Army press workout – basic exercise for shoulder training

Last Updated on October 16, 2020

Army press is a basic exercise that develops the muscles of the shoulder belt and upper back. In classical interpretation, it is performed standing up. There are variants: with dumbbells, barbells, sitting on the bench, on the simulator. Regular training makes the shoulders wider and the athlete’s figure more attractive.

You can work at home and in the hall, alternating light and heavy shells. It is easy enough to perform the press. For the exercise to bring maximum benefit to the muscular girdle and to develop shoulders correctly, it is necessary to follow the technique. Let’s talk about it.

Army press workout: The Basics

Weight must be selected so that you can perform 8-10 repetitions in each approach. For beginners, it is important to master the technique of basic exercises, performing it on an ongoing basis. This is enough to form a beautiful figure. As you build muscle, you should spend time isolating exercises.

What you need to know about military press

In bodybuilding there is a huge number of different exercises, a lot of options for their implementation, respectively, the athlete will be able to achieve this goal in many ways. Many of us like wide-shouldered wardrobes. But, as real professionals of this skill consider, then if a press of continuous cubes is not so necessary for every man to build leg muscles, almost every second should be the “carrier” of broad and beautiful shoulders. Why so? The secret lies on the surface: if few people can see your abs, then the shoulders are always in sight, and their relief is also drawn through the clothes. In other words, the shoulders are either there or not. You can often witness such a funny and, on the other hand, sad picture: two people are walking along the street, if you look from the back, you might think that both of them are representatives of the beautiful half of humanity, but when you come a little closer, you begin to understand how much you made a mistake – one of them is a guy, but the rearview says the opposite since the ratio of shoulders and waist is approximately the same as that of a girl …

The technique of the army press

Loads are selected individually. You need to calculate your forces so that each approach is 8-10 repetitions. This creates conditions for muscle mass growth. An increase in volume is achieved with dumbbells and a lightweight barbell. When the goal is to increase strength, they switch to heavy projectiles. In this case, the number of sets reaches 4-5, and the number of reps – 5-8.

Beginners are not advised to diversify their workout too much. It is better to sharpen the basic exercise and do it constantly. This will be enough to work out the shoulders and form a deltoid muscle. As you gain weight, you should keep an eye on the other muscles. And add the isolating exercises if necessary.

Which muscles work

The correctly performed exercise involves 4 areas: delta, triceps, chest, and back muscles.

Load distribution:

• The main one is the front and middle bundles of the deltoid muscle;
• secondary – upper back and chest muscles;
• indirect – posterior delta and triceps bundles;
• additional – abs, hips, gluteal muscles, trapezoidal muscles.

If you do the army press regularly, the main thing you get – expressive shoulders and wide delta. Training has a beneficial effect on the mobility of the joints of the upper body, increasing the “explosive” strength of the athlete.

During a workout, you can change the load on the shoulder belt using the width of the grip and body position. Precise adherence to the technique ensures visible results in a short time.

The army barbell press standing up is a classic option.

Before performing, do some warm-up exercises. Next, follow the technique.

Initial position:

• Standing, legs on shoulder width.
• Grasp the barbell with a straight grip, arms also on the width of the shoulders.
• Remove the barbell co stand so that your chest and shoulders are under the fingertips.
• Stand back at a comfortable distance, straighten your back and bend your knees a little.

The technique of execution:

• Push the vulture upwards, straighten your arms as much as possible.
• Gently lower the projectile to the chest level. Use your chest as support.
• Make the right number of repetitions.
• Go to the stand, put the bar back in place. Or lower it to the floor.

Recommendations:

Watch your breathing. The projectile reaches the upper position on exhalation. To lower the book it follows on a slow breath. Bo time of performance of variations loading on this or that group of muscles increases.

Army press sitting down

The variant helps to work through the deltoid bundles of muscles from the side and front.

Initial position:

• To stretch the shoulder belt utilizing rotational movements.
• Sit on a special bench with a vertical backrest.
• Remove the projectile from the posts.

The technique of execution:

• Ha, exhale squeeze upwards.
• After a couple of seconds, lower to the starting position.
• After the set, put the bar back in place.

Recommendations:

The wide grip is chosen to work out the middle bundle of the delta if necessary. The narrow grip loads the front delta and the triceps.

Army press with dumbbells

The army press is also effective with dumbbells. The exercise with dumbbells, as well as with kettlebells, can be done with one and two hands, sitting and standing position.

A normal press is performed with the elbows turned to the sides:

• to sit on the bench with the backrest, not to bend the back;
• dumbbells raised to eye level, elbows turned aside, “look down”;
• squeeze out the dumbbells on an exhalation, put your hands together at the top, do not turn your hands;
• after a pause, lower the shells to their original position.

Both hands must move in the same plane. Bec projectile does not play a role. It is important to perform the set correctly and to train regularly. At the starting point, the dumbbells are sent from the hip to the eye level – with a simultaneous push by hand and foot. This protects the shoulder joints from excessive strain.

Gym presses

Suitable as an analog of the army press for beginners, as well as for multiple training of more experienced athletes to “finish off” the deltoid at the end of the training.

The exercises on the simulators are performed to isolate the deltoid muscles. Smith’s simulator is very popular with athletes. The barbell bar moves up and down only in a unique configuration. Hands are not fully straightened when pressed on the simulator. The number of repetitions on the simulator reaches 8-12.

The Hummer allows you to distribute the load over the entire spine, rather than focusing ee in the lumbar spine, as in other types of workout in a sitting position. The seat height varies to focus on maximum weight or to perfectly isolate a specific muscle group. Lumbar deflection is eliminated on the Hummer Ha. The amplitude of movement with the elbows strictly fixed in the right position is anatomically correct.

Tips

If you have problems with the spine, hernia, osteochondrosis, you should use an orthopedic belt. It does not make a difference whether you are working with free weight or training on a simulator. Additional equipment will not hurt even if the abdominal muscles and back are weak enough, not pumped.

Never ignore the warm-up. Cold muscles are the easiest to injure. Especially if you’re not initially taking a small weight. Pace and technique are important. Co shells work at a slow pace, with calibrated movements.

Use lightweight until you sharpen the press technique. You can gradually increase it, but only when your body gets used to the previous load. It is not advisable to resort to forced execution. The greatest harm to muscles is overload, too many repetitions.

Athletic exercises are performed in comfortable shoes with stable, non-slip sole.

Push the barbell from sitting position it is customary to perform coinsurance in the form of another experienced athlete. If this is not possible, the frame or simulator serves as a safety net.

When performing the exercise while standing, it is important not to bend backward so as not to endanger injuries to the spine and shoulder belt joints. In the same case, the load on muscles is negatively changed.

Push the barbell in the first part of the workout, it is better to do it immediately after warm-up. At home and in case of lack of free space, exercises with dumbbells of different weights are perfectly suitable.

By following the recommendations and tracking the dynamics of the workout, you will achieve good results.