By RealJock Staff

This exercise provided courtesy of Mike Clausen, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body, which was voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
The standing dumbbell shoulder press works the core of the shoulder's deltoid muscle complex. Only do this exercise if your shoulders are free of pain or injury.

Muscles Worked
Shoulders (deltoids)

Starting Position
Sit at a flat bench with your feet shoulder-width apart and pointing forward and dumbbells held at your shoulders with your palms facing inward. Keep your head and back straight, knees slightly bent and the core of your body tight, while relaxing your chest. This keeps the focus on your shoulder muscles while you lift (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. From the starting position, extend your arms by straightening your elbows directly over your head to full flexion of your shoulder muscle. Keep your elbows slightly bent at the top of the movement to avoid locking your joints (see Photos 2 and 3).Without stopping, and while maintaining the flexion in your deltoids, keep your arms wide and slowly bring the weights down until your arms are bent at nearly 90 degrees and the weights are back at shoulder level (see Photo 4).

About Mike Clausen: Clausen is the founder and co-owner of Diakadi Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006. He has been actively involved in sports and weightlifting since high school, and continues to use that knowledge when training his clients. Calusen is both A.C.E.- and N.A.S.M.-certified and has been training clients professionally for six years. He enjoys making his clients stronger, both physically and mentally, giving them the tools to create an efficient body and to do things they thought were not possible.