What's going on nation and welcome to another episode of my versus series.
Last time we compared the incline barbell bench press versus the reverse grip
bench press. And if you didn't see it,
I'll post the link down in the info section below.
Now today we're going to be comparing the barbell shoulder press versus the
dumbbell shoulder press.
And remember if you have any suggestions for future videos in this series,
be sure to leave a comment below. But before we get started,
make sure you turn on notifications so you never miss a new video upload on my
channel. So to begin this comparison,
let's first discuss the muscles that are primarily involved in both movements,
which are the anterior, middle and posterior deltoids.
These muscles are responsible for shoulder abduction, shoulder flexion,
and shoulder extension, and you will also be activating your triceps,
during each movement as well.
Remember that your triceps assist in the pressing motion during the movement and
are active throughout the full range of motion.
Now for your biceps especially the short head.
These muscles will act more like dynamic stabilizers throughout the movement.
Some other muscles involved that will act as stabilizers during the movement
are your rotator cuffs, traps, lats, major and minor,
and your rhomboids and you will also be activating all the muscles in your core.
But how much activation you will have will change when doing the exercise,
standing versus seated. And with that being said,
in this video we're going to primarily focus on the seated version of both
exercises,
but I will still briefly mention some of the differences in muscle activation
in the standing versions of each exercise. At the end of the video,
first up is the seated barbell shoulder press. And for this exercise,
all you need is a bench and a rack and I'm actually going to use something
different. I'm going to use the seat cause it's already in the upright position.
Now to get started,
what you want to do is sit down and keep your feet flat on the ground.
Now if the bench you're using has an option where you can put your feet on the
pegs,
I'd recommend doing that because what you want to do is make sure that your butt
and your back stay against this pad throughout the entire range of motion.
So anything you can do to ensure that you don't slide forward throughout the
movement is going to help you out.
Because what happens is when you start to slide forward too much,
you're basically turn the exercise into an incline barbell bench press.
So if you're starting here doing the movement,
and you slowly go like this and you're arching your back and you're pushing up,
there's no support right here and you can severely injure yourself.
And the main reason why that happens with most people is because they want to
lift heavier weights. So just drop the ego.
You use the correct amount of weight, and you won't risk injuring yourself.
But with that being said, you do want to have a slight arch in your back.
So just make sure your glutes are touching the bench and your shoulders,
in the bench once in place.
You're going to grab the barbell about two inches outside of shoulder width.
If you grab too close as you do the movement,
you're going to be recruiting a lot more triceps into the exercise.
You don't want to do that. So let's get our hands evenly space on this bar.
And then once you're in place,
you're going to unrack the weight and now what you're going to have to do once
you get to this position is you're going to have to turn your elbows forward
slightly.
And the reason is because obviously if I were to keep the barbell right where it is
right here and bring it straight down, it's going to smash into my head.
So I turn my elbows forward slightly so that I can bring the barbell down to
the top of my chest. And yes,
we're doing full range of motion and once it touches the top of your chest,
you're going to push up, but you're not going to stop here.
You're going to lock out back at the top of the movement with the barbell over
your head.
Another thing that you can do to keep this movement nice and fluid is make sure
that you keep your head up a little bit. So tilt it back just like this.
And what this is going to do is help make sure that as you bring the barbell
down, it doesn't hit you in the face and then as you push it back up,
you're not going to smash yourself in the chin.
So keep these things in mind when doing this exercise and you'll have proper
form.
Now we're going to go over the seated dumbbell shoulder press and I'm going to
use the same bench that I had before,
but you guys use a regular bench for this exercise if you want to.
And if you use a bench that has a really high back,
it's just going to give you more shoulder support if you need it.
So that can be a good thing.
Now what I want you to do is get started with both dumbbells on your thighs just
like this.
And what you're going to do is push off your toes to bring the dumbbells up to
your shoulders.
Now once in place you can choose to keep your feet flat like this.
Or if you have the option,
you can put them right here to help keep you in the seat as best as possible.
Remember, you want to prevent your butt from sliding forward.
So by pushing into this,
I can keep my butt on the pad and make sure I have a slight arch in my back and
my upper back is still touching the pad as well.
Once in place you're going to sit with your palms facing forward just like this,
and the dumbbell is going to be down by your shoulders.
Once in position you're going to push straight up to the top of the movement
just like this, but you're not gonna have the dumbbells touch each other.
Don't bounce them at the top. Just push straight up, get a full extension,
and then come back down and repeat for reps.
So you guys are going to notice with this movement that because I'm not using a
barbell,
I can press the dumbbells up right over my head and bring them down over my head
as well. So there's no reason to turn your elbows in like this.
You can keep them nice and wide and out to the side and complete all your
repetitions with full range of motion,
so which is better for building bigger shoulders while each exercise has its
pros and cons and it is going to be up to you to determine which exercise better
fits with your goals. As you just saw with the barbell press,
in order to lower it to the top of your chest,
you have to bring it down in front of your body.
What happens when you do this is that you're transferring more of the load to
the anterior and middle deltoids as well as the upper chest and recruiting less
muscle fibers in the posterior deltoids.
Now this is not necessarily a bad thing because you have other exercises like a
dumbbell bent over fly that you can use to specifically target your rear delts
in your workouts. Also,
if your goal is to lift heavier to build overall mass and strength in your upper
body, you will certainly be able to lift more using the barbell version of this
movement.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the strength you've gained from this
movement will transfer over to help improve other lifts such as your barbell
bench press,
but if your goal is more aesthetics and you want to make sure that you're
target all three heads of your deltoids as best as you can for that round
shoulder look, then you would want the stick with the dumbbell shoulder press.
Remember guys, when bodybuilding,
which means your goal is purely building muscle,
you should always be utilizing exercises that are going to help you break down
the most muscle fibers for more growth. Yeah,
you will be able to lift more with the barbell version,
but if your posterior deltoids are lacking in development,
then you need to make sure you are targeting them every chance you get. Also,
and this is very, very important guys,
more weight doesn't always mean more growth.
The reason why you can lift more with the barbell is because you are putting your
body at a mechanical advantage when compared to the dumbbell version.
Just because you're using a little less weight with dumbbells doesn't mean
you're still not applying all your strength to complete your reps.
now let's look at some other advantages and disadvantages to each exercise.
The barbell shoulder press is also great for helping to build muscle and strains
in other areas such as your traps and triceps where the dumbbell shoulder press
because each arm is moving independently of each other.
Will force you to use more supportive muscles like the ones in your rotator
cuffs and you will feel a bit more bicep engagement for stability throughout the
movement as well. In fact,
there was a Norwegian study that compared the barbell overhead press to the
dumbbell overhead press to see just how different the extent of muscle
activation was for all three deltoids between the two exercises using
electromyographic activity, also known as EMG.
They actually compared seated versus standing for each access size to see what
was ultimately the best option and I want to share some of that information with
you guys relevant to this video and I'll put the reference to the study in the
info section below. For those of you who want to see the entire thing.
So for anterior deltoid recruitment,
the seated dumbbell press had 11% greater muscle activation than the seated by
though oppress for middle deltoid recruitment,
the standing dumbbell was 7% greater than the standing bar.
Though they didn't do a comparison for the seated versions.
But after looking at the data,
it would seem that the seated dumbbell would still recruit more middle deltoid.
For the posterior deltoids, they didn't compare dumbbell versus barbell,
but instead they compared seated versus standing for both exercises.
What they found out is that you will recruit about 25% more posterior deltoids
if you perform the exercises standing versus seated,
whether using a barbell or dumbbells. However,
keep in mind that you will still be recruiting more posterior deltoids overall
when using dumbbells.
So what you should take away from this is that if you want to really maximize
posterior deltoid development,
you should be doing the dumbbell shoulder press standing.
So my final thoughts on these two exercises is this,
and I know I just threw a ton of information at you guys.
If your main goal is overall upper body strength and mass and improving other
lifts like your barbell bench press,
then you should be incorporating the barbell shoulder press into your routine.
If you're looking to round out the entire deltoid area for bodybuilding or
aesthetic purposes, then you will want to use the dumbbell shoulder press.
But keep in mind that you could also simply rotate these exercises in and out of
your routine from week to week on heavier or strength days.
You should use the barbell press and for high volume days use the dumbbell
press. Some other things that keep in mind is that if you are prone to or have a
shoulder injury,
you might want to stay away from the barbell version of the movement.
You run a much higher risk of shoulder impingement because your arms are
essentially stuck in one place throughout the entire movement and because you
can lift more with this version,
the added weight will be much more taxing on your shoulders, in fact,
because with the dumbbell press, your arms moving independently of each other.
When performing the movement, you will be forced to use less weight,
which will lessen your chances of an injury.
But I know that because 99% of you will be able to lift more weight with the
barbell press,
that you will automatically think it's still better for building muscle that
just isn't true and is just your ego taking over.
Don't confuse more weight with better.
Utilize the information in this video to understand the pros and cons of each
exercise and use that information to help you reach your goals.
Now a quick bonus tip.
If you currently do have shoulder pain when performing either of these
movements, you can try to perform the dumbbell press with a neutral grip.
This variation will activate a bit more triceps,
but you should still be able to perform it pain free and it certainly beats your
other option, which is not being able to do either exercise at all.
I hope you guys enjoyed the video and if you missed any of the versus series,
I will put a link to the entire playlist down in the info section below.
Be sure to hit that like and subscribe button and as always,
more good stuff coming soon.