What Is The Most Effective, Shoulder Press Or Military Press?

The shoulder press exercise and the military press exercises are all the press exercises. They are good for strengthening upper body muscles. You can use similar gym equipment to do the exercises. The two exercises target similar muscles. However, the two exercises differ in many ways. This article highlights the similarities and differences between the two exercises. Furthermore the paragraphs below outlines the variations press exercises such as the dumbbell military press and Arnold press. The article gives clear instructions to follow when doing these different press exercises. Therefore, the article makes it easy to differentiate between the shoulder press and the military press exercise.

Dumbbell Military Press Exercise.

The dumbbell military press targets the deltoid and triceps muscles. Generally, the exercise is good for building muscle mass and strength. Additionally, there are different variations that you can try. If you cannot train to stand, you can do the exercise while seated. Doing the seated dumbbell military press is similar to doing the standing dumbbell military press. You can also use different weights such as a barbell, kettlebell, and more. To do the dumbbell military exercise; you can follow the steps below;

1. Hold the dumbbell each in your hands.
2. Stand with your feet closer to each other and bring the dumbbells up to your shoulder height.
3. Then starts pressing the dumbbells up above your head to fully stretch your arms. Pause in that position for a second or two and return the dumbbells to the shoulder position.
4. You can do 10 to 15 reps or more.

As you do the military press, remember to choose a weight that will make you execute the exercise in the correct way. The military press is difficult; therefore overloading your body with more weight will make it difficult to execute the exercises correctly. You might even expose yourself to injuries.

In addition, keep your core engaged to avoid putting more pressure on your lower back. Keeping your core engaged will make it easy to drive the weight up without straining your lower back.

When you are using a barbell, avoid lowering the bar too low. Just make sure that you lower the bar to the chin level. Lowering the bar too low can injure your shoulders.

Additionally, master the breathing technique as you do the exercise. You should breathe out as you drive the weight up and breathe in as you lower the weight. This will keep your shoulders and ribcage stable as you exercise.

Shoulder Press.

The shoulder press is also known as the overhead press. It is weight training and you use the barbell to do the exercises. Besides that, you can use the dumbbells to do the exercise. The shoulder press workout is good for targeting the pecs, triceps, traps and the trapezius muscles. It strengthens those muscles and also increases muscle size.  The traditional shoulder press can be done while standing can be done while standing, but you can also do the exercises while seated. To do the exercise you can follow the steps below;

1. Start by placing the barbell in front of you. Then grab the bar placing your hands a bit wider than the shoulder width apart distance. Make sure that your palms are facing away from your body.
2. Lift the bar and rest it around your collarbone.
3. Drive the bar up towards the roof until your arms are fully stretched. Keep your glutes and abs engaged to avoid bending your lower back.
4. Then return the bar to the collarbone.
5. Repeat.

Dumbbell Military Press Vs Shoulder Press.

You keep your feet or heels closer to each other when doing a military press workout. This makes your body unstable to drive the weight up. But when doing a shoulder press, your feet would be a shoulder width apart. As such, your feet will be properly balanced with a stable base. Therefore, this makes the military press more difficult compared to the shoulder press exercise. In addition to that, the military press can easily expose your body to injuries than the shoulder press.

Furthermore, when you are doing a military press the hand and arm position differs compared to when you do the shoulder press. You keep your arms in front of you when doing the military press. But when you are doing the shoulder press, you keep your arms by your sides.

In most cases, you do the military press standing. That is, you will be using a barbell to exercise. As such, exercising while seated can be difficult when using the barbell unless if you are using the dumbbells.  But the shoulder press can be done when seated or standing.

The shoulder press and the military press exercises look similar, but they are different. They differ in terms of form. As such, the form also has a direct impact on the muscles that are worked. Some muscles that are worked by the two exercises are similar, but they hit differently. The variations also make the two exercises work the muscles differently.

Dumbbell Military Press Muscles Worked.

The military press exercises are done with the feet close to each. This puts more pressure on the upper body. You use the upper body to drive the weight up thereby putting more pressure in those muscles. Therefore, the military press exercise targets the shoulder muscles such as the medial deltoid, anterior deltoids, triceps, biceps, traps, and other upper body muscles.  To do the standing military press using a barbell, you can follow the overhead press. The difference is that your feet will be close to each other when doing the military press.

Arnold Press.

The Arnold press exercises is good for strengthening the upper body muscles. Primarily, it targets the deltoids muscles. In addition to that, the workout engages the core, arms, and back muscles. You can do the Arnold press using the dumbbells. Additionally, you can do it either seated or standing.

Avoid doing this exercise when you are suffering from shoulder injuries. The Arnold press puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You must also stretch your upper body before doing the exercise to avoid injuries as you do the main workout. To do the standing Arnold press follow the steps below;

1. Holding dumbbells in your hands, stand with your feet at shoulder width apart.
2. Bend your arms and bring the dumbbells up to the shoulder height. Your palms must be facing you.
3. Then turn your arms to let your palms face away from your body.
4. Press the dumbbells up until your arms are fully stretched. Pause a second or two in that position before returning to the starting position.
5. Return your arms to the shoulder height. Then repeat as much as you can.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press.

The dumbbell shoulder press strengthens the shoulder muscles. You use the dumbbells as a weight to do the exercise. In addition to that, you can do the exercise while seated or standing. However, you should consider that the exercise hit your muscles differently. When you are seated, you give your upper body more pressure. However, when you are standing, the weight gets distributed between your lower and upper body. To do the exercise follow the steps below;

1. Holding dumbbells in your hands, stand with your feet at shoulder width apart and keep your back straight.
2. Bring the dumbbells up to the shoulder height and make sure the palms are facing away.
3. Drive the dumbbells above the head and then pause with your arms fully stretched.
4. Return the dumbbells to the shoulder height position.
5. You can do 10 to 15 reps.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise.

The dumbbell lateral raise primarily targets the delts and traps. It strengthens those muscles. In addition to that, the dumbbell raise works the arms muscles to a certain extent.

This exercise differs from the military press and shoulder press. When doing the dumbbell lateral raise, you don’t press the weight over the head but you lift the weights to the shoulder height position. As such, you hit the muscles in a different compared to the military press and the shoulder press. The exercise can be done when seated or standing.  To do the exercise follow the steps below.

1. Stand with your feet in a shoulder width apart.
2. Hold the dumbbells each in your hand and let your hands hang by your sides.
3. Raise the weight up to the shoulder height.
4. Slowly return the weights to the starting position.
5. Repeat as much as you can.

The Final Word

In conclusion, the two workouts; the shoulder press and the military press the two exercises are absolutely different. The two exercises are done similarly. You have to push the weights up above your head.

But, the position of your body differs. As such, this makes the impact of the two exercises differently. For instance, you do the military press with your feet close to each other. And this position makes it difficult to do the military press compared to the shoulder press. When doing shoulder press, your feet will be at shoulder width apart, making it easy to drive the weight up. You can visit the paragraphs above to get more detailed info on how to do the two exercises.

Which exercise challenges your upper body muscles more than the other? Share your exercising experience.