š„OVERHEAD PRESS ā WHERE DOES THE BAR REST?
šĀ Probably one of the biggest questions people wonder when performing the OHP.
šĀ āBut I see people start at their chest..ā ā āWhy do some people strt higher..?ā ā¦The reality is.. both are correct.
It actually depends on your forearm length: if your forearm is shorter/more proportionate to your humerus, youāll most likely feel comfortable at starting the exercise with the bar resting at your upper chest.
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On the other hand (arm?), if the forearm results to be relativey longer, itāll feel better to start above.
What do I mean by āfeeling better?āĀ
Well, many people try to perform exercises by looking at the others, disregarding their own anatomical differences (see the deadlift set up):
- In this case, a longer forearm would require the arm to travel excessively beyond underneath the bar for it to rest on the chest, if not that then it would require the wrist to be excessively extended. You simply canāt cut your forearm length so..
- The problem with this, is that it makes it a disadvantageous position to start the exercise from, and can increase the chances of getting injured: elbow/wrst/shoulder pain.. you name it.
- How do you tell whether you should do one or the other set up?
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Asides from looking at your arms, try which one feels better/stronger/more natural and stick to that. Both ways are correct so donāt try to impose yourself a set up youāre probably not made for.