Z Press (Barbell)
Trains the shoulders, with help from the triceps. You need a barbell. None of our programs use it yet, but you can add it to any session you build.
Free to use. The app works out every weight and times your rest.
In the programs
None of our programs use the Z Press (Barbell)
It is in the app, so you can add it to any session and log it like anything else. It is just not written into one of our 50 free programs. If you want a shoulders exercise that is, there are 11 on the Shoulders page.
Muscles worked
What Z Press (Barbell) trains
Technique
How to do the Z Press (Barbell)
- Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you and your feet slightly apart. Hold a barbell at your upper chest with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Sit tall, brace your core and keep your chest up.
- Press the barbell straight overhead until your arms are fully extended, moving your head back slightly to let the bar pass.
- Lower the barbell back to your upper chest with control. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Form cues
Getting it right
- With no backrest and no leg drive, any lean back shows at once: stay upright and press with your shoulders.
- Start well below your standing press weight.
- If your lower back rounds when you sit with straight legs, sit on a folded mat until it doesn't.
- Exhale as you press up and inhale as you lower the bar.
Substitutes
Swap Z Press (Barbell) for
The app's swap picker ranks these the same way: same muscles, similar movement, similar equipment.
Let the app run the Z Press (Barbell) for you
Durata picks the weight, times your rest and adds load when you earn it. That works on any of our 50 free programs, or on a session you put together yourself.