PRESSING MOVEMENTS
IN THE QUEST FOR STRONG,
boulder-shaped shoulders, the military press is the holy grail, tasking you with holding the weights at your shoulders, then driving your arms overhead. It’s one of the classic strength moves, requiring core stability, shoulder power and shoulder mobility.
It also works far better with kettlebells than with dumbbells. The reason? Stability and control. You want your shoulder blades to depress (move downward towards your glutes) and retract (squeeze tightly together near your spine), and the kettlebell places your shoulder and shoulder blade in those natural positions.
“It’s rotating around the back of the wrist, and it sets your wrist in place,” says Dan John, a trainer and fitness historian. This can’t happen with a dumbbell, because the load is spread out on both sides of the handle. “There’s uncertainty in pressing a dumbbell overhead,” says John, “which can lead you to arch your back or press slightly in front of your torso, thus placing excess stress on your shoulder joint.” So, even the most devout dumbbell acolyte would agree that the kettlebell is the superior pressing implement.