All about the Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
(Shoulders)
BENEFITS & MUSCLES WORKED: Increasing Shoulder Muscle Mass – because using dumbbells instead of a barbell encourages a more rounded and thorough Shoulder workout.
Shoulder Mobility and Stability.
START POSITION: Sit on the end of a bench holding two dumbbells. It’s best to raise the backrest to a nearly vertical position to restrict the movement of your Lower Back. Place your feet wide for increased Stability. Raise both Dumbbells to a neutral position just forward of the edges of your Shoulders.
NOTES: Difficulty Rating: 45%
Keep your chin up and head looking straight forward. Push the Dumbbells up above your head, being careful not to let them fall backward (above or behind your Shoulders). At the top position, the Dumbbells can be directly above your Shoulders, but you must ensure to shift the weights forward slightly as you lower them back down again. This exercise can be performed in various ways, and I suggest trying them all and mixing them up to find the most effective approach. A variety of exercises and forms is essential when using free weights (as opposed to fixed weights, such as those found on machines and cables).
Breathe out as you push the weights up, and in as you lower them down. You can slightly twist both dumbbells (symmetrically and progressively) as you move them up and down between lower and upper positions. This extra movement helps engage more of the Shoulder muscles, providing a more thorough workout.
The golden rule for all Dumbbell Shoulder Presses is never to allow the Dumbbells to drift behind your Shoulders – the Center of mass of the weights should be somewhere around the tip of your nose, or a little further forward.
If you don’t have a bench, all Shoulder Presses can be done standing up, but it’s best to sit down if you can.
All forms of the Dumbbell Shoulder Press can be performed either alternately or simultaneously. Then, you can choose either a neutral grip position (as shown in the images) or a pronated grip position, with each Dumbbell pointing sideways.
You can also use a single Barbell instead of 2 Dumbbells.
I am often asked, ‘Which form is the most effective?’ – and there is no single answer that applies to every student. My answer to this is invariably – ‘Do them all. But do them right.’ Variety is the spice of life.