There is saying to “press a lot, you must press a lot”
To make progress with overhead strength work you need volume and frequency. Nothing beats the Russian repetition ladder to accomplish that goal.
Here’s how it goes
Clean the bell to the rack and press once, move the weight to the other side and press once.
Set the bell down
Clean the bell to the rack and press it twice on each side
Set the bell down
Clean the bell to the rack and press three times on each side
Set the bell down
Clean the bell, I think you see where this is going?
Climb your reps to 5, take some rest and then start another ladder back down at 1.
When you have completed 5 ladders that climb to 5, you would have pressed the bell for 75 reps on each arm.
That is the type of volume you need to see good progress for this exercise.
Pressing ladders can be anywhere from 2-5. If you are struggling to move up to the next weight, build volume with ladders to 3, for example, 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 and so on, you could build up to 10 ladders to 3, giving you 60 reps and minimal fatigue.
Frequency is also important, 3 ladder sessions per week works best, adjust the volume for each session, so have one session where you go hard, one that is easy and one that is medium volume.
Give that a try and let me know how you go!
Pete
