Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Set an adjustable bench upright, or stand if you prefer. Sit with a dumbbell resting on each thigh.
- Kick the dumbbells up to shoulder height one knee at a time and turn your palms to face forward.
- Hold them just outside your shoulders with your elbows below your wrists — not flared wide behind you.
- Brace your stomach and squeeze your glutes so the movement does not turn into a back arch.
- Press both dumbbells up until your arms are straight, letting them travel slightly toward each other at the top.
- Finish with the arms overhead and the shoulder blades rotated up, so the biceps end near the ears.
- Lower under control until your upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor, then press again.
Common mistakes
- Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides at the bottom. Keeping the elbows slightly forward of the shoulders, in the plane the shoulder blade sits in, is more comfortable and lets the arm travel further.
- Arching the lower back to finish the press. When the shoulder cannot get the arm overhead, the spine makes up the difference — squeezing the glutes and bracing removes most of it, and the rest is the shoulder blade needing to rotate further.
- Stopping the descent at the ears. Coming down until the upper arms are around parallel to the floor is a full repetition; stopping high trains the top of the range only.
- Pressing in front of the head rather than overhead. Finishing with the dumbbells over the shoulders rather than in front of them is what makes it an overhead press.