The neutral shoulder press is designed to work your shoulder or deltoid muscles. Specifically, this type of press allows your medial deltoids to be the primary focus. Training your medial deltoids is important for creating a balanced look from a physique standpoint and ensures that proper shoulder function is maintained. The neutral shoulder press is also easy to learn, which makes it a great exercise for beginners.
How To Perform
You will need to utilize a workout bench setup with a horizontal seat and a vertical back. Grab a set of dumbbells and sit on the seat so that your feet are firmly planted on the floor. Position the dumbbells near your shoulders with your palms facing your shoulders. This is also called a neutral hand position. Push the weights overhead by extending your shoulders and straightening your arm at your elbow joint. After your arms are fully extended overhead, lower your hands and arms so that your elbows are close to the side of your body near the bottom of your ribs.
Benefits
The neutral shoulder press is a compound movement that works more muscles than just your medial deltoids. Your triceps assist with the lift to help extend your arm at the elbow. This motion, combined with the use of dumbbells, also challenges your ability to stabilize at the shoulder joint. This type of training is important in preventing injuries to the shoulder that are a result of poor body and shoulder control.
Considerations
If you have shoulder problems such as impingement or your shoulders frequently become disjointed, the neutral shoulder press is not a safe exercise for you to perform. Individuals with a limited range of motion in their shoulders may also feel pain when lowering their elbows below shoulder level. Only lower your elbows to shoulder level to prevent this from happening. To increase safety during the lift, have a spotter stand behind you. The spotter should place his hands near your wrists to give you support, as needed, during the lift.
Alternatives
The neutral shoulder press can also be performed on a specialized overhead press machine with a neutral grip attachment, exercises cables or exercise resistance bands. These variations require less stabilization than the dumbbell version. While this is suitable for novice lifters, the increased stabilization demands that the dumbbell variation provides are vital to medial deltoid development.
References
- American Council on Exercise: Seated Machine Close-Grip Shoulder Press
- Health EMark: Upper Body Workouts
- "NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training"; Roger Earle and Thomas Baechle; 2003
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training"; National Academy of Sports Medicine; April 2007
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