Basic Upper Body Power Movements

A “power movement” is any movement of the body which can be accomplished with the addition of external weight above and beyond body weight. Power movements are the basic form of exercise used for weigh lifting both on machines and with free weights. Because the resistance of free weights is in the direction of gravity rather than the pre-positioned direction of an weight machine, free weights do resemble real life situations outside of the gym more directly. Almost every object we move outside of the gym exerts its resistance on our body through the weight of gravity and is therefore a free weight.

Despite the difference between machines and free weights, each moves the upper body in very similar motions. There are four basic power movements of the upper body excluding isolation of the arms. These four basic power movements are: pushing forward, pulling back, pushing up, and pulling down.

Pushing Forward - The pushing forward motion in weight bearing activities are designed to overload the muscles of the chest, front of the shoulder, and, to a degree, the back side of the arms. Essentially a pushing forward motion is used in a bench press or chest press as it is in the functional movement of a pushup. The variations most commonly found in pushing forward are a slight incline or decline to the relative strait forward motion. This angular adjustment does change slightly the location of muscle fiber recruitment for the exercise, but rarely changes the muscles being targeted as a whole. A chest or bench press will always utilize the muscles of the chest and the front of the shoulder.

Pulling Backward - A pulling backward motion is designed to utilize the muscles of the central and upper back, specifically the muscles between your shoulder blades. If your shoulder blades are not approaching one another in a pulling back movement, you are not isolating the proper musculature in a pulling motion. Unlike pushing forward, it is possible to pull backward without using these muscles between your shoulder blades. This is accomplished by pulling with improper technique, isolating the arm and back side of the shoulder, rather than the middle of the back. A pulling back motion is found in any kind of a machine or free weight row. Any of these type of rowing movements should involve one or both shoulder blades coming closer together or approaching your spine. When pulling back, imagine there is a penny sitting in the middle of your back on your spine and you are trying to pinch that penny between your shoulder blades.

Pushing Up - The pushing up movement is perhaps the most precarious and potentially damaging power movement one can attempt in a fitness facility. Adding load to your arms and lifting that weight overhead is not easy and often requires the body to compensate for the movement in an undesirable manner. The pushing up motion is classically called a shoulder press, military press, or vertical raise. This movement is meant to strengthen the muscles of the shoulder, upper back around the neck, and, to a lesser extent, the back of the arms. Pushing up puts the shoulder joint in a relatively unnatural position and should not be attempted unless the shoulder complex has full range of motion. There are other techniques for strengthening the shoulder which don’t involve putting weight over one’s head, but the basic movement of the joints is similar.


Pulling Down - A pulling down movement, oddly enough, is most commonly associated with what is called a “pull-up”. The “up” part of pull-up implies the direction your body is going of course, not the direction of motion. A pulling down motion is also associated with the Lat Pulldown exercise as well as a pull-over exercise. Although these couple of movements are somewhat different, the concept is the same - pulling your arm from and upward position to a downward position. Similar to a pushing up exercise, the pulling down exercise can put a great amount of undue stress on the shoulder complex if it is not flexible enough to properly handle the movement. Pulling down movements are extremely important for people into out-door adventure ie. hikers with poles, skiers with poles, rock climbers, rowers, etc..

Certainly there are many more movements the body can accomplish above and beyond the ones mentioned here. However, these are the basic four power movements that the upper body will perform for strength gain and size. A good work out design will include all of these movements equally and may alternate between two contrasting movements - pushing forward/pulling back or pushing up/pulling down. If your workout is lacking any of these basic movements, you are setting yourself up for later injury due to strength imbalance. You will not necessarily move the same amount of weight in contrasting power movements, generally the body is a stronger puller than pusher, but the weight loads should be close. Evaluate your work out - are you including all of the power movements equally when doing a weight loaded workout?