Warm up Ideas for Overhead Pressing

The truth is that there is no single best warmup for anything! Your warm up should match your body’s needs. However, all warmups should have a few common components performed in the correct order. Start with a general warm up increasing body temperature, mobilize areas that need more mobility for the activity, specifically activate and prime musculature you will be working, start your activity at low intensity and build from there. Pretty simple but often overlooked and under emphasized when it comes to improving performance and staying pain-free with activity! Here is an example of an appropriate warm up progression that works well for me as someone with a 7 year old chronic SLAP lesion and 15 year old posterior labral tear in the right shoulder…

1. Echo bike emphasizing upper body or rower for 3-5 minutes

Followed by 3 rounds of 30s/movement of the following:

1. Side-lying rib pulls with thoracic rotation

2. PVC pass throughs and around the worlds

3. Banded External Rotation in 3 planes (neutral, flexion, and abduction)

4. Banded Scapular Angels

5. Push ups to Plank to Down Dog 

Follow the flow, general warm up to mobility to muscular activation to activity specific intensity progression. Simple! Get your body temperature elevated and blood pumping then move through the remainder of the series in a circuit fashion for 3 rounds. This entire process can be done in 10-12 minutes and will prepare your body for an overhead pressing workout rife with intelligent intensity, volume, and progressive overload. Key point: give your warm up the appropriate time and effort so you can stay training and in preparation for everything you love doing outside the gym.

Have shoulder pain with overhead pressing or want a more customized approach for your body and needs? Book an appointment with one of the experts at RISE to address your specific concerns today!