Body And Fitness Blog

The most common movement for the shoulders is the shoulder press. It can be performed seated or standing, with barbells or dumbbells.

Seated Barbell Shoulder Press

Use an adjustable bench, putting it into the upright position. It’s best to try a few different positions (angle of the bench) until you find one that is comfortable. Some people really like having the bench as straight as possible, at almost 90%, some people prefer it a bit more inclined (nearer to 45%). The only thing to bear in mind, is that the further inclined the bench is, the more you will bring your upper chest muscles into the movement.

You can bring the barbell down behind your neck or infront of your face, whichever you decide to do be wary that behind the neck will give you a stiff neck and not allow you to go as heavy as in front of the face.

Press the barbell until your arms are fully extended, hold for at least a second, bring down slowly. Remember to breathe in on the way up and out on the way down.

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press

Similar to the seated press, except you stand, the rest is exactly the same. Be careful if you are doing this standing that you have someone to spot you and help you get the weight onto your chest/shoulders and off once you have finished your reps. Don’t try going heavy with this unless you have a squat rack to dump the barbell into after each set.

When pressing, adjust your stance so that you have good balance, usually one foot slightly in front of the other is a good way of ensuring this.

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Again, like the seated barbell shoulder press, use an adjustable bench to give your back support, and the same rules apply about the level of incline.

If you are going to go heavy on this exercise, its best to get someone to spot and help you with getting the weights up to the starting position and off you when you have finished your reps.

Start with the dumbbells level with your ears, press them until they are directly above your head or until they bump each other, slowly up, hold for at least a second, then slowly down. Breathe in on the way up and out on the way down.

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press

This exercise is difficult to go heavy with as you have to get the heavy dumbbells up to your head height, and you can’t use a squat rack as you can with a barbell. It does have it’s uses though, for lighter sets, where the weights can easily be lifted up to your head height.

Stand with feet slightly apart to give you better balance. Press the dumbbells directly over head or until the bump into each other, hold at the top then bring down slowly. As with all the other shoulder press exercises, breathe in on the way up and out on the way down.

To emphasize the work done by the front (anterior) deltoid, twist the dumbbells through 90% so they are parallel. This will work the front of the shoulder a little bit more.