Vertical push exercises are a must if you need to build and train your shoulder muscles. As the name suggests, these exercises involve engaging your arms in a pushing motion while in a vertical position. Hence, this could be either lifting or pushing an object overhead or pushing your torso upwards and away from a stable surface.
There are several advantages of vertical push exercises. Unlike the horizontal push exercises that target the triceps and chest, these target the shoulder muscles. Push press and military press are two examples of vertical press exercises.
Moreover, these exercises involve shoulder abduction and elbow extension/flexion. Vertical pushing exercises are also compound exercises as they often involve two joints of your body- your shoulder and elbow. Some of these exercises are often called presses and are beneficial to develop stronger shoulders.
What Are Vertical Push Exercises?
Thousands of different exercises exist, and most of them fit into six categories based on their movement patterns. These categories include vertical pulling exercises, vertical pressing exercises, horizontal pulling exercises, horizontal push, knee dominant, and hip dominant exercises.
If your weekly workout routine includes a push day, there are several exercises you can engage in. Moreover, bodyweight vertical push exercises are called calisthenics and do not require any equipment.
Here’s a roundup of eight effective vertical push exercises and two simple exercises that you can do to improve your arms and shoulders.
Barbell Overhead Press
You can use a barbell or resistance bands to perform an overhead press. Overhead presses are compound exercises that work your core, lower back, upper traps, front and side deltoids, pecs, and biceps. To do this exercise, you need to be in a standing position.
How to Do a Barbell Overhead Press
First, adjust the squat rack until the barbell aligns with your armpit. Then, grab the bar at about your shoulder width points, and remove it from the rack.
With the barbell resting along your collarbone, take 2-3 steps backward away from the rack, ensuring that your elbows are placed in front of the bar.
With a hip-width stance, squeeze your glutes in this position while tucking your chin.
Then push the bar up above your head while keeping your spine neutral. Try not to move your legs or toes while doing this. As the bar moves up past your head, push your head under the bar between your arms.
Lower the bar to your collarbone slowly by bending your elbows. Let the bar rest on your front delts for seconds before doing your next rep.
Single-Arm Resistance Band Press
This exercise works the shoulders and triceps on one body part at a time. It requires you to use a simple resistance band.
How to Do a Single-Arm Resistance Band Press
To begin, put one foot through the band, holding it to the floor with your foot. Use your hand on the same side of the band to hold the other end of the resistance band.
Ensure the band is behind your arm and back. Pull up the band with your palm facing forward by straightening your arm. Pause at the top and slowly lower your arms.
Please continue your reps, making sure to keep your elbow close.
Seated Dumbbell Press
Using dumbbells is an effective way to work your stabilizer muscles. This exercise targets the front and side delts and can be done in a standing or seated position.
How to Do a Seated Dumbbell Press
To begin the seated dumbbell press, grab your dumbbells and incline the bench to a 90-degree angle.
Put the heads of the dumbells on your thighs, then lift your legs one at a time to send the dumbells to your shoulder.
Hold them there with your palms facing forward. Inhale and push the dumbbells upwards and pause. Bring the dumbbells down and continue your reps.
Arnold Press
This push exercise activates your three deltoid shoulder muscles. It’s similar to the dumbbell press and is an effective workout to create sculpted shoulders.
How to Do the Arnold Press
Proceed with the dumbbell press exercise above until you raise the dumbbell over you. Instead of bringing the dumbbells to your collarbone, bring them down to your chin.
While bringing them down, rotate your arms until your palms face inward. Slowly bring the dumbbells back to the starting position on your thighs, and continue your reps.
Lateral Raise
Lateral raises require a pair of dumbbells and are great for upper-body or full-body workouts.
How to Do a Lateral Raise
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, your dumbbells in your hands, and your palms facing you. Inhale and lift both dumbbells away from you until your arms are completely vertical, forming a “T” shape.
Pause briefly before lowering the weights twice as slowly as you lifted them, exhaling during the lowering process.
6. Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extension
This exercise targets only one muscle group at a time and requires a pair of light dumbbells.
How to Do a Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extension
To start, stand with your feet shoulder-length apart, holding a pair of light dumbbells. Lift the dumbbells over your head simultaneously, ensuring that your palms face each other.
Lower the dumbbells to your lower back, bending your elbows, ensuring to keep your upper arms stationary. Push the dumbbells back up by straightening your arms. Continue your reps.
Push Press
This exercise is common with CrossFitters and is great at working the shoulders and triceps. It resembles an overhead press but differs slightly in some ways.
How to Do a Push Press
To begin, move the rack to be at your armpit level. Grab the barbell off the rack (with your hands placed a little more than your shoulder’s width) and take 2 or 3 steps backward.
Rest the bar on your front deltoids with your elbows in front of the bar, ensuring that your legs are about your hips width apart. Inhale and tighten your glutes and core muscles.
Slightly bend your knees about a quarter way down to a full squat position. Don’t squat fully or too much to avoid losing strength. Straighten your knees slowly up, using the momentum to lift the barbell over your head.
Push your head through your arms as the barbell crosses your head level on its way up. Return the barbell to its starting point, bending your knees at the same time. Continue your reps.
8. Pec Deck
This exercise effectively isolates your pecs and requires using a pec deck machine. You will likely find this machine in your local gym.
How to Do a Pec Deck
Adjust the weight stack on the machine to your preferred weight. Sit on the machine and adjust the seat height till the arm pads are on your chest level when you sit.
Then, put your forearms against the arm pads and hold the handles. Bring the arm pads as close together as possible by pushing against them. Squeeze your chest muscles, and bring the arm pads back to their starting position.
Bonus: Simple Shoulder and Arms Exercises
Bench Press
This popular push exercise targets multiple muscle groups simultaneously. It usually features a barbell and is performed with you lying down on a bench. To do a bench press, lie on the bench while ensuring the barbell is directly above your eyes.
Ensure your feet are flat on the floor with your shins in a horizontal position, although this is not a strict requirement. Also, if your bench is too high, you can place plates or other suitable equipment on both sides of the bench to put your feet on.
How to Do a Bench Press
Before you start, ensure that the squat rack is high enough to let your arms stay straight when you remove the barbell from the rack. Also, ensure that the squat rack is not so low that you cannot do a full rep when you rack and unrack the barbell.
To begin this exercise, grab the barbell with your arms spaced at shoulder width or up to twice your shoulder width. Inhale while taking the bar off the rack and lifting it directly above your chest.
Then, slowly bring down the barbell to your chest, ensuring not to flare your elbows too much.
When the barbell gets to your chest, slowly push it back to the rack while pressing your feet against the ground. When you return it to the rack, take a breath if you have to, and continue your reps.
Push Ups
Push-ups are a popular no-equipment, vertical pushing exercise that works your shoulders and your core.
How to Do a Push-up
First, get down on all fours with your hands directly aligned with your shoulders. With your arms apart a little past your shoulder width, inhale and lower yourself to the ground by bending your elbows. Ensuring that your legs are straight and you are resting on your toes, straighten your arms and push yourself back up.
Conclusion
If you plan on building sculpted shoulders or strengthening your shoulder muscles, you must incorporate vertical push exercises into your workout routine. Moreover, these exercises target your anterior deltoid and strengthen your rotator cuff muscles.
There are several other vertical pushing exercises, like the standing dumbbell shoulder press and the overhead shoulder press. Additionally, you can incorporate the landmine press into your routine if you want less strain on your shoulder joints while activating your upper and lower body muscles.