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Which Press is Best for Bigger Shoulders? (IRON FACE/OFF)

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

If you want to get big shoulders you have likely used shoulder presses as a staple exercise in your workout. That said, there are many different press variations and choosing the right one can not only help you to build bigger shoulders but keep them safe and healthy at the same time. In this video, I-m breaking down three shoulder press variations to help you decide which is best. We start with one variation that doesn-t even make the cut; the behind the neck barbell press. This exercise is not advisable because of the awkward position it places your shoulder joint. The scapular plane demands that you have your arm angled slightly forward (about 45 degrees from the frontal plane. When you do the behind the neck press you are well out of this plane and causing a great strain on your shoulder capsule in the long run. That said, we do have other variations that are better and that is what we are putting head to head here. The first of these is the seated dumbbell press. Some might think that there is an advantage to not performing this standing since you can keep the legs out of it. Not only is this not the case but as you will see, the legs actually become an advantage in the standing version of the exercise. The bigger issue is that when you start to fatigue you lean back and wind up recruiting the muscles of the upper chest to help you lift the weights. While this wouldn-t normally be a bad thing, it also comes with the side effect of pressing your head into the back of the bench as a counterforce (which can easily lead to a neck strain) and also pins the shoulder blades against the bench which interferes with the normal scapulohumeral rhythm. Any time you disrupt the movement contribution of the shoulder blades to the overhead press you are placing your shoulders in a position to be injured. For this reason we have to scrap this one from consideration as the best option in this iron face off of shoulder presses. We can do either of the standing press variations. The problem with the barbell press however is that the barbell allows you to hide left to right imbalances and weaknesses while at the same time limiting the variety of the movement that can be achieved with a dumbbell. Also, forgetting to narrow up your grip on the overhead barbell press is going to gradually make your elbows drift back out of the scapular plane into the more unhealthy plane of the behind the neck press. Given the dumbbells variability and the drop set capability of the push press option as well as the alternating dumbbell version when fatigue sets in, I would give the crown to the standing dumbbell press. This is the exercise I would do for shoulder presses if I could only do one. That said, a well designed program would incorporate many different variations of a shoulder press and program them at the right time for the right purpose. The ATHLEAN-X Training Systems available at do exactly that. By putting the science back in strength, you can be assured of seeing your fastest and best results possible in just the next 90 days. Start paying attention to the details that others don-t and I promise you, you will be shocked at the kind of results you can start seeing from your training again
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

charles
Why so much controversy over the shoulder muscles? There should (ought to) be a simplistic approach that has worked for the last fifty years for thousands of body builders that has consistently produced results. Lets skinny it down to 3-5 of the 'VERY Best SAFE' ones to use with barbells or dumbbells or whatever. Thanks for paying attention to this possibly (hope not) over simplified view. Want to stop experimenting: start getting results instead. Somebody knows the TRUTH on this - lets open the knowledge treasure chest and get the real jewels out in the open once and for all.
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Peter
for me there is no better exercise than the standing barbell press. I think it is better because you get more stretching by bringing the bar lower and more shoulder involvement as you bring it lower and then up without bringing the hands too close to each other. Wider grip is always better (but not toooo wide. The guy in the video i doing it too close which is easier but less effective for me: I like to put my middle finger on the top of the little marked areas on the two sides of tge bar
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Quirk
I honestly disagree, i much prefeer the barbell ohp because of stability. For some reason, when i lift two dumbells it requires more attention to lift them and keep them in balance. While with the barbell press i only worry about the one bar. Great video though.
Also its alot easier to load up heavy weight with barbell ohp because its fixated in a rack so you dont have to swing up two weights before every set.
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Fellow
Just recently bought a weight bench along with a bunch of weights. I'm 27y/o 5ft 10in tall and 150lbs soaking wet. Once I find a good work out schedule, I honestly can't wait to start adding muscle and weight. I just want to do it right! I'll start watching these because he seems pretty knowledgeable. Does anybody else have some good resources that are readily available for a noobie like myself? THANKS!
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Tim
Always great stuff, Jeff. I-m interested in range of motion? To keep tension should elbows go slightly below shoulders and back up for complete a rep?
Also, the weight should be directly over the muscle you-re working? Eliminating traps for ultimate hypertrophy? I guess this is for strength that you-re talking about. help would be appreciated
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Masti
I find that the problem with the standing dumbell press is your have to get the dumbbells into position. Wheras the barbell is easier/faster to initiate due to the bar being ready at chest height for you each time.
Personally I do the seated dumbbell press and standing barbell press once each per week. Getting some good results.
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Curtis
Iv had problems progressing my shoulder strength and committed to the barbell press. A have my hand positioning bang on but as I fatigue my back arches horribly. Something iv been struggling to avoid. After watching this I think it maybe my weak core letting me down. Any suggestions or am I way off base?
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spraynpray
These videos are very helpful. I've been making nasty noises in my shoulders and having problems with my seated dumbell presses. The problem is thinking I need to have my arms at my sides or slightly back. This might solve all my problems and I will find out on push day.
Thanks.
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Fiber_King
I'm a long dude and my core is lacking, so for now I'm doing standing dumbell press alternately. The weight I can push is far greater than double handed. But maybe I should switch to double handed, because I'm not sure my core will ever catch up.
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Basil
Jeff is smart and know what he's talking abt but I just don't wgat i like I life weights the old fashioned way maybe some exercise are wrong to lot people but it gets me strong and I never been hurt just like the behind head press I done it for years
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