A strong overhead press is a huge advantage for every crossfitter. Even though the purpose is to lift the barbell over your head by using mainly strict shoulder and arm strength, the movement is very comprehensive because you need to stabilize your whole body by using your core, quads and legs.

Standing position requires muscles throughout the body to work in order to control the weight over your head and find the balance. The improved upper body strength and stability will directly show in your push press, jerk, thrusters, handstand push-ups and even muscle-ups.

The data-driven view

If we observe the correlation between overhead press and split jerk through the raw data, an average male athlete presses 61,1kg and (split) jerks 84,14kg. So the ratio is 84,14kg/61,1kg=1,38. Hypothetically this would mean that a 5kg improvement in overhead press would be a 6,9kg improvement in (split) jerk. The ratio for female athletes is even bigger: 49,84kg/34,47=1,45. Meaning that a 5kg improvement in overhead press would transfer to 7,25kg improvement in (split) jerk.

The better your jerk technique is, the bigger is the ratio. Hence, according to the numbers, women seem to have better jerk technique whereas men rely on their strength. Raise your hand if you are surprised.

Anyhow, the average ratios for both men and women are relatively low. The goal ratio should be somewhere around 1,55-1,7. So, what can we deduce from this? Most of you will benefit more from technique training and learning to use the leg and hip strength.

However, if you have got stuck with your jerk progress and your jerk/overhead press -ratio is 1,55 or above, focus on improving your overhead press for a while and see if it helps you to get through the block in the jerk progress.

The chart shows, how much an average athlete should press overhead in order to reach his or her goal in jerk. Men's diagram is on the left and women's on the right.

The observations are based on the data gathered from over 90,000 users on WODconnect. The numbers are rough averages and not reliable on an individual level.