Shoulder exercises have been a super hot topic request lately.
Initially you’re going to think, “that isn’t going to do anything! There’s no load!”
Bear with me and then try it for yourself.
Checkout this quick vid for a demonstration with key technique points below.
To really get the maximum benefit from these there’s some key focus points:
Mind Muscle Connection (By Far The Most Important)
You must squeeze your entire arms as hard as possible before even starting the exercise.
Then maintain that squeeze as you do the shoulder press movement.
This is where the load and tension come from.
This is what burns the shoulders and what delivers the pump.
Connect with your shoulder muscles and mindfully squeeze them to make the exercise harder.
Stance
Athletic shoulder width stance, knees bent and core tensed
Shoulder Position
Don’t retract your shoulder blades back to much as you’ll incorporate back muscles.
We want to isolate and put 100% off the effort onto the shoulder.
Slightly protract your shoulders (pull them forward) so your hands appear in peripheral vision, elbows slightly in front of you.
Technique (Second Most Important)
There’s a constant focus for this exercises to keep tension on shoulder muscles…
Always be slightly pushing your arms out to the side.
As an example…
If you were to hold a weight (say 4kg) directly above your body with one arm straight up.
You could probably hold it there for a very long time.
However, if the hand is slightly moved out to the side by 10 degrees it’s much harder.
Why?
When the arm is held straight up the effort and load is spread between the shoulder muscle and the shoulder joint, which can support a lot of load.
When the arm is slightly moved out to the side that load is greatly shifted onto just the shoulder muscle and thus greater constant tension.
This is what we want!
… So along with squeezing the shoulder muscles as hard as possible throughout the full range of motion.
Also focus on pushing out to the side non stop both up and down and don’t lockout.
Technique mastery should first precede the hard work
Coach Adam
Body Transformation Coach
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