Shoulder Presses & Push-ups

Shoulder presses and pushups are strength-training exercises that sculpt and tone the muscles in your upper body when performed regularly using progressively heavier weight. Shoulder presses primarily target your anterior, medial and posterior deltoid muscles. Pushups target your shoulders along with your chest muscles. The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends novice fitness enthusiasts do up to three sets of between five and 12 repetitions for each strength-training exercise.

Shoulder Presses with Free-Weights

You can do shoulder presses with dumbbells. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, bend your elbows to bring your hands in front of your shoulders and straighten your arms above your head.

Try seated shoulder presses with a barbell. Sit on a weight bench and hold the barbell with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart and your palm facing the wall in front of you. Hold the barbell behind your neck or modify the exercise for shoulder instability and hold it in front of your clavicles. Lift the barbell.

Seated Shoulder Press Machine

The seated shoulder press machine typically offers you two grips, the regular grip and the close grip. Both grips work your entire deltoid, but the close grip also engages the triceps as a primary muscle. To perform movements on the seated shoulder press machine properly, adjust the seat so the handles are even with or just higher than your shoulders.

Classic Pushups

Perform classic pushups just as you see in the movies and on television. Place your body in a plank position to start, lower your body almost down to the floor by bending your arms and straighten your arms to return to the starting position. Sometimes classic pushups are referred to as wide-stance pushups.

Modified Pushups

There are endless variations based on classic pushups that fitness enthusiasts commonly refer to as a group of exercises called modified pushups. Placing your knees on the floor is the typical modification to make a pushup easier, but most variations add a higher degree of difficulty. To do a Pilates pushup and change the focus to your triceps, place your hands directly under your shoulders and bend your elbows behind you instead of out to the side. You can do pushups using one hand or one leg. With a stability ball you can do pushups with your feet on the ball or with your hands on the ball. Put a dumbbell in each hand and in the upward phase of your pushup perform a lateral arm raise. Doing mountain climbers between pushups adds the element of cardio to your pushup.