Things You Should Know When Doing Shoulder Press On A Smith Machine

The shoulder press works is one of the compound exercises of the upper body that promotes strength and muscle growth. It offers a wide range of benefits for improved daily functioning of the upper torso. It can be performed using free weights such as using dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells and resistance bands or through the assistance of gym machines such as the Smith Machine. This exercise will improve the stability in your arms, shoulders, and torso after a number of doing the workouts. The movement involves using your stabilizer muscles of the wrists, elbows, and shoulders so that your joints stay in place to maintain your posture as you lift the weights overload. With this, this leads to a more stabilized core and improved over all balance.

However, most if not all, tend to have a hard time doing the Shoulder Press exercise due to lack of upper body strength. This is where the Smith Machine is beneficial. It can aid in doing the exercise especially to those who have just started their workout programs. It can also help smaller and weaker muscles in lifting heavier weights.

To do a Shoulder Press on a Smith Machine, you must set up to do the exercise by setting a bench down in the Smith Machine and adjusting the back to a 90 degree angle. After that, you must adjust and position the bar just in front of your face. Next, you must add your desired weight that you want to use and sit down on the bench. Once you are comfortable enough, Un-rack the weights through gripping in a wide angle stance and bend your elbows tightly This is the starting position of the Shoulder Press exercise. After that, slowly lower the weight down until the bar is just below the chin height, pause for a good 2-3 seconds, and then raise the bar back to the starting position without locking your elbows out at the top of the movement. Repeat the exercise according to your desired number of reps.

Now that you know how to do the Shoulder Press on a Smith Machine, here are some important things you should know when doing the exercise:

1. It Promotes Shoulder Joint Stability

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When doing the Shoulder Press exercise, it is usually recommended to do different grip widths which can significantly improve your deltoid muscle. With the Smith Machine Shoulder Press, it affects the middle and front shoulder muscles such as the anterior and lateral deltoids making sure there is improvement in strength and stability. With repetitive workouts, these muscles achieve a more stable form hence improving the joints of the shoulders. This is surely beneficial for beginners with weak muscles of the shoulders for it can help in achieving muscle strength and mass.

2. It Balances Work Weight and Energy Expenditure

When doing a free weight Shoulder Press exercise, there is a relatively greater expenditure of energy of the muscles just to balance the weight between each shoulder. Unequal expenditure of energy can lead to unequal growth and development of the shoulder muscles. With theSmith Machine, you can negate this negative expenditure of energy. Because the bar is attached and only moves in a fixed and secure path, there is some sense of balance already in the weights. Hence, you can focus more on doing the proper body posture and shoulder angles. With this, it will significantly improve exercise results. In the long run, you can also safely pile and add up weights to promote more muscle gain without having to worry of imbalanced weight distribution. With the Smith Machine, there is improvement of shoulder muscles gradually and fast compared in doing the exercise using free weights.

3. It Keeps Your Muscle under Constant Tension

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Constant Tension involves maintaining tension on the muscle throughout the entire range of motion of an exercise for the complete duration of a set in order to increase intensity on the muscle and promote strength and mass. If you want to be assured of Constant Tension technique then the Smith Machine is your answer. Because it only moves on a fixed path, the Smith Machine helps you maintain Constant Tension in your shoulder press exercises to provide better results. More than that, as compared to other free weight shoulder presses such as the barbell and dumbbell military press, the Smith Machine has been shown to have better results in keeping your muscles under constant tension by employing a fixed plane of movement.

4. It is safe

One of the most important reasons why you should do a shoulder press on a smith machine is because it is safer and less strenuous on your joints than doing it using free weights, provided that you perform the exercises with proper technique. The Smith Machine has an inbuilt safety feature that protects users from unwarranted injuries such as falling exercise tools after lifting them. Using the Smith Machine, it ensures that as you do your shoulder press there is less room for errors and technical difficulties to guarantee safety physically and mentally, making you perform comfortably. In exchange, you make the most out of the exercise producing better muscle strength and gain.

Maintaining a good upper torso with strong and toned muscles is important in order to function daily life activities better and more productive. There are many ways in order to develop shoulder muscles such as doing a free weight or Smith Machine assisted Shoulder Press. It is up to you which one you prefer. However, if you are still a beginner and you are somewhat afraid and conscious about your small and weak shoulder muscles, the Smith Machine will surely be of great help to you. With the knowledge you now know regarding doing shoulder press on a Smith Machine, you will definitely develop your shoulder muscles in no time.

References:
1. Fitnessator. 2018. 5 Indisputable Reasons To Work With A Shoulder Press Machine. Retrieved from: https://fitnessator.com/shoulder-press-machines-2. Retrieved on 18 May 2020.
2. Gold, J. Born to Workout. 2018. Smith Machine Military Press (Smith Machine Shoulder Press). Retrieved from:
https://www.borntoworkout.com/smith-machine-military-press-smith-machine-shoulder-press/. Retrieved on 18 May 2020.
3. Weir, J. The Nest. 2010 Benefits of Shoulder Press Exercise. Retrieved from: https://woman.thenest.com/benefits-shoulder-press-exercises-4423.html. Retrieved on 18 May 2020.