| If
you're like me, shoulders are one of your toughest
bodyparts to develop. So I've had to develop effective
ways to really hit my shoulders HARD and get the
best results possible.
This exercise is
one of my favorites for building strength and
explosive power in the shoulders. I've found it
to be VERY effective for hitting the lateral
delts as well, which is critical for building
shoulder width.
How To Do It:
To perform this
exercise, you'll need a barbell and a power rack.
That's it!
Instead of pressing
the barbell from inside the rack, though, and
taking a "traditional" grip on the bar,
you will be standing OUTSIDE the rack on one side,
facing in. You'll be pressing ONE END of the bar,
using the other end as a pivot point.
**
Don't worry! ** I'll have a link to
pictures and video of this exercise in action
at the end of the article so you'll know EXACTLY
what you're doing before trying it out.
First, you'll need
to set one of the safety rails up near the top
of the rack - about forehead level is good. The
other rail should be set at just about shoulder
height.
Set an Olympic barbell
across these rails so that it's sloping down to
one side. Load the high end of the barbell with
at least one weight plate (45 or 35 lbs) to counterbalance
the end you'll be pressing.
Load the lower end
of the bar with weight - start with a weight that
is fairly light (if you can do dumbell presses
with 50 lb dumbells, start with just a 45 lb plate
on the bar) until you get an idea of how the exercise
works. THEN you can start adding plates. Also,
be VERY sure you've got good collars on BOTH
ends of the bar - you don't want any plates
sliding off.
Now you're ready
to start the exercise.
Stand at the low
end of the bar (outside the rack) facing in towards
the rack. Grip the end of the bar with both hands
(not overlapping but butted up so they're right
BESIDE each other on the end of the bar).
One will be closer to the end than the other -
you can switch that grip on the next set to keep
things even.
Stand a little off
to one side to start with here. When you do the
exercise, you're basically going to be doing a
press with one hand (using the other hand for
guidance and balance), bringing the bar up and
overhead then lowering it down on the other side.
Then you'll repeat, going back over to the other
side.
This is why I call
it the "Side-To-Side Shoulder Press."
You start with, for example, a left-hand one-arm
press, bringing the bar overhead and across then
performing a right-hand one-arm press. You go
back and forth until you've done as many reps
as you can.
When you're doing
the press (especially at the bottom of the movement),
be careful to use the other hand primarily for
guidance and balance, NOT to try and pull up on
the bar for help. That other shoulder will be
in an awkward position to exert force and you
don't want to risk injury.
If you want to REALLY
finish off the shoulders (I like to do this on
my last set), when you're done with the side-to-side
movement, you can continue with a two-arm press
directly to the front.
---
Overall, this exercise
is an excellent alternative to barbell and dumbell
presses. It's a novel
yet EXTREMELY functional shoulder exercise
that has the potential to build excellent power
and strength in the shoulders.
The positioning
of the bar, the side-to-side movement and the
fact that you're gripping on a MUCH thicker portion
of the bar all contribute to the overall effectiveness
of the exercise.
I think you're going
to like it!
|
Here's
the setup - note how the
left side rail is up near
the top (about forehead
height) - the working
side rail is at about
shoulder level. I'm standing
on the outside of the
rack facing in towards
the barbell. I'm taking
a staggered grip on the
very end of the bar.
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The
press comes primarily
from the left arm here.
The right arm is just
for guidance and balance.
|
Now
it's a press to the top.
Once you're at the top,
start lowering the end
of the bar down to the
other side, taking up
the weight on your right
arm.
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Now
the weight is all on the
right arm with the left
arm for balance.
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Here's
a side view of the exercise.
Not the staggered grip
on the end of the bar.
One hand is right at the
end - the other hand is
on the bar pressed right
against it but NOT on
top of it.
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Here's
the press to the top.
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Then
down on the other side.
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