Overhead press progression when 2.5 kg jumps are too big

You finish a set of six at 60 kg with two reps left, and the next weight the gym offers is 62.5 kg, a 1.25 kg plate on each side. On the overhead press it often turns six clean reps into four ugly ones. Overhead press progression works better when the bar does not have to move every time you do: add a rep at the same load, ramp effort across a block, or shrink the step to 1 kg.

Every figure here is compute.mjs output, the script that runs the app's own formulas, or carries a citation to the study it came from.

What the overhead press trains

In the app's exercise library the Overhead Press is a compound vertical push with a barbell: front delts and side delts primary, triceps and upper chest secondary. A study of 15 men pressing 80 per cent of their max found the standing barbell press drew about 39 per cent more triceps activity than the standing dumbbell press, while dumbbells pressed standing produced the highest deltoid activity of the four versions tested [1].

Run two warm-ups and three working sets through the app's volume code and the front delts and side delts each get 3 sets, the triceps 1.5. The upper chest is not one of the 14 muscles the app sets weekly targets for, so the press credits nothing to a chest total. Warm-ups never count, as the post on whether warm-up sets count as volume explains.

How to log it

The overhead press is a load lift: one line per set with the weight on the bar, not per-side and not bodyweight plus load. The sets on the way up are warm-ups. For a 6 to 10 rep press the three working sets are normal sets at one load, and there is no top set unless you choose to run one.

Rate every working set. RPE 10 means no reps left, RPE 9 means one, RPE 8 means two [2]. A set logged without RPE is treated as RPE 10, so 60 kg for six with the rating blank estimates 71.7 kg instead of 76.3 kg. On a lift that moves this slowly, a missing rating can hide a month of progress.

The app builds the warm-up from the first working weight. For 60 kg it returns only two sets, because the ramp adds a 70 per cent set only above 60 kg.

At 62.5 kg the same code adds a 45 kg triple. The plate calculator does the per-side sums for any load.

Why 2.5 kg hurts the press more

The app's default step for a barbell compound lift is 2.5 kg, computed with its model. That is the same step whether the bar holds 60 kg or 160 kg, so the lightest lift in the session takes the biggest relative jump.

Here is what the model says the step costs. Six reps at 60 kg and RPE 8 is worth an estimated 76.3 kg for one. Six at 62.5 kg and RPE 8 is worth 79.5 kg. Now hold the load and add a single rep: seven at 60 kg and RPE 8 is worth 78.7 kg. One more rep at the same weight covers most of the distance to the next plate pair.

A lifter who adds a rep most weeks is getting stronger at a rate 2.5 kg steps cannot show.

The research backs the idea, with a caveat. In an 8-week trial, 38 trained lifters finished either adding load at 8 to 12 reps or adding reps at a fixed load [3]. Muscle growth was similar, and the squat 1RM gain favoured the load group by 2.0 kg, a difference the authors called of questionable practical significance [3]. The trial trained the lower body, not the press, so read it as a direction.

The rep-max ladder for 60 kg x 6 at RPE 8

The ladder below, from compute.mjs ladder --kg 60 --reps 6 --rpe 8, is the heaviest load for each rep count at RPE 10 on that day, with selected rungs shown. Six reps with two in reserve means 60 kg was an 8-rep load, so the model reads 78.6 per cent of 1RM. Epley says 72 kg and Brzycki 69.7 kg, because both treat the sixth rep as the last available. The one-rep max calculator runs the same model, and the estimated 1RM guide covers how the chart is read.

The useful rows are 6 to 10, which span 73.9 to 83.7 per cent. A meta-analysis of 21 studies with sets taken to failure found 1RM strength favoured loads above 60 per cent and muscle growth was similar either side of it [4]. The whole 6 to 10 range sits above that line.

Three ways to progress without the big jump

The app has seven progression schemes: Auto, Double, Top set + back-off, Load, Reps, RIR and Manual. Three of them suit a press that outgrows 2.5 kg steps.

Reps: hold the bar, add a rep

Reps holds the load and asks for one more rep each session, judged on your best set, up to a ceiling you set under "Add weight after". At the ceiling it adds the step and resets to the bottom of the range. With a 6 to 10 range at 60 kg and RPE 8, the estimates climb like this.

The first session at 62.5 kg for six reads 79.5 kg, below the 88.2 kg the ten produced. That is the model rating ten reps with two in reserve above six with two in reserve, not lost strength. Compare like with like: six at RPE 8 was worth 76.3 kg at the start and 79.5 kg after the reset. Double works the same way but waits for every set to reach the ceiling, which suits lifters whose third set fades. The post on double progression covers that rule.

RIR: ramp effort across a block

RIR holds the load and ramps the target effort across a training block. You set where the block starts and finishes, for example three reps in reserve in week one down to one in the last week. The app keeps the load while your logged RPE lands near the week's target. It adds load when a set comes in clearly easier than planned, and holds when you hit failure earlier than the plan expected. Without a block to ramp across, it holds steady. RIR-based ratings let load follow what you can do on the day, set to set [5].

The ladder shows what the ramp means at today's strength. Six reps at RPE 7 is 58.1 kg, at RPE 8 it is 60 kg, at RPE 9 it is 61.9 kg and at RPE 10 it is 63.9 kg, all from the same 76.3 kg estimate. A block that starts easy and finishes hard is a planned climb in effort, with the load only moving once a week's set feels lighter than it should. Skip the rating and the scheme falls back to reps: every set at the top of the range adds load, anything else holds. The post on reps in reserve for hypertrophy covers how close to failure a working set should sit.

A smaller step: 1 kg instead of 2.5 kg

If the gym has 0.5 kg plates, set the press's weight jump to 1 kg under "Fine-tuning" in the exercise editor. Suggestions then round to whole kilograms, so 60 kg becomes 61 kg, a 20 and a 0.5 on each side. Six at 61 kg and RPE 8 is worth 77.6 kg, a step you can actually make on a Tuesday. A smaller step also keeps Double and Load usable on the press.

All three keep the app's guards. A planned deload week never emits an increase, a load increase never leaks through on a cut, and more than 30 days off resets the lift. Three sessions without progress flags a stall by default.

Where lifters stall on the press

The usual stall is the jump itself. Six at 60 kg becomes four at 62.5 kg, the lifter drops back, and the log shows the same two weights alternating for a month. Switch to Reps or set a 1 kg step and the same strength shows up as rising estimates instead of failed sets.

Another is rating every set RPE 8 by habit. The RIR scheme reads the rating, so a press logged at RPE 8 that was really a grind to failure hides the moment to hold. Six at 60 kg at RPE 6 is worth 81.2 kg and at RPE 10 only 71.7 kg, so the rating moves the estimate more than a plate pair does.

What changes when you swap it?

A dumbbell press changes the step. The app's increment for a dumbbell compound lift is 2 kg, computed with its model, and a rack that jumps by more than that makes Reps the natural scheme. Expect a lower max: standing dumbbell 1RM was about 7 per cent below the standing barbell press in the same 15 men [1]. Pressing dumbbells seated raised the 1RM by about 10 per cent over standing, at the cost of some deltoid activity [1].

Whatever you swap in starts a new history, and the 76.3 kg estimate stays with the lift that produced it.

Questions

Should I use Reps or Double progression for the overhead press?

Use Reps if your sets fade, so the third set lands one or two reps behind the first. Reps judges your best set and adds a rep each session up to the ceiling. Double waits for every set to reach the top of the range before adding weight, which is stricter and slower on a lift that moves in small amounts. Both add the same step at the ceiling and reset to the bottom of the range.

How much weight should I add to my overhead press?

The app's default for a barbell lift is 2.5 kg, a 1.25 kg plate on each side. If six reps at 60 kg turn into four at 62.5 kg, the step is too big for now. Either hold the load and add reps until you reach the top of your range, or set the press's weight jump to 1 kg and load 0.5 kg plates. Both show up as a rising estimated 1RM in the log.