by Bill Starr
For most of the twentieth century, one question measured a lifter: “How much can you press?” Not how much you benched — the overhead press was the standard by which strength was judged, and pressing your bodyweight overhead was the rite of passage every serious trainee chased. When competitive weightlifting dropped the press in 1972 and the bench press took its place in gyms everywhere, Bill Starr was one of the few voices who kept insisting the military press belonged in everyone’s program. This page — part one of his press series — covers why he held that position and exactly how he taught the lift.
Why the Press Mattered
The numbers tell the shift. The press had been an official Olympic lift since 1928; by 1972 it was removed from competition amid officiating controversies, and Starr openly mourned it — “it’s almost like losing an old friend,” he wrote, noting the awkward conversations that would follow: everyone would now ask about your bench instead. In his view the removal was a political decision dressed up as a safety ruling, with no medical evidence that properly taught pressing damaged backs.
His argument for athletes was straightforward: pressing overhead builds the shoulders, upper back, and midsection together under a demanding balance requirement, which is precisely what field and court sports demand. The bench press simply does not ask those stabilizers to work the same way. That is also why his alternative upper-body plans for lifters with shoulder problems kept the overhead movement central — see our summary of Starr’s no-bench program.
Clean It or Take It Off the Rack?
Small detail, real difference: Starr preferred cleaning the bar to the shoulders rather than lifting it out of a rack, because the clean forces the whole body to tighten before the first rep. He also treated a belt as a feedback tool — it tells you how far you are leaning back during the press — and warned plainly that it offers no protection for sloppy technique.
Form Checklist
| Point | Cue |
|---|---|
| Stance | Feet shoulder-width, toes pointed straight ahead — never staggered |
| Grip width | Shoulder-width; extended thumbs just touching the bar’s center knurling; correct when forearms stay vertical |
| Thumbs | Wrapped around the bar — no thumbless grip |
| Wrists | Straight and locked; tape or wraps if they keep collapsing |
| Bar position | On the front deltoids where the breastbone meets the collarbones, shoulder girdle elevated — never resting on bone alone |
| Elbows | Down and close to the lats before the drive |
| Posture and eyes | Body vertical from feet to head, eyes forward — do not follow the bar upward with your eyes |
| Tension | Tighten everything from feet to traps; squeeze the bar until the forearms and shoulders nearly cramp |
Rep Execution, Step by Step
| Phase | Action |
|---|---|
| Breath | Big breath at the shoulders before the drive |
| Drive | Press straight up — the bar should clear past the nose without swinging forward |
| Head and elbows | As the bar passes the head, extend the head through the gap, turn elbows outward, and guide the bar slightly backward |
| Lockout | Finish directly over the spine and hips — imagine a line rising from the back of your head; breathe, then push up hard against the bar for three to four seconds rather than passively holding it |
| Descent | Lower under control — never let the bar crash down onto the shoulders; knees stay locked in strict pressing |
| Re-rack | After the set, lower to the waist, pause, and set the bar down with a flat back |
Two habits deserve emphasis because they separate strong pressers from frustrated ones: keeping the eyes forward (chasing the bar with your gaze pulls the whole body out of position) and treating the lockout as active work — pushing against the loaded bar recruits far more upper-back muscle than casually balancing it overhead.
Fitting the Press Into Your Program
In Starr’s system the press takes the primary pushing slot inside full-body weeks — the same structure described in our Big Three 5×5 and heavy-light-medium pages, with loads anchored to honestly tested best fives. For lifters whose goal is a bigger press specifically, his later writing lists the accessories in order of value: heavy weighted dips first, then press starts (driving overloaded bars off the shoulders right after pressing), push presses to strengthen the final inches of lockout, and steep incline pressing. Shoulder trouble is managed, in his method, by direct preventive work — see our summary of his rotator-cuff routine.
New lifters should earn the press gradually within a structured start — the getting-started guide covers that path.
Coming in Part Two
Part two covers the Olympic press — the faster, narrower-stance variation with the coiled start that dominated competitive pressing until 1972, along with the famous knee-bend controversy around it: read Part Two here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I military press at home?
Yes — a barbell and plates are the only requirements, and strict pressing does not demand spotters the way heavy benching does. Set the bar back down under control after each set.
Is the press better than the bench press?
For athletes, Starr argued yes: overhead pressing trains the shoulders and midsection together and demands balance the bench never asks for. The bench remains an excellent pure strength lift — his point was displacement, not prohibition. Lifters who cannot bench comfortably still have a complete option in his incline-dips-overhead plan.
How often and how heavy should I press?
His published programs place the press inside weekly heavy-light-medium structures anchored to tested best fives, rather than prescribing fixed percentages for the lift itself. Frequent, crisp practice with moderate weights while learning the form points above is consistent with everything he wrote.
Sources
Bill Starr’s press articles, including “The Press” series text archived at ditillo2.blogspot.com and mirrored at rookiejournal.com; “Build Stronger, More Secure Shoulders” (Iron Man, 2009); “The Quest for a Stronger Overhead Press” (Starting Strength, 2010); “The Tragic History of the Military Press” (Starting Strength). Series continuation: The Press, Part Two.
Last updated: August 2026 · Edited presentation of Bill Starr’s published methodology — not newly written by Bill Starr.
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