When it comes to shoulder development, I tend to stay away from any movements that require you to push from behind the neck (Barbell Presses, Behind-the-Neck Presses, etc.). I feel these movements can put the neck and the shoulders in a very unnatural position that could potentially result in injury.

One of the best and safest exercises I’ve found for all-around shoulder development is the Seated Dumbbell Press.

The movement is done sitting on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Warm up with light weights and gradually add resistance as you become comfortable with the exercise.

Begin the movement with the dumbbells at the shoulders. The palms of your hands should be facing forward. Press the dumbbells up over your head in an arc . . . you don’t need to knock the dumbbells together at the top. Now lower slowly and repeat for 8-12 repetitions.

When doing seated presses for shoulder development, you want to maintain the stress on your delts by not locking out your elbows in the top position.

Locking your elbows out actually serves to take the weight off your delts and thus gives them a momentary break from the set. This break is clearly counter-productive to growth and development.

By maintaining continuous tension on the delts, you’ll dramatically increase the effectiveness of this movement. You may have to drop your poundage down slightly, but I’ve found that with most people shoulders respond well to highly controlled, continuous tension sets.