Keg Press
The keg clean and press is a strongman lift in which you pick a keg up from the floor, bring it onto your chest and press it to straight arms overhead. It works the shoulders, triceps, upper back, hips and trunk, and the keg's shifting water or sand adds a balance demand at lockout.
Also called: Barrel Press, Keg Clean & Press, Keg Ground-to-Overhead, Keg C&P · Equipment: strongman · Pattern: push
Step by step
- Lay the keg on its side on the floor in front of you, lying across your stance, and stand close behind it with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
- Squat down with a flat back and take hold of the keg at each end, fingers hooked around the rims.
- Drive your hips up and forwards to bring the keg onto your thighs, keeping your arms long.
- Extend your hips hard and pull the keg up your body onto your chest, catching it high on the chest with your elbows under it.
- Stand tall, take a big breath, brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes so your ribs stay down.
- Dip a few centimetres at the knees, then drive through your legs and press the keg straight up, moving your head back slightly so it passes close to your face.
- Bring your head through and lock your elbows with the keg over the middle of your feet, and hold it still for a moment while the water settles.
- Bring the keg back down to your chest under control, then to your thighs, and set it on the floor.
- Hips drive the keg to your chest
- Keg high on the chest, elbows under
- Ribs down, glutes tight
- Dip and drive straight up
- Lock out and hold it still
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Anterior deltoid | Prime mover | C |
| Erector spinae | Prime mover | B |
| Triceps brachii | Prime mover | C |
| Lateral deltoid | Secondary | C |
| Gluteus maximus | Secondary | C |
| Trapezius | Secondary | C |
| Quadriceps | Secondary | C |
| Forearm flexors | Stabiliser | C |
| Rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | C |
| Biceps brachii | Dynamic stabiliser | C |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Curling the keg up with the arms
Fix: Keep your arms long and drive the keg up your body with your hips.
Keg drifting away from the body
Fix: Keep the keg against your thighs and torso as it travels to your chest.
Keg resting low on the chest
Fix: Catch the keg high on your chest with your elbows under it before pressing.
Leaning back to finish the press
Fix: Squeeze your glutes and keep your ribs down so your torso stays upright.
Finishing with the keg in front of the head
Fix: Bring your head through at the top so the keg ends over your mid-foot.
Rushing out of the lockout
Fix: Hold the lockout still for a moment before bringing the keg down.
What the research says
Power · first choiceSport performance · first choiceFat loss & conditioning · first choiceStrengthMuscle growthEndurance
- Load by goal — Research comparing loads finds maximal strength favours heavier loads, while muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure.
- Effort — Studies show strength gains are largely insensitive to how close to failure you train, and failure training adds no strength advantage. Many lifters keep heavy keg sets a rep or two short of failure.
- Rest — In trained lifters, rests of about 3 minutes between sets have produced greater strength and size gains than 1-minute rests.
- Unstable load — Studies of standing presses found the least stable implement produced the most shoulder muscle activity but the lowest maximum load. There is no direct research on keg pressing.
- Clean and press — Strongman keg events usually allow leg drive, and athletes commonly train the full lift as well as the clean and the press as separate drills.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the keg press in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.