I’ve mentioned in countless articles before that if you want to have a muscular upper body then one of the most important things that you could do is develop your shoulders. If you want to get big shoulders as a drug-free lifter then you need to start training like a strongman because strongmen competitors have the biggest shoulders on the planet. This means that you need to get really strong on vertical pressing variations because just doing a few lateral raises at the end of your workouts obviously won’t cut it!

A lot of people complain about how their overhead pressing numbers are weak, but the truth is that most people aren’t even prioritizing the bench press in the first place so how are you going to get good at something by only half-assing it once per week?

Now that we got that out of the way i do have to say that there are A LOT of lifters who DO prioritize their vertical pressing variations but yet they still have very weak overhead presses so whats up with that?

One of the main reasons for this is because you can’t just do the OHP to get better at the OHP, you need assistance work and different variations that will help you build up certain parts of the lift that you need to work on.

For example, in my last article I discussed the importance of Z Presses for building dead-stop strength at the bottom of your overhead press that will translate very well into all of your vertical pressing variations, but today I want to talk a bit more about top half strength because it is still a pretty common issue that I see pretty often.

A lot of lifters do just fine at getting the weight past their head, but when it comes time to lockout a lot of people can’t finish the lift. I know a lot of people are going to say that overhead tricep extensions are going to fix that and they will to a certain degree, but if you were to put a gun to my head and tell me that I had to add 30lb to my overhead press in the fastest time possible without drugs then I wouldn’t only rely on extensions.

The thing with extensions is that they are good and effective, but alone they are not enough because you can’t even go super heavy on them because then you will most likely get elbow pain so you can’t only depend on them.

So what is a good way to overload the top part of your shoulder presses in a more elbow-friendly fashion that has a really similar movement pattern that will add pounds to your overhead press in less time?

SHOULDER PIN PRESSES

The shoulder pin press is my favorite exercise for building lockout strength in the OHP and I personally like to do them seated on a super high incline with a thick bar. The main reason as to why I like this exercise so much is because it allows you to overload the lockout portion so it gets your body and CNS used to pressing heavier weights overhead which not only builds confidence, but it will make you a better presser. The first time you do this lift you will be surprised as to how much weight you will actually be capable of lifting.

 

OTHER BENEFITS OF THE SHOULDER PIN PRESS

OVERLOAD THE LONG HEAD

One of the benefits of the shoulder pin press is that the long head of your triceps will get REALLY jacked. I actually can’t think of an exercise that will hit the long head of your triceps as hard as this one and this is good because your arms will get huge as a result off of just trying to improve your overhead press!

DELTS STILL GET SOME STIMULATION

Another cool benefit about this exercise is that even though you aren’t doing the bottom portion of the lift, your delts will still be getting some stimulation which is great because if you are on an overhead pressing specialization program then it won’t hurt to have some extra work for the delts.

 

COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT SHOULDER PIN PRESSES

I get lower back pain from shoulder pin presses, what should I do?

If you get lower back pain from shoulder pin presses then the answer is to simply do them sitting down on a super high incline bench. What this will do is that it will enable you to work your upper chest more while lifting even more weight which will overload the long head of your triceps that much more.

I guarantee you that you won’t feel any lower back pain if your shoulder pin presses in this fashion.

If your lower back is on the healthier side then you could actually try doing shoulder pin presses while standing up and this especially applies for lifters who are going to be tested on the lift (ex: Strongman competitors).

 

Can I do these with a thick bar?

Yes! In fact, I would rather you do this movement with a thick bar just to get your body used to a thick handle so that when you do your regular OHP’s you will be prepared for slightly heavier weights because of all of the thick bar and overloading vertical pressing movements that you have been doing.

 

What height should I set the pins?

There isn’t only one height that you could set the pins and I personally think that you should change it up every now and then from program to program. For example, some programs you might set the pins super high to use 400lb+ and in other programs you might set the pins at maybe eye or nose level. The important thing is that you are setting more and morepersonal records overtime.

 

Can I add bands to this crazy exercise?

You could add bands to this exercise but I personally think that you should milk the exercise for all that its worth without the bands and then when you start to plateau you could start to add some bands into the mix. Just remember that there is no rush and you could always add bands later. If you add them too soon then what are you going to do when you get more advanced?

 

CONCLUSION

So there you have it, make sure that you incorporate this monstrous exercise into your program if you want to see some serious weights get added to your overhead press in less time, you won’t be disappointed!