Devils Press: The Full-Body Burner You Need in Your Training 🔥

side view of a woman in a gym with dumbbells pulled back in a hinge movement for devils press

What are devils presses? If the name alone hasn't scared you off, read on to discover the benefits of devil’s presses — a powerful full-body movement that combines both a burpee and a dumbbell snatch. We'll learn proper form, variations, and tips to master this intense exercise.This full-body exercise is a great addition to any functional training program - combining strength, endurance, and explosive power into one, high-intensity movement. The devil press exercise is an absolute powerhouse for building cardiovascular endurance and functional strength.

Understanding the Devil’s Press

The devil’s press is a compound movement that combines a burpee with a double dumbbell snatch into a single fluid motion. It targets major muscle groups, including the lower body, back muscles, and shoulders while demanding proper form to prevent strain on the lower back.

It is considered one of the most effective movements for building strength and conditioning at the same time. Because it combines a burpee, snatch, and press, it challenges both aerobic and anaerobic systems, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to improve their sports performance, muscular endurance, and overall fitness goals. There's also a reason it's called the "devil's" press - once you're doing them, you'll realize that it feels like they were created by someone evil - which they probably were!

For added variety, you might come across the single arm devil press, synchro single arm devils press, or even DB devil’s press variations, all of which test muscular endurance and sports performance in different ways. Many CrossFit-style workouts integrate the devil’s press due to its ability to challenge multiple major muscle groups simultaneously while keeping the heart rate elevated.

The Benefits of the Devil’s Press

Adding devil’s presses to your training routine offers numerous benefits:

Full-body workout: It hits all primary muscles, from your legs to your shoulders.
Explosive power: A blend of kettlebell swing, barbell snatch, and Olympic lifts, this move enhances strength development.
Cardiovascular endurance: By keeping your heart rate high, it challenges your stamina like an air bike sprint.
Functional strength: Improves hip hinge, overhead movements, and overall mobility performance.
Body composition: The combination of a dumbbell burpee and snatch promotes growth hormone release, aiding in muscle gain and fat loss.
Injury prevention: Because of the complex exercise nature, it forces the body to move with proper form, strengthening stabilizers that help prevent injuries in other movements.
Scalability: It can be performed with lower weights or heavier weights, allowing athletes at different fitness levels to benefit.

How to Perform the Devil’s Press with Good Form

1. Start from standing: With a pair of dumbbells on the floor, drop into a burpee and place your hands on the dumbbell handles.

side view of a woman lying in the bottom of a push up in a gym with a dumbbell in each hand

2. Push-up and jump: As you rise to a standing position, engage your lower body. Jump your feet forward to your hands and land outside the dumbbells.

side view of a woman in a gym pressing up out of a burpee on the ground with dumbbells in each hand

side view of a woman in a gym doing a plank with hands on dumbbells

side view of a woman standing in a gym bent over with a dumbbell in each hand on the ground

3. Hip hinge and snatch: Pull the dumbbells off the floor (using your glutes and hamstrings, NOT your low back!) Swing them back between your legs just a touch (like a kettlebell) and then pop your hips and lock everything out out at the top with a strong core and controlled shoulders. Using an explosive movement pattern, drive the dumbbells into an overhead position. Keep your hips back, your back flat, and bellybutton pulled into spine. Think about squeezing your glutes while keeping your core tight.

side view of woman doing standing and swinging dumbbells overhead for devils press in a gym

Full extension: Every joint from your ankle to your wrist should be stacked in a perfectly straight line at this point if you've done it correctly!

Common Mistakes to Avoid

It's easy to make mistakes when learning new movements. When performing devil’s presses, avoid these common errors:

Rushing through reps: This can lead to poor mechanics and increase the risk of injury. Take your time, and make sure your form is correct on each rep.
Improper hip hinge: Failing to engage the rear chain (muscles from glutes down) can cause strain on the lower back. Make sure hips stay back and core stays engaged. It's not a squat, so your knees should stay back and your shins should be vertical.
Neglecting the push-up/burpee: Some athletes skip fully lowering themselves in the bottom of the push-up position, which reduces the effectiveness of the movement. Make sure your chest comes all the way down to the floor.
Incorrect overhead position: Not achieving full extension can lead to shoulder strain and limit power output. Remember, all joints stacked vertically at the top!
Using the wrong dumbbell weight: Too light, and you won’t get the full benefits; too heavy, and you risk form breakdown. If you don't feel like you have to use your hips, and you can just muscle the dumbbells up overhead, they're too light. If you feel like you can't keep your core tight and you're struggling to get a strong swing up overhead, they're too heavy. Adjust and find the weight that's right for you.

Scaling and Modifications

Depending on different fitness levels, you can adjust the devil’s presses by using lighter weights or breaking the movement into a push press rather than a snatch. If you need to do this, think about it more as a clean and press. The burpee stays the same, then bring the dumbbells to shoulders instead of swinging them away from your body and overhead. Once they are braced firmly on your shoulders, press them vertically overhead, still looking for that stacked position. Continue to work on maintaining a tight core and squeezing the glutes in the extended overhead position.

If you're going heavy, ensure you’re following the movement standard to protect your lower back and prevent injury. If you're new to devil’s presses, try starting with lower weights and a slower pace, focusing on form before increasing intensity.

You can also do a single arm devils press, where you use just a single dumbbell and alternate hands. This can help reduce the weight and fatigue, but can also shine a light on L/R imbalances, if you have any!

Woman doing single arm devils press with dumbbell overhead

Workouts Incorporating Devil’s Presses

Ready to try them out? Great! Here are a couple of workouts you can use to get the full benefits of the devil press.

Workout 1:

3 Rounds for Time (RFT)

15 devil’s presses (35/25)
20 box jump overs (24/20)
25 wall balls (20/14)

The prescribed work here only has 3 rounds, but don't be fooled. All three movements will require midline stability and bringing an awareness to your form to keep your low back safe.

Start with the devil's press. We're using 2 dumbbells for these in this workout, so choose your weight accordingly! Move straight to the box jump overs, keeping in mind that since we are going OVER the box we don't need to stand all the way up on top. Stay low, turn on top of the box if you can, and step down on the other side.

Move to the wall balls, making sure that you're getting below parallel on each rep. Hip crease should be lower than knee crease at the bottom. Rise explosively, ensuring that your ball hits the target each time, then as it descends, ride it down to the bottom again. Aim to get these done in 2-3 sets.

Once you finish the wall balls, start back at the top for Round 2. Repeat the entire thing 3 times and note your time on the clock when you finish. Jot it down so that the next time you do the workout, you can see if you can beat your own time!

Workout 2:

For Time

10 devil's press
1 burpee over dumbbell
9 devil's press
2 burpees over dumbbell
continue until...
1 devil's press
10 burpees over dumbbell

Wait...does that say you're going to basically do weighted burpees followed by unweighted burpees? Why yes, yes it does! Remember to stay relaxed on the burpees - think about essentially flopping to the floor and not holding tension. When you come up, pop your feet under your hips to be set up in a good jumping position.

Why Athletes Love the Devil’s Press

Athletes are drawn to devil’s presses because they are a great movement for testing endurance, strength, and power all in one. As a whole body compound exercise, they check all the boxes. With the increasingly huge demand for high intensity exercise, these presses remain a staple in the prescribed work for competitive fitness athletes and home gym goers alike.

This movement’s versatility and effectiveness make it ideal for anyone looking to improve their body composition, functional training, and overall athletic capability. Since it incorporates multiple movement patterns, it translates well into sports such as weightlifting, running, and general fitness.

Conclusion

This combination of a dumbbell burpee and snatch is a must for functional strength and endurance. By integrating devil’s presses into your workout regimen, you will develop a stronger, more resilient body capable of handling any physical challenge. Whether you are an experienced athlete or a beginner, these exercises will help you reach your peak performance.

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