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OPTION #1

The 1.5 Overhead Military Barbell Press technique is a highly effective upper body pressing protocol to crush your shoulders, traps, triceps, upper back, core, and upper body stabilizers. It teaches proper form, tightness, motor control, and provides incredible levels of constant and high tension as it essentially eliminates momentum. Try pausing at both positions by using eccentric isometrics. This further enhances the effectiveness of the movement. Here's one of my NFL athletes Jake Banta showing how it's done. You'll also notice he does a great job of tucking the elbows forward throughout, achieving optimal thoracic extension during the eccentric phase, and not collapsing at the bottom position. He also nails the overhead slot position by popping the head through to neutral and setting the hips in back of him similar to the top of an overhead squat. All of theses features represent optimal overhead pressing mechanics.

OPTION #2

The barbell wall push press is one of the most joint friendly and functional overhead presses ever.

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This next exercise is a great ULC (upper-lower combo) by holding an eccentric isometric squat while performing front raises for his shoulders. Focus on bracing the core and using compact ROM for the shoulders. Read more about functional training at the following link: https://www.advancedhumanperformance.com/blog/functional-arm-training

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The rapid eccentric isometric pull-up/chin-up variation is a highly advanced yet very effective back exercise that teaches the muscles of the lats, arms, and core, to activate rapidly as a means of absorbing force and quickly decelerating the body. The key is to avoid collapsing at the bottom position by allowing the shoulder to excessively elevate or protract.

Rapid Eccentric Isometrics are an advanced proprietary training technique developed by Dr. Joel Seedman used to increase proprioceptive feedback from muscle spindles with the goal of improving performance and muscle function. Rapid Eccentric Isometrics (REI’s) also improve rate of force development (RFD), Rate of Stabilization Development (RSD), Rate of Force Absorption (RFA), and Reactive Stabilization as the muscles are forced to turn on rapidly to absorb high impact forces. Rapid Eccentric Isometrics should only be used once proper form has been established with standard eccentric isometrics (EI’s).

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This overhead shoulder front raise on rings is an excellent movement for targeting the shoulders, traps, and upper back while working on core stabilization and spinal alignment.

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This is a simple but effective rowing exercise that's also great for pairing with dips as the movement follows a very similar path and position

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The double med ball pushup is an incredibly advanced pushup variation that not only crushes the chest, shoulders, and triceps, but also taxes the core and spinal stabilizers. When performed in a single leg fashion as shown here by my awesome client and NPC figure competitor Leslie Petch the level of motor control and full body stability is exponentially magnified.

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Here is another great ULC (upper-lower combo) as he hits bulgarian squats and lateral raises together. Make sure to not raise the weights higher than sternum height as this can reduce tension to the shoulders and over-fire the traps. Read more about functional training in my new article: https://www.advancedhumanperformance.com/blog/functional-arm-training

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Few people realize this but grip strength and shoulder mechanics are directly related. In fact improving grip strength and forcing a lifter to activate their hands and forearms intensely during upper body movements almost always impacts shoulder mechanics as it helps promote greater shoulder packing and centration of the glenohumeral joint. This is largely because the intense grip activation helps to stabilize the shoulder and lock it into proper position via irradiation and concurrent activation potentiation. Simply put it helps to promote increased neural drive and activation throughout the extremities and kinetic chain. Biomechanically it also keeps individuals from using sloppy mechanics and excessive range of motion as these forms of technical breakdown cause the grip to slip and lose pinching or crushing strength due to faulty wrist mechanics.

Simply using fat grips, fat bars, or pinching bumper plates and hex dumbbells does wonders for eliminating many forms of upper body dysfunction while simultaneously crushing the grip and forearms. In this particular variation I'm using a bumper plate pinching protocol applied lateral raises. Most individuals use excessive momentum and range of motion when performing lateral raises. In addition they tend to pull the weight straight out to the sides rather than allowing them to drift slightly forward at a 20-30 degree angle. This plate pinching protocol promotes these optimal mechanics as anything less feels like the bumper plates are going to slip out of the hands. Besides improving your lateral raise mechanics this specific variation crushes the lateral deltoids due to increased constant tension, metabolic stress, and mechanics tension all of which spark significant hypertrophy and functional strength gains.