Arnold Press
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells and either a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Sit upright on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand held in front of your chest, palms facing you.
- Keep your elbows tucked in and close to each other at the start.
- Press upward while rotating your hands outward, so the palms face forward by the time the arms are half extended.
- Finish with the arms almost straight overhead and the palms facing forward.
- Reverse it exactly — lower while rotating the palms back toward you.
- Arrive back at the start with the palms facing you and the elbows tucked.
Common mistakes
- Rotating at the very top or the very bottom instead of through the press. The rotation is meant to spread across the movement; done at one end it becomes a separate twist under load.
- Using the same weight as a straight dumbbell press. The start position, with the elbows in front and the palms turned in, is a weaker position for the shoulder, and the load has to reflect that.
- Turning the rotation into a wrist movement. The forearm rotates; the wrist stays in line with it. A weight rolling on a turning wrist is where this exercise causes trouble.
- Choosing it as a rotator cuff exercise because the arm turns. The rotation here happens under a press with the load overhead; external rotation work is done with the elbow at the side against a light resistance, which is a different demand entirely.