The barbell shoulder press is a GREAT exercise
for the delts...one of the best, in fact.

And if you're looking to build bigger, wider, stronger shoulders,
this is one of the basic exercises that you should be doing.

Here's the problem...while it's an excellent exercise for building
overhead pressing strength and building the shoulder muscles,
it does have its limitations, especially when done with standard
form.

I've got a few tips and techniques for you here that will help you
REALLY maximize the power you get from this exercise (it's how
I train this exercise all the time...I used it to work my way up to
a dead-stop barbell shoulder press of 225 lbs at one point...not
bad for an ectomorph with naturally weak shoulders!)


Tip #1 - Use the Power Rack

The rack will be necessary for several of the techniques I'm
going to talk about here. Now, don't get me wrong..the
standing overhead press is a GREAT exercise and should be
used in conjunction with these techniuqes as well.

But as far as this "perfect" power shoulder press goes, I
recommend the rack.


Tip #2 - Use the Preacher Bench Backwards
Instead of the "Normal" Shoulder Press Bench

This is one of my favorite tips for the shoulder press just in
general, whether it be barbell or dumbbell pressing. Set the
Preacher Bench arm pad low so that when you sit on the seat
facing AWAY from the bench, the pad hits you just below
the shoulder blades.

I find this is the perfect support position for the shoulder press. It
braces you to keep your torso vertical yet supports the upper
back from the back and below, helping you maintain a solid
arch in the lower back. When using the normal shoulder pressing
bench that just has a vertical back rest, I find this puts me out of
position very easily and compromises form.

One thing you DO need to watch out for with the Preacher
version is that you don't let yourself slide forward in the seat,
turning it into an incline press.

Now, for this perfect power press, set the rails in the rack to just
slightly above shoulder height when sitting in the bench. That's
key for the NEXT tip.


Tip #3 - Do a Small Pull-Up to Lock the Lats in
For Stabilizing the Shoulder Joints

This is one of THE single best shoulder press tips you can put
to work. And once you learn how to do it in the rack setup like
I'm going to show you, it'll teach you the proper feel on how
to do it in regular pressing ALL THE TIME.

Essentially, at the bottom of every rep of the shoulder press, you
want to contract the lats and lock them down. This locks the
shoulders down, preventing the traps from raising the shoulder
girdle and providing a solid shelf from which to press.

This simple tip can have a BIG effect on your shoulder press
strength and shoulder joint stability.

But it's tough to learn how to do when you have nothing to
pull against to teach the lats how to do that.

So what I want you to do is at the bottom each rep, do a VERY
small pull-up...basically just pulling your butt up off the seat
an inch or so. This fire the lats, locking them into the
contracted position.

It's tough to see in this still picture (watch the video), because
the movement is so small.

Its imperative to KEEP them locked and in position when you
set yourself back down on the bench, but just having that bar
set up to pull against is going to be a MAJOR help in learning
how to lock down the lats.

NOW you can press with your lats locked in. Push powerfully
out of the bottom, so you blast right through the sticking point.

Which brings us to the next tip...


Tip #4 - Perform Sets Consisting of Multiple
Single Reps (a.k.a. Cluster Training)

Single Rep Cluster Training is one of my VERY favorite strength
and power-building techniques. Eseentially, what you're doing
is a series of single reps with relatively short rest periods (e.g.
20 seconds) in between, then taking a longer rest period
between those "Clusters."

This allows you to work at relatively high intensities (which is
a measurement of % of 1RM, not how loud you can scream).

For this shoulder press movement, try doing 4 to 6 single reps
with 20 seconds in between each rep. When you've done 6 reps,
then take 2 to 3 minutes rest and do it again (longer rest periods
are necessary for building strength and power effectively). Don't
push to absolute failure...that will actually slow down your
strength gain. You always want to keep that do-or-die rep in
the tank.



The beauty of this style of training when used in conjunction
with this shoulder press technique is that it allows you to
reset your body position on every single rep. This means
there is no degradation of body position as you go through
a set, which pretty happens to some degree on every
multiple-rep set you perform.

This reset should include the lat pull-up contraction tip as well
as making sure your torso is vertical, your core is tight and
your lower back has a solid arch.


Tip #5 - Bring Your Head Under the Bar

Once the bar clears your head, move your head forward
under the bar so that it ends up directly over the top of your
head, in line with your ears at the top. This ensures full
involvement of the rear delts as well.




Conclusion

Try this exercise and put all 5 of these tips to work next time
you hit shoulders. You should notice a big difference in strength
and stability...which will lead directly to putting more weight on
the bar for you.

Be sure to watch the video I put together on how to perform
these techniques...it'll help a LOT to see them in action in a real
set .

Now, if you like shoulder exercises and training techniques like this,
I want to recommend to you my book "The Best Shoulder Exercises
You've Never Heard Of"...76 exercises and training techniques just
like this one that will blow up even YOUR stubborn shoulders.

Right now, it's just 11 bucks, but the price IS going up, so definitely
check it out now...



Enjoy!

Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"



P.S. If you know anybody else who might benefit from this
information, feel free to forward this email to them!