[FitnessModel45]

Hey guys!

I was wondering what you guys do when you perform this exercise; do you lower the dumbbells to ear level, or do you lower the dumbbells even lower, to just above the shoulders? I've seen many different styles, and neither seem to be wrong, but I believe that you can push more weight if you only lower the dumbbells to ear level. Thanks!

[mr_bhana]

i go pretty low when i do do them, i see most people go down so their arms are at a right angle to their forearms

[Thomas_Rivera]

I like to go as low as I can possibly.

[KM]

I go down till about an inch above my shoulders.

[ZiR RED]

First, hold your arm with a 90 degree flex in your elbow and your upper arm parallel to the floor. If when your upper arm directly points out to the side is 90 degrees at your shoulder, and your upper arm pointing directly forward is zero, then you want your the angle of shoulder to be around 45-60. This will ensure you are using your delts, but not putting excess strain on your supraspinatus (a muscle of the rotator cuff).

Secondly, you should lower the dumbells until your hand is level to your shoulder. The most common shoulder injuries arise out of imbalances in strength between the supraspinatus and the deltoid. If you aren't using a full rom your deltoid will hypertrophy and get stronger while your supraspinatus atrophies and grows weaker. This is a recipe for a rotator cuff injury later on in your lifting career.

Br

[bulk then cut]

dumbells is all about the stretch so go low, but make sure your shoudlers feel comfortable

[rizzle]

i go low, i almost touch my shoulder

[KM]

Proper shoulder press form:

[Jake2458]

Go low but make sure your form is still good when your going low.

[mabo]

I go down until the plates touch my shoulders. Makes it easy to keep things consistent.

[42gunz]

Originally Posted by ZiR RED

First, hold your arm with a 90 degree flex in your elbow and your upper arm parallel to the floor. If when your upper arm directly points out to the side is 90 degrees at your shoulder, and your upper arm pointing directly forward is zero, then you want your the angle of shoulder to be around 45-60. This will ensure you are using your delts, but not putting excess strain on your supraspinatus (a muscle of the rotator cuff).

Secondly, you should lower the dumbells until your hand is level to your shoulder. The most common shoulder injuries arise out of imbalances in strength between the supraspinatus and the deltoid. If you aren't using a full rom your deltoid will hypertrophy and get stronger while your supraspinatus atrophies and grows weaker. This is a recipe for a rotator cuff injury later on in your lifting career.

Br

i agree with the most of this post. but not using full range of motion isnt the cause for muscle imbalance. neglecting the posterior delt, and rotator cuff muscles are the main contributors. however you can do seperate exercises to strengthen them and keep them up to par.

heres my thing. the shoulder is such an unstable joint, why do so many people want to over load it with heavy weight on an over head presses?

also... from a personal training perspective, i would never advise my clients to take the movement as low as possible. when the shoulders are in that position. it leaves them very voulnerable to injury ( it pulls the head of the humerous away from the shoulder complex in an unnatural position). 90 degrees is the the safest bet.

nobody has ever asked my how much i can military press? its not important

[chrispghmuscle]

True 42gunz,,