The Body Sculpting Bible for Women (73 page)

Military Press

Unlike behind-the-neck presses, which risk damaging the rotator cuffs, military presses are a great exercise to develop all three heads of the shoulder or deltoid muscles. You will find that a narrower grip focuses more on the muscles of the medial and rear deltoids with an emphasis on the triceps. The wider you go, the more you’ll incorporate the front and medial deltoids. Look at your shoulders in a mirror and decide where you would like to see a little more muscle development or muscle tone. Based on that you can vary your grip for a customized exercise variation.

PROPER ALIGNMENT

Sit on the military seat and place your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Your knees should be facing straight ahead.

Take hold of the barbell with your grip of choice. Remember that grip variation will stimulate certain muscles more than others. The best thing you can do for your body is to assess your shoulder muscles and decide what portion of the three heads are in need of further development for overall muscle balance and symmetry.

Sit all the way back in the seat, making sure that your back is straight and flat against the back pad.

A mistake made when doing either this exercise or the dumbbell shoulder press is to stick the chest way out when pressing up. Do not do this! Remember, when you stick the chest out during the press, you take primary stimulation away from the shoulder muscles and direct it to the chest muscles. You want to relax the chest at all times during this exercise. If you see your chest rise or feel your chest muscles handling the majority of the work, stop and correct yourself. You may either be going too heavy, or you just need to practice your form without weight.

As you hold the bar, make sure that your arms and elbows are as wide as possible (as if you were trying to touch your elbows behind your back).

Keep your upper arm horizontal to the floor and don’t let the biceps and triceps region sink below shoulder height as this is the ideal level for a full range of motion for this exercise.

Keep your forearms in a vertical position (they should point directly towards the ceiling at all times).

Make sure that your head and neck are as relaxed as possible throughout the entire exercise. Please note that you must never turn your head while doing any of these exercises. Position your body into the proper alignment, keeping your head straight, and stay that way throughout the exercise! If you don’t, you could end up seriously injured.

TECHNIQUE AND FORM

Before you begin the exercise, close your eyes and visualize yourself doing the movement. Focus on the shoulder muscles you are about to stimulate. Remember what we discussed about assessing your shoulder muscles and comparing the balance and symmetry of the muscles. This goes for all muscles. Pay close attention to the muscles that are lagging behind others and concentrate all of your energies to those areas during the exercise. If your muscles are already in balance and symmetric, focus on the muscle as a whole.

You should now be in position to begin. First, pick up the bar and begin the exercise from the top position.

With the arms and elbows wide and head level, slowly bring the bar down to an area slightly below the chin. The upper arm, from the elbow to the shoulder, should end up slightly below parallel to the floor, with your forearms perpendicular to the ceiling.

When you reach the bottom of the movement as your upper arms are lowered slightly below chin level slowly begin pressing upward in a smooth, controlled, fluid motion, without resting. Make sure that you do not use any momentum.