How to Do a Shoulder Press

The shoulder press is a great weight training exercise for the shoulders and triceps. Men like it because it gives them that wide-shouldered masculine look, but it's also great for women because it tones the back of their upper arms which tend to get flabby with age. Follow these steps to perform a shoulder press.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Place a barbell with a small amount of weight on each end on the floor in front of you. If it is too heavy, you can use just the barbell without weights.
2. Bend your knees and grasp the barbell over-handed, with your hands slightly more than shoulder width apart. Bending your knees, straighten up slowly until the barbell is resting against your thighs.
3. Bring the barbell up to shoulder level. Tuck in your elbows and hold the bar steady just below your chin, touching your upper chest, elbows slightly forward.
4. Lift the bar slowly until it is straight over your head and your arms are fully extended and your back is straight. Pause for a moment.
5. Lower the bar slowly until your have returned to the starting shoulder position. Pause and then repeat Steps 4 and 5 until your muscles become tired.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also perform this exercise using hand weights or dumbbells, or try from a seated position.
• For optimum weight training benefit, work your way up to a set of 15 shoulder press repetitions. Once you can complete 15 repetitions, work your way up to another 15 repetitions later in your workout or after a few minutes of rest. Once you can complete two sets of 15 repetitions in the same workout, you can add a little more weight.
• Always bend your knees when lifting a weight from the floor or setting it back down.
• To avoid soreness or injury, start out with just a few exercises.