Band Shoulder Press
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- A resistance band
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Stand on the middle of a resistance band with both feet, hip-width apart.
- Take an end in each hand and bring them to shoulder height, palms facing forward.
- Brace your stomach and keep your ribs down.
- Press both hands overhead until the arms are almost straight.
- Lower under control against the band to shoulder height.
- Keep the elbows under the hands rather than letting them drift behind.
Common mistakes
- Expecting the resistance to feel like dumbbells. A band is lightest at the shoulders and heaviest overhead, which is the opposite of a press — hardest exactly where the shoulder is most extended.
- Standing on the band unevenly. One foot holding more of it loads one side harder for the whole set.
- Arching the lower back as the band tightens overhead. Ribs down and glutes tight; the arch appears at the top, where the band pulls hardest.
- Letting the band snap the arms down. The lowering half is where a band still has tension, and it is the part most often given away.