Reverse Alternating Dumbbell Shoulder Press For Building Bigger Shoulders

This is a fantastic shoulder press variation for building bigger, stronger shoulders.

The concept is simple... you'll be doing a dumbbell shoulder press, one arm at a time with the non-pressing arm held at almost full lockout (just a little short of it).

Then just alternate reps of the shoulder press.

Start with both dumbbells overhead.

Then lower the right dumbbell.

Press it back up to the top.

Then lower the left dumbbell.

Then press to the top.

This may look strange but it has some real benefits to it, which will allow you to get more reps, with more weight for more growth stimulus.

1. Extended tension on the delts at top position because of the hold. Without getting into the whole "time under tension" debate, personally, I find my delts just love this type of tension.

2. More neural drive to each working side. This means that when you're pressing, you don't have to divide the nervous system drive fully between two shoulders/arms. Of course, you do have to still hold the dumbbell up, but the energy required is much less. It's very much like how you're stronger when doing dumbbell curls one arm at a time. Bottom line, you'll be stronger.

3. You can use the "up" dumbbell almost like a see-saw to give yourself a bit of assistance out of the bottom of the press. You'll see in the video, when I have one dumbbell at the bottom, I'm tilting my shoulder girdle down to that side a little. When I go to press out of the bottom, without lowering the dumbbell, I use the weight of the "up" dumbbell to "see saw" the shoulder girdle up on the working side, giving a little help out of the bottom without actually taking the weight away from the delts.

Together, this makes for a GREAT shoulder exercise.

BONUS HACK... you'll see I'm sitting on a Preacher Bench backwards instead of a normal bench. This gives you better back support and torso positioning while also keeping the scapulae more mobile.

This angle shows the bench setup.

Set the pad fairly low so that the top edge sits just below the shoulder blades and you're golden. Definitely try it!

Try this simple wrist extension trick for more effective lateral raises and wider shoulders.

The "Iron Guru" Vince Gironda is one of my training heroes.

He came up with training techniques, programs, exercises and nutritional techniques that were seriously 40 to 50 years ahead of his time...

...and all without the benefit of advanced formal education (or maybe that lack of education is why he didn't fall into the trap of dismissing radical ideas!).

If you're interested in more stuff like this, definitely check out this massive book on Vince Gironda and his methods.

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