Standing overhead press muscles worked

Every role here is for this technique: standing, barbell from the front of the shoulders to straight arms overhead, without leaning back or bending the knees.

What muscles does the standing overhead press work?

The prime movers of the standing overhead press are the anterior deltoid, the clavicular part of pectoralis major and triceps brachii. They produce shoulder flexion and elbow extension. The synergists are the lateral deltoid, the upper trapezius, serratus anterior and the lower trapezius. Ten stabilizers hold joints and segments still, among them supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor.

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Joint actions and their prime movers

The joint actions of the standing overhead press and the prime movers that produce each
Joint action	Prime movers
Shoulder flexion	The anterior deltoid and the clavicular part of pectoralis major
Elbow extension	Triceps brachii

Every muscle by role

A prime mover produces the lift’s main joint action against the load; a synergist assists that action, or adds a secondary action the lift needs; a stabilizer contracts mostly isometrically to hold a joint or a segment still. A role describes what the muscle does in the technique above, not how hard it works or how much it grows.

Prime movers 3

Prime movers in the standing overhead press, with what each does
Muscle	What it does here
Anterior deltoid	Shoulder flexion, raising the bar overhead
Pectoralis major, clavicular part	Shoulder flexion through the first part of the press
Triceps brachii	Elbow extension, all three heads

Synergists 4

Synergists in the standing overhead press, with what each does
Muscle	What it does here
Lateral deltoid	Raising the arm as the elbows flare
Upper trapezius	Rotating the shoulder blades upward
Serratus anterior	Rotating the shoulder blades upward
Lower trapezius	Rotating the shoulder blades upward

Stabilizers 10

Stabilizers in the standing overhead press, with what each does
Muscle	What it does here
Supraspinatus	Holding the head of the humerus in its socket
Infraspinatus	Holding the head of the humerus in its socket
Teres minor	Holding the head of the humerus in its socket
Subscapularis	Holding the head of the humerus in its socket
Erector spinae	Holding the trunk upright without leaning back
Rectus abdominis	Bracing the trunk against the load
External oblique	Bracing the trunk and resisting rotation
Internal oblique	Bracing the trunk and resisting rotation
Transversus abdominis	Raising abdominal pressure to stiffen the trunk
Gluteus maximus	Locking the hips so the trunk stays stacked

Lowering and lifting

What the prime movers of the standing overhead press do in each half of a rep
Phase	What the prime movers do
Lowering	The anterior deltoid and triceps lengthen as the bar comes down
Pressing	They shorten to drive the bar overhead

Where these prime movers also work

The anterior deltoid: prime mover in the flat bench press, incline bench press, push-up and parallel-bar dip; synergist in the dumbbell lateral raise.
The clavicular part of pectoralis major: prime mover in the flat bench press, incline bench press and push-up; synergist in the parallel-bar dip.
Triceps brachii: prime mover in the flat bench press, incline bench press, push-up, parallel-bar dip and cable triceps pushdown.

Compared with the other vertical push lifts

Parallel-bar dip: prime movers in both, triceps brachii and the anterior deltoid; prime movers only here, the clavicular part of pectoralis major; prime movers only in the parallel-bar dip, the sternal part of pectoralis major.

Sources

Saeterbakken and Fimland (2013), J Strength Cond Res 27(7):1824
NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016)
Neumann, Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System, 3rd ed. (2017)

The cited studies that measured muscle activity used electromyography, and a larger signal need not mean more force or more growth (Vigotsky et al. (2018), Front Physiol 8:985). The roles draw on those studies for which muscles a lift involves and how two lifts differ, never to rank one muscle against another.

See these muscles in 3D

Visualiser · Biology Muscles Worked by Exercise 3D Explorer Choose a lift and a real body lights its prime movers, synergists and stabilisers, front and back, with the same muscles in 3D. Visualiser · Biology Muscle Origin, Insertion and Action Explorer Paint a muscle’s origin and insertion on real 3D bones, or click a bone to see what attaches to it.