So let me tell
you right up front...my shoulder stink. They're among
my worst and hardest to develop bodyparts. Any strength
I gain in them tends to disappear quickly unless I keep
up the heavy training for them.
Which is exactly
why, when I started using THIS version of the barbell
shoulder press, I was actually quite surprised at how
strong I was with it!
I can tell
you honestly, your shoulder press training weights will
go up INSTANTLY when you use this exercise.
The funny thing
is, with a bottom start movement, you USUALLY tend to
be weaker. By bottom start, I mean pressing off rack rails
out of the bottom instead of like a normal press where
you take the weight at the top then lower it and press
it back up.
For me, this
version works WAY better than the standard method of shoulder
pressing, both in strength and in not mucking up my shoulder
joints.
For this one,
you'll need a power rack, a barbell and a shoulder press
bench...I actually MUCH prefer to use the preacher bench
backwards for shoulder pressing. Here's a pic of the setup
(I'm halfway in the pic, but it's the best I could do
:) You can see how the preacher bench is set up in the
rack and the bar is set a little above it in the rails.
Make sure the pad is hitting you in the mid-to-lower-back
for best support. This keeps your upper back free to find
the best pressing position for you while keeping the torso
supported.
Now sit in
the bench amd make sure the height of the bar is correct
- it should be just about at the bottom-most point of
the shoulder press. Ideally, just very slightly below
that point, actually.
Because what
you're going to do is set the bar back down on the rails
between each and every rep in order to "reset"
your chest and shoulder girdle for best leverage. This
ability to reset yourself on every rep is what I've found
to be most effective in maintaining pressing strength.
When you do
a normal press, at the bottom of every rep, it's tough
to make sure your shoulder girdle is set in the perfect
pressing position. It's easier with lighter weights, but
as you get heavier, that position is tough to maintain.
The other advantage
here is that you're sitting and you can brace your body
with your legs, similar to leg drive in the bench press.
When you're about to press the bar off the rails, you
push yourself backwards against the preacher bench pad
with your legs. This adds lower body power to an upper
body movement.
So once you're
seated in the bench, roll the bar back into your body
until it's right up against your upper chest.
Now you're
ready to press...shoulders down, hands a little inside
the position you'd normally use for bench pressing (a
narrower grip is better for shoulder pressing - I usually
use fourth fingers on the smooth "O" right on
the bar).
Puff your chest
up BIG, taking a deep breath...set your legs and tighten
up your entire body. This is an exercises where you MUST
be tight in order to perform it with decent weight - the
tighter you set yourself, the better your pressing will
be.
Now start pressing
with a POWERFUL movement, trying to explode the bar off
the racks. We're not going for "tension" here
- we want power.
Once the bar
has cleared your head, move your head forward underneath
the bar so that at the end, the bar is right above the
midline of your head. It's almost like a forward-bobbing
movement. This engages the rear delts - without that forward
movement, it's going to be a lot more front delts.
