Overhead press 1RM test
The strict overhead press is the honest measure of overhead strength: no leg drive, no dip, nothing to hide behind. It is the upper-body test in the netball battery because the pass and the intercept are overhead actions.
Strict means strict: standing, no dip, no leg drive. Adding leg drive makes it a push press, which is a different lift with a different number.
It is the upper-body test in the netball battery because the pass and the intercept are overhead actions.
The point of the test
Maximal strict overhead pressing strength and the shoulder stability to express it.
Why it is in the Train Smart battery: Overhead strength for the pass, the intercept and the contest.
How to run it
Strict, standing, no leg drive. Work up in singles. A 3RM entered here is converted for you.
- What you need
- A barbell · A rack to take the bar from · Full rest between singles
What is a good score?
We are not going to publish a precise-looking table for this test. Reported ranges vary too much with protocol, equipment, level, age and sex for a single table to be honest, and most of the tables in circulation for it are uncited copies of each other.
The comparison that actually changes your training is against your own last score. That is not a consolation prize — it is what the monitoring literature supports, and it is what Train Smart does: re-test every eight weeks under the same conditions and let the trend, not the percentile, drive the program. The papers behind that are here.
What people get wrong
Most of the variation between two tests is protocol, not fitness. These are the faults that make one score incomparable to the last.
- Using leg drive.
- That is a push press — a different lift with a different number. Strict means strict.
- Over-arching the lower back.
- Ribs down, glutes on. A big lean-back turns it into an incline press and puts the load somewhere it should not be.
How to actually move the number
Overhead pressing improves with upper-back strength as much as with pressing volume — the shoulder can only press from a base that holds. Program pulling at roughly twice the volume of your overhead pressing, and add direct triceps work for the lockout.
overhead press 1RM — questions
Push press or strict press?
Related tests and guides
bench press 1RM test
How to test a bench press one-rep max properly, why a 3RM is usually the better choice, what the number is act…
Openmax pull-ups test
Relative pulling strength — arguably the best upper-body number a field athlete has. Standards, the form fault…
OpenThe testing battery
Five sport-matched numbers, re-run every eight weeks, that re-price your program.
OpenKnow your number. Now train for it.
Train Smart re-tests you every eight weeks on your sport’s own battery — and the results re-price your training weights and reset your conditioning paces automatically.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.