The press is the oldest barbell exercise in
the gym. As with many old things, its value
often goes underappreciated.
Picking up a weight and pushing it overhead
is so basic a movement that one suspects
some sort of DNA-type explanation for
it. Children can be observed doing this to
show off for their buddies. Preliterate civili
–
zations in Borneo probably have a name for
picking up logs from endangered rain forest
trees and then putting them overhead,
completely unaware of the threat this poses
to the planet. I’m quite sure the first thing
ever done with a barbell was a standing
press, because it is the logical thing to do
with a barbell.