The Kettlebell Press: The King of Upper Body Strength?

I’ve always taken a lot of pride in being more “go” than “show.” At 6′ 1” and 192 pounds, no one is going to call me a bean pole, but there also doesn’t look like there’s anything special about me.

I’ve deadlifted 3x my bodyweight and am currently training for the Beast Tamer Challenge.

A strict kettlebell overhead press is the best determinant of total body strength and mobility.

I’ve known people that can bench 330, but can’t strictly press the a 40k (88 lb) kettlebell.

It’s no less technical than the bench press

Just like the first rep of a deadlift, it’s a determinant of strength – not the stretch shorterning cycle.

The Concentric King

In the bench or the squat, the eccentric movement precedes the concentric, allowing someone to “load” their joints and body to for the movement upwards. With proper training and technique, you can really train your nervous system to utilize the eccentric phase for a powerful concentric phase.

But in a strict overhead press, there is no eccentric component. As soon as you touch the bar, it’s showtime. It’s why many people struggle to on the press and the deadlift.  It’s a skill to create the requisite amount of stiffness and force needed to complete a heavy lift. 

A great example is when many people use “touch and go” reps on the deadlift. Many people will struggle on their first rep, with a hunched over and slow deadlift, but as soon as they touch the ground on the second rep, their deadlift improves. Dramatically. This is because the combination of the first rep, and the eccentric phase leading into the second rep, have primed their system. They can suddenly load their lats, hamstrings, and quads in a more effective, stronger way.

Lifts that focus on the concentric part of the lift – the deadlift and the press – are a great determinant of someone’s strength-skill. They prove if someone has the go behind the show, or if they’re more in love with the mirror than their training log.

Carryover to Life

One of my central tenets for training clients or myself has been “training for life.” I believe that one of the best parts about the gym is how it can prepare you to be a superhero for your kids, prepare you to help your buddy move, or allow you to seek the lifestyle (or reputation) you want outside the gym.

Before I continue, allow me to express my love for the bench press. I still believe that the bench is a great tool for building total body strength in certain scenarios. But if we’re looking for what has the most carryover to real life, does the specificity of the bench carryover to everyday life? After all, how many times in everyday life do you find yourself on your back, feet digging into the floor, and pushing up?

On second thought, maybe I don’t want to know the answer.

But the carryover from the kettlebell press is a lot more applicable to what you’d encounter in real-life scenarios. And I’d take it a step further and say vertical pressing – assuming someone has healthy shoulders and a decent overhead position – is going to be safer over the long haul. It allows for much more training of the posterior cuff, obliques, and avoids the overly extended thorax most often seen in benching.

And not for nothing, but if the bench press were a true measure of upper body strength, it would be included in World’s Strongest Man. It isn’t.

Barbell or Kettlebell?

My preference for the kettlebell, rather than the barbell, is based on reality – most lifters aren’t exactly spring chickens. If you’ve been training hard for any extended period of time, you’re going to encounter some issues. If these are overhead mobility issues, histories of back problems, or previous shoulder injuries, it can make the barbell seem like the old “square peg, round hole” scenario.

With a single kettlebell, it decreases usual lumbar extension needed to get both arms truly overhead. It spares the necessary backwards lean with a barbell to get the bar around your face. And as someone who has hit their chin or nose plenty of times on an overhead press with a barbell, this is a big benefit!

The kettlebell is also ideal for its versatility. Many individuals have issues with overhead pressing on day one, and the kettlebell offers the unique advantage of several different pressing exercises you can do to increase your pressing volume and find your ideal groove.  My personal favorite for those starting out is to use a bottoms-up kettlebell press, as it forces people to turn on their lats and rotator cuff muscles due to the increased grip demand. This variation has helped many of my clients find a pain-free range of motion, and led them down a path to eventually press overhead pain-free.

The Program

One of the most notable feats of strength I’ve ever witnessed is strictly pressing the 48kg (106 lb) kettlebell – also named “The Beast.” For most guys, this weight equates to half their bodyweight, or more, in one hand. That’s no small feat.

The other thing to note is that there’s a tendency to there’s a tendency to give the press some “english” when a strict press of this caliber is going to be about half their bodyweight or more

Depending on where you currently are on your journey to increase your press, there are three different programs. The best results come from