How to do the shoulder press machine

The shoulder press machine takes balance out of pressing overhead. The handles move on a fixed track and a back pad holds you in place, so all you have to do is push. That makes it the easiest shoulder press to learn, and the safest one to take right to the edge of failure, since a missed rep just means letting the handles come back down. Free weights build more coordination; the machine lets you work your shoulders hard without thinking about anything else. We'd use it for both jobs at different times.

How to use the shoulder press machine

1. Adjust the seat so the handles start at shoulder height. Sit down and check where the handles are: they should be level with the tops of your shoulders, or just above. If they're down at your chest, raise the seat; if they're above your ears, lower it.
2. Sit with your back flat against the pad. Your hips go all the way back into the seat, feet flat on the floor or on the foot bar if there is one.
3. Grip the handles firmly, not with a death grip. Wrap your hands around them with your wrists straight, knuckles pointing up rather than bent back. Most machines have a pronated grip (palms forward) and a neutral grip (palms facing in). Use whichever feels better on your shoulders.
4. Take a breath and brace. Pull your ribs down so the back of your ribcage stays against the pad.
5. Press straight up to full extension. Stop when your elbows are straight but not slammed into lockout. Your head, upper back and hips stay on the pad the whole time.
6. Lower the handles back to shoulder height. Take two seconds or so on the way down and stop just before the weight stack touches, so your shoulders stay loaded between reps.

It should feel like a steady burn in the front and sides of your shoulders and the back of your arms. If you feel it mostly in your neck or upper traps, your shoulders are probably shrugging up toward your ears; see the cues below.

Cues that help mid-set

"Shoulders away from your ears." Keep a long neck as you press. This stops your traps from taking over, especially near the top of each rep.

"Push the handles to the ceiling, not forward." On machines with a slight arc, it's easy to push forward and let your back leave the pad. Thinking "up" keeps you seated properly.

"Back of your head on the pad." A simple check that you're not craning your neck forward or arching away from the backrest.

"Hold the handles like a bike's handlebars." Firm enough to control them, loose enough that your forearms aren't the first thing to get tired.

Common mistakes

Setting the seat wrong. It's the most common problem and the easiest to fix. Too low and the handles start above your ears, so you miss the bottom of the movement; too high and they start near your chest, forcing your shoulders into a deep, awkward stretch. Think of it like adjusting a car seat before driving: take ten seconds to set it every time. Once you find your setting, write down the pin number so you don't have to hunt for it again.

Arching your back off the pad. When the weight gets heavy, the chest lifts and the lower back arches until you're doing a sort of incline press. It shifts work onto your upper chest and puts your lower back in a position it doesn't like under load. Keep your ribs down and your back flat, and if you can't, the stack is too heavy.

Cutting the range of motion short. Doing half reps near the top lets you move a lot more weight, which is exactly why people do it. Your shoulders get the most work in the bottom half of the movement, so bring the handles all the way down to shoulder height on every rep.

Gripping too tightly. Squeezing the handles with everything you've got makes your forearms, neck and traps tense up and often makes your shoulders creep toward your ears. Hold on firmly enough to control the handles, and let your shoulders and triceps do the pressing.

Slamming the stack between reps. Letting the plates crash down at the bottom takes the tension off your shoulders and gives you a free rest on every rep. Lower until the stack is just about to touch, then press again.

Sets, reps and how much weight to use

The machine suits moderate to high reps. For muscle growth, do 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 15. Pick a weight you could do 1 to 3 more reps with, and it's fine to take the last set all the way to failure, since the machine makes that safe. Rest 90 seconds to two minutes between sets.

On a day with barbell or dumbbell pressing, do the machine after them as your second shoulder exercise. On a day without, it can be your main shoulder press. One warm-up set of 12 to 15 reps at about half your working weight is usually enough.

There's no strength table for this one, because weight stacks aren't comparable between machines. The same pin setting can feel very different depending on the brand, the leverage and the cable setup, so a 100 lb (45 kg) stack on one machine might feel like 60 lb (27 kg) on another. Compare yourself only against the same machine.

To start, choose a weight you can press for 12 clean reps with a few reps left in the tank. Most beginners land somewhere in the lower third of the stack. Then add reps before adding weight: when you hit 15 reps on every set, move up one plate. Stack jumps are often 10 or 15 lb (5 to 7 kg), which can be a big step, so it's normal to lose a few reps when you move up. Our progressive overload guide covers how to handle those jumps. If you log each session in Helthy, you'll always know what you lifted last time and what you need to beat.

Variations and alternatives

• Neutral-grip handles: palms facing each other. Usually the most comfortable option on your shoulders, and a good default if the standard grip ever feels pinchy.
• Single-arm press on the machine: most plate-loaded and many selectorized machines let you press one side at a time. It's a good way to even out a weaker side.
• Plate-loaded press: often has a more natural, converging path than a cable machine. Same setup rules apply.
• Smith machine seated press: a fixed bar path with a barbell feel. Set a bench up under the bar with an upright back and lower the bar to chin height.
• Dumbbell shoulder press: the free-weight version. Each arm moves on its own, and it adds balance and control to the mix.
• Overhead press: the standing barbell version. Hardest to learn, but you can load it heavily and progress in small steps.

Round out your shoulder work with lateral raises for your side delts and face pulls for the backs of your shoulders.

Shoulder press machine questions

Is the shoulder press machine as good as free weights?

For building shoulder muscle, it works about as well, provided you push each set hard and go through the full range. Free weights train balance and coordination too, and the barbell version carries over to heavy lifting in a way a machine doesn't. If your goal is bigger shoulders, the machine is a perfectly good main press.

How high should the seat be?

High enough that the handles start at the tops of your shoulders. Most people set it too low. Check it before every session, because the last person almost certainly had it at their own height.

Why does my shoulder pinch at the bottom?

Usually the seat is too high, so you're starting too deep, or your elbows are flared straight out to the sides. Lower the seat a notch, switch to the neutral grip and see if it goes away. If it still hurts after a week or two of lighter work, get it checked out by a physical therapist.