The
Military Press (aka barbell shoulder
press) is a standard shoulder exercise...and
it's very effective for developing
power and strength in the shoulders.
THIS
version of the barbell shoulder
press adds a twist...you're going
to only load ONE side of the bar
while you're doing it.
What's
this going to accomplish?
First,
it's going to load one shoulder
at a time, which allows you to focus
more on really making that muscle
WORK. The shoulders really benefit
from lighter weight and focused
workload - there is a tendency to
want to lift heavy to build big
shoulders...ironically enough, trying
to lift TOO heavy will actually
limit your shoulder development.
By
backing off on weight and achieving
greater focus, you'll get overall
better shoulders... stronger, better
looking, and less injury-prone.
Second,
by putting all the weight on side,
it allows you a lot more freedom
of movement with the bar, making
it very similar to a dumbell movement
in that respect. You can follow
the most natural movement pattern
for your structure and because your
hands aren't locked onto the bar
trying to lift a balanced load,
you can actually bring your hand
directly over your head to get a
more complete contraction, something
you just can't do with a regularly-loaded
barbell.
Third,
the unbalanced loading works the
muscles of the core. They have to
compensate for the load by contracting
and stabilizing the core to prevent
you from falling over. You will
absolutely feel the activation of
these muscles when you train in
an unbalanced fashion like, which
is more like "real life"
than regular weight training.
So
here's what the exercise looks like...I've
loaded a 25 lb plate onto one side
the barbell and I'm gripping the
bar right up near the plate end,
as close on the bar as I can grip
to it. Then it's just a simple press
up.
Notice
how as I press up, I'm also tilting
the bar. This tilt raises the pink
side of your hand higher, which
is similar to the "pouring
water on your head" trick that
you can use with dumbells to maintain
tension on the side delts. Now you're
doing it with a barbell!
If
you had both side loaded, you couldn't
accomplish this.
Do
all your reps on one side (about
8 to 10 reps is good) then set the
bar down and switch to the other
side.
One
important thing to note when you're
doing ANY form of barbell press
is at the bottom of press, you do
need to lean your upper body back
a little so that you can clear your
face. Once the bar is higher than
your head, then push your head forward
under the bar and finish with the
bar directly over the crown of your
head.
This
activates the rear delts more fully
and is a better-supported position
for your entire body to be in with
a weight held overhead.
Give
this one a try in your next shoulder
workout and see how it feels. It's
a nice change of pace from regular
barbell pressing and will really
fire up the delts strongly.
