First off, I'm going to tell you guys and gals the truth: my overhead press sucks! I don't know if it's due to my shoulder structure or the fact that when I was practicing martial arts in high school, I got my right shoulder partially dislocated. Either way, the overhead press has been a thorn in my side for years. However, I have managed to give my overhead press a major boost by applying the dynamic effort method to my shoulder work.

We are all familiar with the dynamic effort method made popular by Louie at Westside. (But if you're not familiar with Louie, then I strongly suggest that you look him up). I use the dynamic effort method with two exercises in particular. The first is the overhead press—with the Swiss bar and the elitefts™ mini bands. I use this one because it's much easier on my shoulders. In order to provide a little variety, I also incorporate the corner barbell press (also using the elitefts™ mini bands). Using heavier bands will NOT allow you to press the bar. In order to get the most out of this exercise, you're going to want to use 45 to 60 percent of your max for the overhead press and do six to seven sets of two to three reps. So, if you have a 225-pound overhead press, 45 percent of that is 100 pounds at the lowest and 135 pounds at the highest. Obviously this is not a lot of weight; however, this all depends on the health of your shoulders. If you're anything like me, and they are banged up a bit, it may feel pretty heavy. If not, proceed. The next exercise is a little bit trickier, as attaining a max for the corner barbell press is probably not a practical pursuit since it already qualifies as an assistance movement. With that being said, pick a weight that's challenging yet doable, attach the bands, and follow the same set and reps protocol. When constructing your dynamic effort method shoulder routine, make sure you don't do it for more than three weeks.

Here's a sample of how we set up ours:

Week 1

Set 1: 45% of 1RM x 3 reps
Set 2: 45% of 1RM x 3 reps
Set 3: 50% of 1RM x 2 reps
Set 4: 50% of 1RM x 2 reps
Set 5: 55% of 1RM x 2 rep
Set 6: 60% of 1RM x 2 reps
Set 7: 60% of 1RM X 2 reps

Week 2

Set 1: 45% x 1RM x 3 reps
Set 2: 50% x 1RM x 3 reps
Set 3: 50% x 1RM x 3 reps
Set 4: 55% x 1RM x 2 reps
Set 5: 55% x 1RM x 2 reps
Set 6: 60% x 1RM x 2 reps
Set 7: 60% x 1RM x 2 reps

Week 3

Set 1: 50% x 1RM x 3 reps
Set 2: 50% x 1RM x 3 reps
Set 3: 55% x 1RM x 3 reps
Set 4: 55% x 1RM x 3 reps
Set 5: 60% x 1RM x 2 reps
Set 6: 60% x 1RM x 2 reps
Set 7: 60% x 1RM x 2 reps

Week 4:

Test your press.

Remember, as I stated above, the corner barbell press is an assistance exercise. So, if your shoulders are feeling a bit beat up, you can do this movement in place of the overhead press. On those days, just follow the same set and rep protocol, and use your head when choosing your load. I understand that I'm giving you a lot of leeway with this, but I have faith that if you have been reading the articles on elitefts™ long enough, you know the importance of knowing when to go full tilt and when to save some for your next session. You only have one set of shoulders, so don't blow them out trying to be Superman.

Here is a video on how to set up these two movements if you don’t have a squat rack with band pegs: