stays neutral.
one solid column from your feet to your shoulders.
Press overhead
Pull your chin back to clear a path before the bar moves. The head moves out of the way of the bar, not the bar around the head.
chin drawn back, eyes still forward.
Press the bar straight up, close to your face, with your legs and hips still. Spread your elbows under the bar as it rises. If your knees bend or your hips push the bar, it has become a push press.
the bar brushing past your chin and nose.
As the bar passes your forehead, move your head forward through your arms. Let the bar travel slightly back so it finishes over the middle of your foot, roughly in line with your ankles.
your head moving through the window of your arms.
Finish with your elbows fully locked and your shoulders pushing up into the bar, trunk still braced and ribs down. The rep ends here, at full arm extension with the bar over your ankles.
the bar supported on straight arms, not hanging from them.
Lower to the shoulders
Lower the bar slowly back to your shoulders, pulling your chin back again to let it pass. Re-brace before the next rep. To build strength off the shoulders, pause there before pressing again.
the bar landing on your shoulders, not dropping onto them.
Press in front of your head, not behind your neck, and stop the set if your shoulder hurts. Widen your grip, switch to dumbbells or kettlebells, or drop to a PVC pipe and work only in a range that stays pain-free.
pressing that feels hard in the muscles, never sharp in the joint.
Feel it
Abs, glutes and quads stay tight the whole rep while only your arms and shoulders move. At the top you push up into the bar so it feels locked in and balanced over your ankles, heels still down. If the bar feels like it is pulling you forward, it has finished in front of you. If your belly and hips slide forward under the bar, you have lost your brace.
Fix-its
- You lean back with your ribs sticking out (overextended spine) Tighten your abs by pulling your rib cage down and squeeze your glutes and quads, then check that the bar still finishes over your ankles. A slightly wider grip helps until shoulder flexibility improves. Lighten the bar if the arch keeps coming back.
- The bar arcs out around your face Pull your head back before you press so the bar can go straight up. Check your elbows: if they sit behind the bar or too low, bring them slightly in front. A coach can hold a PVC pipe in front of the bar to block it from drifting forward.
- The bar finishes in front of you Press up and pull back on the bar as it goes overhead so it ends over your ankles, and push your head through. Practise static holds in that position. If tight shoulders stop you getting there, try a slightly wider grip.
- Soft elbows or shoulders sagging at the top Think "press up!": lock your elbows and push your shoulders up toward the bar on every rep. A coach can tap your elbows or shoulders as a tactile cue.
- Your knees or hips help the bar up Keep your legs straight and heels down for the whole rep. If you can only finish with a hip pop, the load is too heavy for a strict press; take weight off.
Drill
- PVC or empty-bar set-up: find your rack and elbow position, then hold the bar overhead over your ankles with your shoulders pushed up, then press through the full movement a few times.
- Static overhead holds: hold the bar locked overhead over your ankles, shoulders pushed up and trunk braced, to learn the finish position.
- 6 shoulder presses with a pause overhead on each rep, with a partner or a side-on video checking that your spine stays neutral.
- Light technique sets of 3–5 reps, each starting from a dead stop on your shoulders. For strength, sets of 3–5 with a longer pause at the shoulders.
- Once the strict press is solid: 1 shoulder press, 1 push press, 1 push jerk, repeated. When strict presses stop going up, carry on with push presses, then finish with push jerks. Pick a load you can strict-press for several reps.
Sources
- CrossFit — Level 1 Training Guide: Shoulder Press, Push Press, Push Jerk (pp. 118–122), The Shoulder Press movement guide and faults (pp. 180–183), sample class (pp. 89–90) (2020)
- CrossFit — The Shoulder Press (2019)
- Catalyst Athletics — Press (exercise library)
- ACE Exercise Library — Standing Shoulder Press
- NSCA — TSAC Module 3: Resistance Training Exercise Technique (2013), Seated Barbell Shoulder Press
- Kolber, Beekhuizen, Cheng & Hellman — Shoulder injuries attributed to resistance training: a brief review, J Strength Cond Res (2010)
Last checked 2026-10-26.