Strict Press Program Design: How OPEX Coaches Build It Right
The strict press looks simple until the bar leaves the shoulders. Once it does, you get a clear read on overhead mobility, trunk control, scap movement, and how well someone can handle load without turning the lift into something else.
In this Behind the Design conversation, OPEX coaches Daniel Persson and Brandon Gallagher explain where the strict press fits in program design, when it matters most, and how to build it without forcing the pattern too early. Their approach is useful for competitive athletes, newer coaches, and everyday clients who want to move better overhead.
The series keeps coming back to core patterns for a reason
This strict press breakdown sits inside a larger run of conversations on core movement patterns. So far, the focus has included:
Deadlift
Bench press
Back squat
Pull-up
That matters because the strict press often gets treated like an accessory lift or a side note. In this series, it gets the same coaching attention as the big lower-body and upper-body staples. The goal is not only to name the movement, but to show how coaches decide when to prioritize it, how they progress it, and what they watch for when it starts to go wrong.
That format has clearly landed. These sessions have become some of the most engaged pieces in the OPEX content mix, with live viewers, replay comments, and a steady stream of questions after the fact. The live Q&A stays open during each session, and the replay conversation keeps going after the stream ends.
If you want to follow the coaches outside the episode, you can find Brandon Gallagher on Instagram and Daniel Persson on Instagram. Both are active coaches, not people posting theory from the sidelines, and that comes through in how they talk about programming.
What makes these episodes useful is simple. They stay close to real coaching. That means real client constraints, real movement limitations, and real tradeoffs instead of perfect textbook examples.
OPEX updates that add context to this discussion
This episode also sits inside a busy stretch for the OPEX coaching group. Brandon is deep in one-on-one coaching and coach development, including his Coach Connect work. Daniel is balancing remote coaching, gym consulting, staff education, and program design support across multiple facilities.
That context matters because the strict press conversation is not coming from one lane of fitness. It is shaped by coaches who work with general population clients, CrossFit athletes, and weightlifters. When they say "it depends," they are not avoiding a clear answer. They are protecting the client from getting pushed into a lift that does not fit the goal, the skill level, or the current movement capacity.
The wider OPEX ecosystem also came up during the conversation.
The April cohort of the OPEX Method Mentorship was in week four, with recent discussion centered on lifestyle factors and how those set the base for good program design. That point connects well to the strict press because overhead work often fails long before strength is the main issue. Recovery, daily posture, stress, mobility history, and movement habits all show up fast when someone tries to press overhead.
There was also a note about the July mentorship cohort, with Brandon planning to join it. That idea of returning to the method after years of coaching is important. Education often makes more sense the second time through, once the coach has enough reps to connect the ideas to practice.
For coaches who want tools alongside education, OPEX also shared a CoachRx free trial. In a series built around program design, that is a natural fit.
Why the strict press is different from other strength lifts
The strict press belongs in the conversation, but it does not sit in the same place as the bench press, deadlift, or squat.
Daniel made that point early. If you want a pure upper-body pressing expression of absolute strength, the bench press usually wins. The strict press is different because the load is lower, the demand on positioning is higher, and the margin for error is smaller. A person can be strong and still look messy overhead.
That is why the first question is not "How much can they press?" The first question is "Do they need this, and what is the purpose?" That is a better coaching question, especially with general population clients.
For some people, the answer is yes because the strict press is part of the sport. For others, the answer is still yes, but for a different reason. It might be about reclaiming overhead range of motion, improving body awareness, or building comfort in a position they have avoided for years. And sometimes the answer is no, at least for now, because the cost of forcing the lift is higher than the benefit.
Brandon framed it well when he said the lift is worth teaching because it puts a lot of tools together at once. Legs stay locked. Hips stay active. The rib cage stays stacked. The core stays braced. The scap has to move well. The arm has to finish in full lockout. If one piece fails, the press tells on it right away.
"It doesn't hurt to know how to do it right."
That line gets to the heart of it. Even when the strict press is not a must-have lift, it is still a strong teaching tool.
What a better overhead position changes for different clients
For CrossFit and weightlifting athletes
For sport athletes, a good overhead position pays off fast. Daniel pointed to the obvious cases first, snatches, jerks, handstand push-ups, and all the overhead work that shows up in CrossFit. If the position is clean, athletes can tolerate more volume and spend less time fighting their own structure.
That matters because poor overhead mechanics do more than limit the press itself. They can also change how the bar sits in the front rack, affect squat positions, and make repeated overhead work more taxing than it needs to be. A clean position lets the athlete train more and recover better because they are not leaking force or collapsing into bad shapes under fatigue.
Breathing was one of the best points in the discussion. In a movement like the thruster, lockout is where many athletes want to catch the breath and set the rhythm. If the overhead position is poor, that top position becomes unstable. Then breathing gets choppy, the rib cage flares, and the whole movement starts costing more energy than the load would suggest.
A stronger overhead position also builds confidence. That may sound soft compared to force output and mobility, but it is real. Athletes who feel weak or unstable overhead often hesitate in the snatch or jerk. Build the overhead strength, and you often clean up the intent and speed of the lift.
For lifestyle and general fitness clients
For general clients, the strict press is rarely a do-or-die movement. Brandon said that plainly. Most people do not need a barbell strict press to live well, and forcing it too early makes little sense.
Still, the pattern is useful because it teaches awareness. A client has to organize the whole body while moving weight overhead. That is harder than it looks. Many first attempts show the same group of issues, bent knees, leaning back, forward bar path, head thrown backward, or elbows drifting into weak positions.
When a client learns to reach full lockout with control, several things improve at once. Pulling patterns often get cleaner. Rib cage position becomes easier to coach. Scap motion becomes easier to feel. Over time, the person gains access to a position that often felt off limits.
Daniel put it in a broader frame. If the goal is to live a strong, healthy life, it makes sense to keep as many positions as possible, or reclaim them if they are gone. The strict press is one way to assess that. It does not have to end in a one-rep max. Sometimes the win is being able to do the movement well.
How to build the strict press without forcing it
Start with presses that give the client support
Both coaches like to start by reducing complexity. That means using movements that help the client find the overhead path without asking them to stabilize everything at once.
A machine press is one option. Because the path is fixed, the client can focus on pressing and finishing the arm without worrying about balance or bar path. That makes it easier to feel what lockout should be.
An incline bench press is another useful entry point. It does not take the shoulder straight overhead, but it starts moving the press angle in that direction. Daniel likes using that angle as a stepping stone before asking for a full vertical press.
The landmine press came up as one of the best bridges in the progression. It gives the athlete room to work because the angle is more forgiving than a straight overhead press, but it still lets them reach toward a strong overhead finish.
Standing, seated, half-kneeling, and tall-kneeling versions all have a place. Half-kneeling and tall-kneeling are especially useful because they limit how much the client can cheat with the lower body. At the same time, the torso can still shift enough to help them find the top position without jamming the shoulder.
Daniel also talked about session flow. He often uses a dead hang or a lat pullover before pressing to open the overhead position and reinforce rib cage control. That is a small detail, but it matters. Overhead work improves faster when the setup helps the client get there.
Use single-arm dumbbell work before doubling up
Once the client can find a decent overhead path, single-arm dumbbell pressing is often the next step.
Brandon likes this stage because one arm creates room to move. When only one side is pressing, the torso can make small adjustments, and the client can explore full lockout without getting trapped between two active shoulders. That freedom helps them learn the position.
A seated single-arm dumbbell press gives support through the torso and back. It removes some balance demands while still asking the shoulder and scap to do real work. After that, a standing single-arm press adds more responsibility through the hips, trunk, and rib cage.
Neutral grip is a key detail here. Brandon prefers it early because it usually puts the shoulder in a stronger line and avoids the wide-elbow pressing pattern that sends people into poor mechanics. On the way down, he wants the elbow to track back under the wrist and load the movement with control.
Another smart layer is to load the opposite side. Holding a kettlebell in the front rack on the non-pressing side limits torso lean and turns the press into more of a full-body task.
That counterbalance changes the feel of the lift. The client has to create more trunk tension, keep the rib cage in place, and hold the passive side active while the pressing arm moves. It is a smart way to coach the stack without a long list of cues.
Brandon also likes a single-arm dumbbell push press with a slow lower, used early and lightly. The leg drive helps the client get to lockout, and the controlled eccentric teaches them how to own the position on the way down. That makes it useful for scap control and for athletes returning from shoulder issues.
Bring both arms together only after the position looks clean
From there, the progression moves into seated dumbbell overhead press, then standing dumbbell overhead press. These are small steps, but they matter.
Seated double-dumbbell pressing asks both shoulders to work together while still giving some support from the bench. Standing dumbbell pressing removes that support and asks the client to stack the whole body under the load.
Dumbbells still offer some freedom. The hands can rotate a bit, and that freedom often helps people find a cleaner path. The barbell does not allow that. Once the bar is in the hands, the body has to move around the bar, not the other way around.
That is why the barbell strict press is a true test. Wrist and elbow position matter more. The head has to move back so the bar can travel straight, but the rib cage cannot flare to make room. The spine has to stay neutral. The bar path has to stay honest.
Daniel teaches wrist stacked over elbow, or elbow slightly in front, because elbows drifting behind the bar usually create a weak start. He also pointed out how technical the movement is. Many athletes do not treat the strict press like a motor-control skill, but that is what it is.
This is where strong athletes often become "problem solvers." They get the bar overhead, but they give up position along the way. In sport, that may still put the score on the board. In training, it is a sign that the movement needs more care.
If the bar goes overhead but the body falls apart to get it there, the press did not improve. The workaround did.
Save the push press for after the strict press
The push press is not the first stop in this progression. It is the last one.
Both coaches were clear on that. If the athlete cannot strict press well, adding speed and leg drive usually hides problems instead of fixing them. A push press uses the lower body to create momentum, but the top position still demands control, timing, and a clean finish.
That is why Daniel looks at progression through another lens as well, static to strict to dynamic. First, can the client hold the load overhead with good position? Next, can they strict press it? Only then does it make sense to add a dynamic pattern like the push press.
This logic extends beyond the press. Daniel made the same point with handstand push-ups and Olympic lifting. He does not want kipping before strict control, and he does not want dynamic pulling from the floor before the athlete can own the positions under slower conditions.
Brandon's description of the push press was useful too. The leg drive launches the load, but the athlete still has to finish the press once the legs stop contributing. That means more load, more speed, and more stress, all on top of the positioning demands already in place.
Session design details that can make overhead work better
Good strict press training is not only about exercise order in a progression. It is also about how the session is built around the press.
Daniel likes using preparatory work that opens the overhead position and sharpens the stack. A dead hang can help the athlete feel the rib cage under a fully extended arm. A dumbbell lat pullover can create some space through the shoulder and chest before pressing starts. Those drills do not replace the press, but they often make the press better.
He also brought up a useful programming idea for clients with strong triceps and undertrained shoulders. If a person has spent years bench pressing, the overhead press can turn into a triceps-dominant movement. In that case, a small dose of shoulder work before pressing, such as lateral raises, may help put the stress where you want it.
This quick table sums up the main progression:
StageCommon movementsMain focusSupportedMachine press, incline press, landmine pressShoulder angle, lockout, safe exposureSingle-armSeated dumbbell press, standing dumbbell press, light eccentric push pressCore tension, scap motion, freedom to find positionDouble-armSeated dumbbell press, standing dumbbell press, barbell strict pressCoordination, stacking, bar pathDynamicPush pressPower, timing, control under more load
The big takeaway is that thoracic mobility and overhead access are not side notes. They sit in the middle of the whole conversation. If the client cannot get overhead without borrowing motion from the low back, the press needs a different starting point.
There is also a human side to all of this. Pressing heavy overhead feels good. It builds confidence. That alone can be a strong reason to include the lift, as long as the path to it makes sense.
What the next coaching conversation will likely focus on
This discussion stopped at program design and progression, but it clearly sets up the next layer of coaching.
The follow-up focus is faults, fixes, cues, and accessory choices. That means looking at real athlete videos, seeing where positions break down, and deciding how the next weeks of programming should change. For coaches, that is often the most useful part because it closes the loop between theory and prescription.
The strict press makes that easy because its errors are easy to spot. Back arch, poor elbow position, shaky lockout, forward press path, and loss of breathing rhythm all show up fast. Once you can spot the issue, programming becomes more precise.
That is the larger value of the whole series. It does not stop at naming a pattern. It keeps asking what the movement is asking from the person in front of you, and what the next best step should be.
Final thoughts
The strict press is a filter. It shows how well someone can organize their body under load when the easiest compensation, leaning back and turning the lift into something else, is always waiting.
That is why Brandon Gallagher and Daniel Persson do not rush it. They build overhead range first, then support, then control, then coordination, and only later chase heavier or faster variations. Position first, load second is still the clearest lesson here.
For athletes, that can mean better volume tolerance, cleaner breathing, and more confidence overhead. For general clients, it often means regaining a position they lost and learning how to own it again.
Connect with the coaches
Brandon Gallagher:Brandon’s Instagram (@bgperform_)
Daniel Persson:Daniel’s Instagram (@danielcapersson)
Join us live on Tuesdays mornings 11:30am EST on the OPEX YouTube Channel
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