If you want
wider shoulders, you've gotta work your side delts.
However, the
staple exercises like barbell and dumbell shoulder press
only work the medial delts to a limited degree...they
tend to put a lot of focus on the front delts.
I've got a
version of the dumbell shoulder press that's going to
change that...
It's going
to not only focus the tension on the side delts, it's
also going to focus the tension better on the delts
just in general by minimizing tricep involvement.
And it's
all in how you hold the dumbell...
You see, one
interesting thing I've found with training in general
is that an open hand position when pressing increases
muscle activation in the target muscles.
I believe it's
one of the reasons that bodyweight exercises like push-ups
(which use an open hand) give better muscle activation
than versions where your hand is gripping on something
(which I find tends to shift focus to the triceps somewhat).
Now, I don't
know if it's because of the greater contact with the surface
of the palm or the wrist position/angle or what the reason....there
could be several different explanations.
Whatever the
reason, now we're going to apply that open-hand concept
to free weight training with this method.
How To Do It:
First, I'm
going to show you what the hand position looks like, then
I'm going to tell you how to get the dumbell into position
in the easiest fashion.
So here's what
it looks like in the picture below. As you can see, the
dumbell is vertical and resting on my upper arm at the
bottom. My hand is rotated around so my fingers are pointing
in towards my head and my palm in on the underside of
the dumbell plates. I have my my thumb hooked around the
handle to keep it solidly gripped.
This open-hand
position is totally what we're looking for in the exercise.
Also, because the bottom dumbell plates are braced against
your forearm, it allows for a unique bit of additional
resistance at the top, as you straighten your elbow and
push the plates up at and angle due to the leverage of
the dumbell against your arm (easier to see than explain
- you'll see it below).
So here's
how to get it into position.
First, set
the dumbell on the floor in front of you, handle perpendicular
to your body. I'll do a faraway shot and a closer-up shot
to make it easier to see.
Notice how
my thumb and forefinger are spread apart...you're going
to be gripping your thumb around the handle like this.
Now grip the
handle and set your palm flat against the underside of
the near plates.
Next grip the
handle with your other hand - you'll be using help to
get the dumbell up into position.
Now use both
hands to lift the dumbell up to your shoulder.
Take your other
hand off, making sure your thumb is hooked around the
handle then you're ready to start.
Then press
up, just like you would a normal standing dumbell shoulder
press.
As you'll see
in this pic below, as I extend my elbow, the act of straightening
it leverages the dumbell to an angle. And because it's
a weight, you actually get resistance in that small angled-lockout
movement which puts even more tension on the lateral delt.
Do all your
reps on side (about 6 to 10 reps is good) then grab the
dumbell handle with your other hand again and bring the
dumbell back down to the floor. Regrip with the other
hand and repeat.
One of the
other bonuses with this exercise is the core work. Because
you're only pressing with one arm, it places great stabilizing
requirements on the core muscles.
You will notice
that range of motion is shorter with this exercise than
with regular shoulder presses. And the heavier you go,
the shorter the range gets because of the number of dumbell
plates.
This is something
you could fix if you have adjustable dumbells, loading
more on the top end and less on the bottom end. Generally
speaking, though, it won't be much of an issue.
If you're
tired of normal dumbell presses, this is definitely one
you'll want to try, for a change of pace and to really
target the medial delts (a.k.a. side delts, a.k.a. lateral
delts) in a unique fashion.
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