Exercise Tip of the Week: Finish Your Overhead Press

The overhead shoulder press is a GREAT exercise that helps strengthen many muscles in the shoulder, back, and core buuuuuut that comes with a few caveats.  First, you need to see if you have enough range of motion (ROM) to do the exercise in the first place.

Once you are good there, you want to make sure your are performing the exercise correctly, finishing in the proper shoulder slot. Too often we see the overhead press look like:

The weight is away from your center of gravity, putting excessive pressure on the shoulder joint and the anterior structures.

Finish the exercise by pressing the weight  directly overhead, imagining pushing it through the ceiling.  This will force you to use the muscles around your shoulder blade to stabilize the arm in place.  Make sure your elbow is fully straight, letting the triceps join the party :)

If you have any questions, please let us know!
dominick@sanramonvalleypt.com