Shoulder Presses

[Jr. Yates]

I usually alternate: seated dumbells,barbell and smith. I am really good with the dumbells and the smith is obviously alot easier but my barbell press is lacking. 220 with dumbs seems to be alot easier than with the bar...for me 185 can be a struggle. Im going to try to prioritize barbell presses but it always throws me off because im no good at them and it kind of puts a downer on the workout. anyone else have this or had this?

[pumpster]

Don't worry about it, use whichever works the muscle best, including machines.

[Jr. Yates]

Don't worry about it, use whichever works the muscle best, including machines.

yes thats what i do, i don't usually worry about the weight because i do feel the barbell presses working, i do try to stay away from the smith though.

[davie]

Rusty Jeffers told me the same thing pumpster said.  Use the exercises that work and the ones you are strong on.  My T-bar rows are better than my BB rows so I use them in GVT.  My clean and presses are better than my seated BB press so I use those, etc.  I'm sure this is why Levrone used the Smith in M3 and he is using 4 plates a side.  It works for him.

Iv tried BB but just not so good at it, hard to get weight in position as i train alone most of the time.

I did Db's as main shoulder movement but got to stage the hardest part was getting the weights up to top position for my 1st rep. Now i rotate week by week, hang clean and press, and machine press.

Seems to work. Id recommend any body trying clean and presses. Though i start each reps from just above the knee, take the leg work out the movement and makes it more about the shoulders.

davie

[JasonH]

This can be one of the times when free-weights don't necessarily suit everyone.

I've never used a barbell for my shoulders and I tended to stick with the dumbell presses to get a good foundation of size in my earlier years.

Nowadays I focus on smith press behind neck and it works like a charm - I can gain strength on it easily and my shoulders respond better than any other delt exercise I've ever used.

My shoulder workout:

3 sets of Smith behind-neck presses - max weight up to 220lbs
3 sets of standing side-lateral raises - working up to 50lb dumbells
3 sets of cable front raises - working up to the heavest weight I can handle for 10-12 reps.
3 sets of barbell shrugs - working up to 440lbs.