Single-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart holding one dumbbell at shoulder height, palm facing forward.
- Rest the free hand on your hip or hold it out for balance.
- Brace your stomach hard and squeeze your glutes.
- Press the dumbbell overhead until the arm is almost straight.
- Keep the torso upright — the load on one side will try to bend you the other way.
- Lower under control to shoulder height, then finish the side before swapping.
Common mistakes
- Leaning away from the working arm. Side-bending is how a one-arm press gets finished when the shoulder runs out, and it puts the load through the trunk instead.
- Letting the ribs flare on the loaded side. Ribs down and stomach tight is what keeps the spine out of it, and one arm makes that harder rather than easier.
- Taking half your two-dumbbell weight. The trunk resisting a side bend is usually the limit before the shoulder is.
- Pressing the dumbbell in an arc across the body. It travels straight up beside the head; drifting inward is the trunk compensating for a load it cannot hold square.