Have you ever done a devil press before? If so, you know just how painful it can be. The devil press can conquer us as much as we can learn to conquer it. Don't let the title deceive you!
This also happens to be the reason why it's so effective. The devil press will work your whole body and can be a great addition to any workout!
While it's not a fan favorite exercise, and certainly not mine, it's worth learning. The devil press can help build strength, flexibility, and endurance all in one movement!
If you're ready to level up your workouts, keep reading. Let's dive into how to conquer the devil press.
In this article, you'll get the full breakdown of the benefits, how to do it, tips, and more.
How To Do The Devil Press Workout
First things first, how do you do a devil press? To perform this exercise, you'll need a pair of hex dumbbells and some space. It's a lot like a burpee with dumbbells in your hands.
Make sure to choose a weight that is challenging, but also comfortable for pressing overhead. There will be moments when the devil press can challenge your stabilization. Just keep that in mind before you get started.
Here's how to do a dumbbell devil press workout:
Place a pair of dumbbells on the ground in front of you, keeping them shoulder-width apart.
1. Start on the ground in a push-up position with your hands gripping the dumbbells. Your palms should be facing each other toward the center of your body.
2. Crunch your core and jump your legs forward. Land on your feet in a wide stance.
3. In one quick motion, lift your upper body and swing the dumbbells to your shoulders. You'll do this by squeezing your glutes and hamstrings to push your hips forward while curling the weight forward with your biceps.
4. As the dumbells come up, use your shoulders and triceps to push the weight overhead, straightening out your arms.
5. From here, reverse this motion by lowering the weight in front of you and hiking your feet behind. You should end the movement in the push-up position with your hands on the dumbbells once again.
6. Repeat this for reps!
Devil presses are hard. Not only will they test your strength, but also your balance and endurance. If these hurt your soul badly, you aren't alone!
This is a very complex movement, so make sure you take your time at first. Always remember to keep your core tight and not pick an overly challenging weight.
What Are Some Devils Press Workout Variations?
Single-Arm Devil Press
You’ll follow the same steps as the two-arm devil press guide shown in the section above. You can choose to perform multiple reps with one arm before switching or alternate arms with each rep.
Devil Clean and Jerk
To start, swing the dumbbells between your legs like a regular Devil Press. As they come up, catch them on your shoulders instead of pressing them straight overhead. Make sure to land with a slight bend in your knees, just like you would in a clean.
Next, dip and drive with your legs and shoulders to press the dumbbells overhead. Finish by standing tall, with your arms fully extended and your legs straight.
This variation adds a clean before the press. Focus on using your hips to drive the dumbbells to your shoulders before you finish with the push press overhead.
Common Mistakes In The Devil Press
As I said before, this is a very complex movement. If you do it incorrectly, you can put yourself at risk for injury.
Here are some common mistakes you'll want to avoid...
Devil Press Mistake #1: Swinging With Your Lower Back
As you swing the weight upward, allowing your lower back to round can be common. Don't let this be the case! Make sure to keep your core tight and drive through your glutes and hamstrings.
This can normally kick in when we get fatigued. Make sure you aren't swinging the dumbbells too low to avoid this mistake.
Devil Press Mistake #2: Not Using Your Hips Enough
Part of swinging the weight upward is pushing the weight with your hips for momentum. If you don't, you'll find yourself doing a lot of upper-body muscle work. However, this can cause you to fatigue very quickly.
Do yourself a favor and use the momentum from your hips to move the weights upward.
Devil Press Mistake #3: Two Separate Movements
The Devil press is one smooth movement. When throwing the weight overhead, you should avoid putting the weight onto your shoulders. You'll lose momentum, and ultimately end up doing a different variation of the devil press.
Devil Press Mistake #4: Not Using Hex Dumbbells
Hex dumbbells are the ones with heads that have flat sides. For this exercise, they'll be super important. If you use circular dumbbells, it will be hard to keep them stable in the push-up position.
If the dumbbell rolls, you could tweak your shoulder in a way you don't want to. As someone who's tweaked their shoulder before, that is not fun. When you injure your shoulder, you'll realize just how much they do for you daily.
Devil Press Mistake #5: Using Weight That's Too Heavy
A lot more bad can come from using heavy weight than good. This rule applies to the devil press especially. I'm not discouraging anyone from lifting heavy, that would be misleading.
What I am saying is you should pick a weight you can comfortably do for more than a few reps. You don't want to get fatigued with a bunch of weight overhead. You also don't want your lower back to cave from choosing a heavy weight.
In the devil press, your legs and shoulder should be the most fatigued by the end. Nothing else should bug you too much. Well, except for your pride when you realize just how hard these can be!
Muscles Worked With The Devil Press
There really isn’t a muscle that doesn’t get worked with this exercise. This is why you get tired so quickly. Every muscle needs blood, so your heart works overtime to pump blood to the whole body in a very short amount of time!
Here’s a list of just a few of the main muscles being worked:
• Deltoids
• Quadriceps
• Hamstrings
• Triceps
• Gluteus Maximus
• Abdominals
• Pectoralis Major
• Biceps
This is why the devil press can be considered one of the most beneficial full-body exercises out there! It's hard to work more muscles than the ones listed above.
Benefits Of The Devil Press
Besides providing a physical beat down, there are many benefits to the devil press. Some of these benefits can include:
Increased Mobility
The transition from a lying position to a standing lift makes it an excellent exercise for developing functional movement patterns.
Full-Body Strength
The devil press is a full-body workout that targets multiple large muscle groups. This can make it great for building overall strength.
Improved Muscular Endurance
Your body is improving both aerobic and anaerobic capacity in the devil press.
You'll be able to lift heavier weights for more repetitions over time. Your body becomes more efficient at managing energy demands during intense physical activity.
Plus, did I mention devil presses burn a ton of calories? These benefits and more make devil presses great for building muscle, endurance, and encouraging fat loss.
When Should I Perform Devil Presses
You can add devil presses at any point in your workout. However, because devil presses require a lot of energy, I recommend doing them sooner in your workout than later. This is just my personal recommendation though.
If you use lighter weights, I know a lot of people who do them as a burnout at the end of their workout.
Ultimately, it's up to you when you choose to add devil presses. They can be an excellent workout for full body workouts and even metabolic conditioning workouts.
At the end of the day, it really depends on what you like to do. It also depends on what you're trying to accomplish. So, what are your health and fitness goals?
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