Exercise of The Week: Shoulder Press

works shoulders, biceps, and upper back

This weeks exercise is the shoulder press. I love this exercise because it is relatively easy and you can do it while watching TV. I feel a lot less guilty plopping in front of the TV if I am being productive while I do it. My first caution is do not be intimidated by using dumbbells! You will not end up looking like one of those creepy people on those muscle magazines. Those people live in the gym and take supplements to get them that size. A normal person could never get to that point, so feel free to lift weights without fear. What you will do is get nice definition, plus using weights helps aid in weightloss…so try it. If you are still reluctant just try starting off with 5lb dumbbells…still scared? Try a baby step and try wrist weights but trust me you will eventually want to get at least a 5lb set. And then you will be hooked.

Anyway…how to do the exercise: Grab a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Do not lock your knees, make sure that they have a slight bend. Raise your weights just slightly above your shoulders, making sure to point your hands inward. You should look like A. Now raise your weights upward until your arms are straight above your head like B. Hold it there for 1 second and then slowly lower the dumbbells back to starting position A. That is one rep. The reason you want to make sure to slowly lower your arms is because you really want to focus on your form. This also isolates the muscle so that you are getting the best result. That is really all that there is to this exercise. If you are just starting out it is good to just start off with 6 to 8 reps. As your body gets used to this exercise you can increase your weights and the amount of reps that you do.

If you need other exercises to try I placed a few below and if you really want a challenge try one of the 30 day challenges. 🙂

Other Exercises:

Bent Over Row

Bicep Curl

Basic Lunge

Frog Jump

Jackknife sit-up

30 Day Fitness Challenges:

Jackknife sit ups

Russian Twist

Squats

Dumbbell squat thrust