Move
Your Upper Body Is Going To Love This New Move
If you’ve been doing barre3 online workouts, you (and your shoulders) may have noticed something new: the Overhead Press. We chatted with Lisa Schale-Drake, barre3 Director of Research and Development, about why we added the new move, where in your body you’ll feel it, and how to modify the move if it causes any negative pain in your body. Read on for our conversation, and try the move for yourself in this workout from Andrew. Don’t have an online account yet? Sign up for our 15-Day Free Trial and get access to these and hundreds more workouts you can stream anywhere, anytime.
B3 MAGAZINE: Big news—we have a new posture! Can you describe how it’s done?
LISA: As a move, it’s actually quite simple. When you are lifting your weights toward shoulder height, you continue the movement until the weights are over your head, arms extended. Then you lower your arms to bring the weights back down. However, it’s in the details that you see and feel the challenge. As you push your arms over your head, maintaining strong form is key for your body’s balance. It requires you to activate your entire core (turn on your glutes and abs) and anchor the very base of the ribcage. This strong foundation helps the shoulders move in a way that is highly effective and functional.
B3 MAGAZINE: In the past, we’ve talked about not raising weights above shoulder height. Can you talk about why we’re making an exception for this move?
LISA: At barre3, we are constantly evolving the postures and moves we do in class, always basing our changes on science and research. This constant evolution ensures that clients are receiving the best class to help balance their bodies. Every move has pros and cons. Our goal is to ensure all moves have more pros than cons and can be easily modified to serve our community. When our research and development team was looking at ways to improve overall strength and mobility in our shoulders, we continued to learn the importance of pushing resistance over our head. This is a functional move that our body is designed to do. After spending a lot of time educating and evolving our upper-body movement to better serve our community, we felt it was the right time to introduce this move into our workout.
B3 MAGAZINE: What areas of the body does the posture work, and where should we feel the dominant burn?
LISA: Pressing overhead with weights works a lot of muscles in the shoulders. You will feel the burn in your shouldercaps, biceps, triceps, chest, and lats.
B3 MAGAZINE: What are the primary benefits of the new posture? Are there motions in our everyday lives that will feel easier once we incorporate this move into our routine?
LISA: There are so many benefits to this move. Think of all the times you reach overhead. It could be to put a box away on a high shelf, or to pull yourself up. Not only will it increase your strength in your upper-body muscles, but it will also increase your overall mobility.
B3 MAGAZINE: If the original form of the Overhead Press doesn’t feel right in the body, what modifications would you recommend?
LISA: There are definitely signs the body will give you if this move is not working for you. You might feel tension in the side or back of your neck. You might also feel negative discomfort or even pain in your shoulder joint. If that happens, we highly recommend taking a modification. Good news—the modifications are super simple and effective. There are two paths that you will want to try. One, simply drop your weights. This allows you to still do the move in its fullest range, but eliminating the resistance. You will gain more mobility and also build endurance in your shoulders. This is a great option is you are not feeling joint pain, but are starting to feel neck tension or burn. Second, cut the range in half. Instead of pushing overhead with resistance, simply stop at shoulder height. This is a fantastic option if you are feeling pain in the shoulder joint or do not have the mobility to press your arms over your head.
Thank you so much, Lisa! Ready to try this move in your next workout? Sign up for a 15-day free trial of barre3 online today.
If you’ve been doing barre3 online workouts, you (and your shoulders) may have noticed something new: the Overhead Press. We chatted with Lisa Schale-Drake, barre3 Director of Research and Development, about why we added the new move, where in your body you’ll feel it, and how to modify the move if it causes any negative pain in your body. Read on for our conversation, and try the move for yourself in this workout from Andrew. Don’t have an online account yet? Sign up for our 15-Day Free Trial and get access to these and hundreds more workouts you can stream anywhere, anytime.
B3 MAGAZINE: Big news—we have a new posture! Can you describe how it’s done?
LISA: As a move, it’s actually quite simple. When you are lifting your weights toward shoulder height, you continue the movement until the weights are over your head, arms extended. Then you lower your arms to bring the weights back down. However, it’s in the details that you see and feel the challenge. As you push your arms over your head, maintaining strong form is key for your body’s balance. It requires you to activate your entire core (turn on your glutes and abs) and anchor the very base of the ribcage. This strong foundation helps the shoulders move in a way that is highly effective and functional.
B3 MAGAZINE: In the past, we’ve talked about not raising weights above shoulder height. Can you talk about why we’re making an exception for this move?
LISA: At barre3, we are constantly evolving the postures and moves we do in class, always basing our changes on science and research. This constant evolution ensures that clients are receiving the best class to help balance their bodies. Every move has pros and cons. Our goal is to ensure all moves have more pros than cons and can be easily modified to serve our community. When our research and development team was looking at ways to improve overall strength and mobility in our shoulders, we continued to learn the importance of pushing resistance over our head. This is a functional move that our body is designed to do. After spending a lot of time educating and evolving our upper-body movement to better serve our community, we felt it was the right time to introduce this move into our workout.
B3 MAGAZINE: What areas of the body does the posture work, and where should we feel the dominant burn?
LISA: Pressing overhead with weights works a lot of muscles in the shoulders. You will feel the burn in your shouldercaps, biceps, triceps, chest, and lats.
B3 MAGAZINE: What are the primary benefits of the new posture? Are there motions in our everyday lives that will feel easier once we incorporate this move into our routine?
LISA: There are so many benefits to this move. Think of all the times you reach overhead. It could be to put a box away on a high shelf, or to pull yourself up. Not only will it increase your strength in your upper-body muscles, but it will also increase your overall mobility.
B3 MAGAZINE: If the original form of the Overhead Press doesn’t feel right in the body, what modifications would you recommend?
LISA: There are definitely signs the body will give you if this move is not working for you. You might feel tension in the side or back of your neck. You might also feel negative discomfort or even pain in your shoulder joint. If that happens, we highly recommend taking a modification. Good news—the modifications are super simple and effective. There are two paths that you will want to try. One, simply drop your weights. This allows you to still do the move in its fullest range, but eliminating the resistance. You will gain more mobility and also build endurance in your shoulders. This is a great option is you are not feeling joint pain, but are starting to feel neck tension or burn. Second, cut the range in half. Instead of pushing overhead with resistance, simply stop at shoulder height. This is a fantastic option if you are feeling pain in the shoulder joint or do not have the mobility to press your arms over your head.
Thank you so much, Lisa! Ready to try this move in your next workout? Sign up for a 15-day free trial of barre3 online today.
