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The myth that behind the neck shoulder presses are bad arose from some smuck who went to heavy and probably with little or no warmup!!. I have been doing these since playing football in High School and never, I repeat never had so much as a twinge of discomfort. About 2 years ago I started concentrating on dumbell presses and got ok results. the problem with dumbells is that to go heavy,ok, VERY HEAVY you need a spotter who really knows what their doing. Hoisting up huge dumbells overhead can put the shoulder in a more vulnerable position than a barbell, especially if your stabalizer muscles are not strong enough to keep the weight steady.
Behind the neck presses are an old school favorite that has built some of the thickest shoulders in bodybuilding. The key is to NOT go past your normal range of motion. Going to the base of your neck is a sure way to invite serious injury. I suggest going down around ear level. If you look at dumbell presses, after the point where the weight is lowered past ear level your hands tend to come forward in an attempt to drop the weight past your normal range of motion. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Barbell presses force the individual to lower the weight to a point that emphasizes maximum force while keeping constant tension on the area. Yesterday I did barbell presses for the first time in along while and my delts are killing me this morning, a feeling I have missed since going to dumbells. The following is a killer shoulder routine for those that could stomach it. LOL
Warmup with 50 reps w/ barbell bar only!
3 working sets behind neck starting with 10 reps/8 reps/6 reps increasing weight each time
3 working set dumbell presses 1st set 8 reps w/7 rep drop set
2nd set 6 reps w/9 rep drop set
3rd set 20 reps of what ever you can do it with
3 working sets of lateral raises drop setting last set 3 times ex: 45's for 6 35's for 6 25's as many as you can.
3 working sets bent over lateral raises, no drop sets 8-10 reps strict form.
All pressing movements are done on a 90 degree angled bench!
Shoulders can take a lot of abuse, this workout tackles both fast and slow twitch fibers. Additionally this WILL help your benching efforts, I do tris after shoulders FYI.
Behind the neck presses are an old school favorite that has built some of the thickest shoulders in bodybuilding. The key is to NOT go past your normal range of motion. Going to the base of your neck is a sure way to invite serious injury. I suggest going down around ear level. If you look at dumbell presses, after the point where the weight is lowered past ear level your hands tend to come forward in an attempt to drop the weight past your normal range of motion. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Barbell presses force the individual to lower the weight to a point that emphasizes maximum force while keeping constant tension on the area. Yesterday I did barbell presses for the first time in along while and my delts are killing me this morning, a feeling I have missed since going to dumbells. The following is a killer shoulder routine for those that could stomach it. LOL
Warmup with 50 reps w/ barbell bar only!
3 working sets behind neck starting with 10 reps/8 reps/6 reps increasing weight each time
3 working set dumbell presses 1st set 8 reps w/7 rep drop set
2nd set 6 reps w/9 rep drop set
3rd set 20 reps of what ever you can do it with
3 working sets of lateral raises drop setting last set 3 times ex: 45's for 6 35's for 6 25's as many as you can.
3 working sets bent over lateral raises, no drop sets 8-10 reps strict form.
All pressing movements are done on a 90 degree angled bench!
Shoulders can take a lot of abuse, this workout tackles both fast and slow twitch fibers. Additionally this WILL help your benching efforts, I do tris after shoulders FYI.
