Exercises like the devil's push will improve your power, speed, and condition while also making you more athletic. It's more difficult than it appears, and simply a few repetitions might leave you panting on the ground. We may say that the devil's press is a mixture of two exercises, specifically a double dumbbell snatch and a dumbbell burpee.
Maybe you are asking what is devil’s press in CrossFit. It’s the same. Devil’s press is often mentioned together with CrossFit. In a nutshell, the goal of CrossFit is to strengthen functional movements used in everyday life.
That means that CrossFit exercises use rarely workout machines, almost at all. When machines are used in CrossFit, they are mostly rowing, cycling, or running machines. The most used equipment in CrossFit are barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, plates, gymnastic rings, and bars. weightlifting exercises, gymnastic aids such as rings, bars, etc.
How To Do A Devil’s Press?
First of all, to do a standard devil’s press exercise you need two dumbbells. If you have only one dumbbell you can do a single arm (unilateral) variation. It’s recommended to use square or hex dumbbells so they don’t move around. It’s also possible to do with rounded ones, but it is less comfortable. Check out our step by step guide.
1. Preparation
Stand up and make enough place around. You do not want to hurt anyone. Grab dumbbells to your hands and spread them apart sufficiently for your chest to touch the ground.
2. Burpee
Drop down into a burpee. You'll do this by kicking your feet back and reaching down with the dumbbells in your hands. From there, you will lower yourself into a posture that is similar to a push-up except that your chest and thighs will be in touch with the ground.
3. Hip Hinge
The next move is to jump back up onto your feet and into a deadlift position with your knees bent and your hips back. Push off the floor and drive your legs back underneath your body in a standing crouch to get there. Your feet should land broader than they would in a regular burpee, outside of the dumbbells. Even if you're in a crouched position, keep your dumbbells in your hands at all times.
4. Standing Position
The purpose of this sumo deadlift is to get the body into a standing position. Simply drive your hips forward until your body is upright and your knees are straight to accomplish this. At the peak, squeeze your glutes and use your lats to keep your arms aligned with your body.
5. Snatch
The dumbbells should now automatically go to around the height of your hips, thanks to the momentum from the deadlift phase. Finish by snatching the dumbbells past your shoulders (with a shrug) and overhead in one continuous motion. If the snatch is too difficult, divide it into two movements: lift the dumbbells to shoulder height and then press them overhead.
To retain control, keep your arms as near to your torso as possible while the dumbbells move up your body. Consider it more like a shrug into an overhead press than a kettlebell swing.
6. Lowering Phase
When the dumbbells are stable over your head, lower them to shoulder height and from your shoulders to your hips. That’s all, this is a single standard devil’s press.
If you are unsure about some steps, you can check this video.
Slight Modification
In the exercise we have described above we are keeping dumbbells in our hands at all times. Another variation would be to place the dumbbells on the ground, perform a conventional burpee and then swing the dumbbells overhead.
What Is A Single Arm Devil’s Press?
As the name says, it’s an ordinary devil’s press but just with one arm. Sometimes is also called a unilateral devil’s press. This variation is appropriate when you have only a single piece of weight available. It does not make sense to do it only with a single arm, hence this modification is alternating. If you do not have enough strength in your arms, it can be easier for you to start with an alternating single-arm devil’s press than with the standard one.
How To Do Single Arm Devil’s Press?
There is almost no difference. It’s the same as the standard one, you just need to lower down to the ground and you are supposed to have one hand on the ground and a second hand on the dumbbell. If it’s problem for you, you can put the dumbbell to the ground first and then do a standard burpee.
What Is Devil’s Press Good For?
We can say that devil's press is basically a “burpee on steroids”. The devil’s press is a movement that involves a lot of muscles in our body. Devil’s press is good for improving our endurance and increasing the overall strength and mobility of our body.
What Muscles Does Devil’s Press Work?
It can help you to strengthen the muscles in your chest, shoulders, arms, abdomen, legs, hips, glutes, core, buttocks, and calves. So, the devil’s press is a definitely good and effective exercise that can help you gain strength in multiple parts of the body. Devil’s press is one of the harder exercises, though. Remember those good things are usually not easy.
What Weight Should I Use For Devil's Press?
It depends on what you want to achieve and your experience. If you want to focus more on endurance lighter weights are more appropriate. When it comes to strength, of course, heavier weights are better. If you are just starting, start with lighter weights, do not risk an injury. In case is it too easy for you, feel free to use heavier weights. If you are a total beginner we have a modification of the devil’s press without burpee. You can learn more about it below.
Can I Do Devil’s Press When I’m Pregnant?
The devil’s press put a lot of pressure on the core, so if you are pregnant you don't necessarily need the most advanced version of the movement. This modification is really good for pregnant, postpartum, someone who is a total beginner, or just getting back into exercise.
Devil’s Press Alternative, Even For Beginners
To do this alternative the only thing you need is a bench, box, or something that is in height around your waist. The lower the height, the harder it is.
The only thing that changed is, that you don’t have to do push-up on the ground. You can not do that when you are pregnant.
After you perform a push-up, just lean down for the dumbbells, straighten up, and swing them overhead. Put the dumbbells down and that’s it.
Devil’s Press With A Plate
Devils press with plate is one of the few variations. If you do not have dumbbells, the plate can be a good replacement. If you can choose from many kinds of plates, we recommend you use a bumper plate. It’s a plate made of urethane or thick rubber, so in some cases, you can drop it overhead.
Devil’s Press With A Barbell Or Kettlebells
Up to this point, the majority of online devil press exercises or training manuals have included dumbbells. Obviously, for ease of usage.
You might be able to think out a way to perform the devil press with a barbell or kettlebell.
Personally, we would not recommend using kettlebells. Kettlebells are tall and it can make it impossible to lower completely down to touch the ground.
When it comes to barbells, it is slightly better. You just need modification. You need to put the barbell down and then jump into a burpee, jump back and then swing the barbell overhead.
But if you have a possibility, do it with dumbbells. It’s the best and most comfortable variation of this exercise.
TL;DR
Devil’s press is a good, but hard exercise which works multiple muscles in our body. For that reason, it’s an effective exercise that can boost our overall strength and performance. To perform devil press you need only a place around you and two dumbbells.