Well I find that press only goes up when you press a lot. dips help a bit, bench doesn’t much, maybe inclines might
Tricep work helps I guess. Need a lot of explosive starting strength to punch it off the chest and through the sticking point.
anyway here is what Keith Wassung wrote on this
I wanted to pass along some notes and tips on training the overhead press that I have collected over the years.
-There is often a debate between seated or standing presses, I say do both. If you do them standing, use a staggered foot stance, ie. your dominant foot about 6 inches in front of the other foot, almost like a boxers stance. If you do them seated, ensure your back is solidly supported and your are able to brace your feet against a solid object. I hate most seated press units where the uprights are behind you. I like having the bar on uprights just in front of me, so that I can lean forward, grip the bar and lean back. I often use a power rack for this and simply put the pins about 1/2inch below my normal starting position–then I can get slump just a bit, get the bar position, and then begin the presses.
-You have to move the bar fast and explosive. Though I have never done them ( theoretical advice approaching) I would thinkl that doing overhead speed work, ala, westside might be in order. You might also want to incorporate some rack jerks as well as they are done with a lot of speed. I also like to occasionally do “hise shrugs” with the bar held in front, just like a front squat. The ROM is only about 2 inches, but I find this a valuable exercise.
-A fantastic exercise for improving the press is what I call Partial Push Presses. Get in the power rack and push press the bar to just above the head, hold it there for one second, then lower it to a 4-count. repeat for about 6 reps. You should get to where you are doing your best 1RM on a regular overhead press for about 5-6 reps. This is the toughest upper body exercise I have ever done–it is beyond brutual, but well worth it. Do this one after regular presses.
-Use the power rack to do partials and holds. You can do what Anthony Ditillo used to do and press from start to eyes, or start to forehead, low reps, multiple sets. control the weight. For holds, you will need a second set of pins ( and I have never seen a commercial gym that had a second set of pins for their power rack, so you may want to keep a set handy in your car/truck) Place the second set of pins right at your sticking point and elevate the bar to the pin and then HOLD it tight against the pin for 8-10 seconds, then repeat for desired number of reps. You actually need to focus on driving the bar THROUGH the pin for the 8-10 seconds
This will humble you as well.
-70 degree incline presses. Another valuable movement that works a lot of the same areas as the overhead press.
-Keep your shoulders healthy, back in the 80’s, I knew nothing about rotator cuff work and I am paying the price for it now–fortunately, I have been doing much more RC work and shoulder stretching in the past 3 years and have made major improvements. One of my favorite shoulder/flexibility exercises is to do “windmills”, lie on a flat bench with a 5lb plate in each hand and do a movement similar to a backstroke.
Pressing big weights is a real kick and its rare to see in most gyms. Many years ago, I was in the Golds Gym in Santa Monica, dressed in street clothes, etc. and we were wandering around, watching all of the bodybuilders train. We came to a seated press unit and my friends coaxed me to press some weights on it. I started warming up and as I added weight, I began drawing on-lookers. My top set was 315x4 reps and I had a crowed-people were freaking out–which goes to show you that all of the magazines that talk about bodybuilders routinely using 300+lbs for 8-10 reps in their training is obvsiously b.s.
I hope that helps and any other comments, notes and tips are appreciated. I have kept a training journal for 25 years and it includes hundreds of pages of notes about training, etc. and there are many notes in my journal that have come from the training posts I read on here.
Keith
