Comments on: Dumbbell Shoulder Press - Exercise Video Tutorial

By: 3day Workout Routine | MuscleHack

3day Workout Routine | MuscleHack — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:45:25 +0000

[...] or dumbbell shoulder press (2 [...]

By: How To Get A Toned Body - Weight Training For Women | MuscleHack

How To Get A Toned Body - Weight Training For Women | MuscleHack — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:34:50 +0000

[...] – NOTHING * Nothing in the world will give you square, toned shoulders like overhead barbell or dumbbell shoulder presses * Nothing will improve your posture more than weight training * Nothing will give you those nice [...]

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:39:19 +0000

Hi pal, I-ve just ran accross another website of yours:
http://www.cavemanconclusion.com/2008/01/17/eat-like-a-caveman-to-build-muscle/
Cheers,
Ted

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:55:25 +0000

Thanks for the comments and your help Denys, I’ll try that.
Mark

By: denys

denys — Sat, 17 May 2008 06:31:04 +0000

hi! i LOVE this web-site, so far it’s the most comprehensible guide i saw on the internet.
about ur problem with the cropping software: right click the msi (install) file and go to the compatibility tab, and select xp, that should solve the problem
)
thanks again
denys

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:26:09 +0000

Brilliant Dave - that’s exactly what most natural bodybuilders need to do. Keep it up and you’re in for a lot more growth than you’ve had.
Mark

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:02:08 +0000

Excellent post, and thanks for the great vid. I cut back a bit on the weight tonight to more closely match your form, and I can already feel that it was much more effective. Thanks for everything, and I’m really looking forward to more!

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:34:39 +0000

Thanks, Uplift! That is great advice. I definitely get into the “poor form trap” sometimes, but since I started following this blog, I’ve backed off on the weight and tried to have better form. For my next workout, I’m going to try to follow your advice for this exercise. Thanks for sharing your experience!!

By: Uplift

Uplift — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:17:09 +0000

Craig, I’m a qualified personal trainer with around 30 years experience, and I would say yes. No worries. Just be really conscious of your core, which should apply from day one in any weight training exercise anyway, so that it becomes constant ingrained habit. That way, as you get stronger you are always safe. Sitting isn’t an ideal position for back health, so pay real attention to ‘flat back’, that is holding the natural arch. Keep your core tight by squeezing like you want to stop urinating, keep abs tight, and spinal erectors, hips and back flexed and strong, so you provide a good, safe base to press from, which makes you able to work better and harder anyway. Brace your feet strongly on ther floor. On top of this, you have to focus on all three heads of shoulder, constant tension, and breathing. Soon, its all natural, habit. I reckon too many people relax in the stretched position in all exercises, in this case the bottom position. Not only does this mean less shock, less work for muscles, so less reason to adapt, it exposes the joint to contortion and damage when beginning the press, dramatically moreso if any momentum and acceleration is present. This becomes a real problem as people are supposedly getting stronger and using more weight. The joint is just getting hammered. I totally agree with Mark about only using a weight you can truly control and lift. Its dangerous and counter productive to fool yourself. This applies equally to standing too (watch out for back arch when tired), but again, moreso in sitting as its not ideal on the spine. Easy to relax and get sloppy, so that your spine is soaking up a lot of the force whilst the discs are aligned poorly. It all seems a hassle at first, but soon becomes habit, and spills over into everyday life, lifting, moving things safetly and strongly.
In a way, it is easier to eliminate hip thrust and momentum when sitting, further stressing the shoulders, but there is a disadvantage if you want to use some momentum at the end of sets for forced reps etc. But this is for advanced, mainly in athletics or sports, when you must be accustomed to dealing with and utilising momentum and explosive forces.
Everyone has their own methods, techniques and ideas. The best is to try them, see what works for you. I’m big on proper technique, safety, core and joint strength and protection. No point getting injured, when it can mostly be avoided with care and thinking. From personal experience, nothing is worse than watching all your hard work dissappearing, while you nurse some injury caused usually by, ignorance, slackness, impatience, or, I hate to admit it….sometimes plain stupidity. ‘Why, why, why did I do that, why didn’t I listen to myself!!!!! What was I thinking’.
You are lucky having a tool like Marks vids to learn from. Sometimes it doesn’t come across well in books, and, he is walking proof of his research.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:55:31 +0000

Does anyone know if you’ll get the same benefit from doing this routine sitting down? The room I work out in doesn’t have ceilings high enough for me to do it standing! (It’s in a basement with 7′ ceilings)…

Thanks!