A trainer breaks down the seated barbell shoulder press: set the bar just outside shoulder width, keep your bicep aligned with your ear, and press your lower back into the seat. Beginners should start with dumbbells to build strength before moving to the barbell.
How to do a seated barbell shoulder press. So what we're doing is we're setting this up just below where you need to be. So usually we're going to grab this just outside of shoulder width. So he's got a good grip there, he's not where he needs to be. Now he's going to press up. Now again, considerations for this as we do any shoulder press is, as at that end range, as he comes up, we want to making sure, and as we're assessing him, that he's through straight. So Jason, even a little bit further you can go through. So as you press, come Come up, further through, further through, there he is. Right, so his bicep now is covering his ear. The other great thing about the seated variation is that it takes out the lower back. Push that lower back in, excellent. So rather than getting to that extended back lumbar position, he's now in through there. Keep the tension on the way down so he's nice and tight through the ribs. Keep there and back up. Excellent. And head forward, head forward a tiny bit, head forward a tiny bit. And back up, keeping that lower back pressed in rather than getting into lumbar extension as we're pressing. We want to really cut out the lower back, any lower back in this movement whatsoever. This isn't where I would start someone normally. Normally I would be starting someone with dumbbells. I like beginners to start with dumbbells. They need to earn their way to the bar, and particularly if you have any lower back considerations, it's going to be dumbbells seated where Jason is obviously using a barbell seated. So if you are a beginner, you're looking at the seated variation but doing it with dumbbells.
