Whats the difference between Arnold presses and normal dumbell shoulder presses????

[Bakumba]

I've started doing arnold presses instead of dumbell shoulder presses...does that mean im doing a better exercise? covering more muscle? less?
Some clarify please...

thx

 

[B0ARDIN087]

i like them better, but i do them in addition to shoulder presses

 

[guldukat]

I've started doing arnold presses instead of dumbell shoulder presses...does that mean im doing a better exercise? covering more muscle? less?
Some clarify please...

thx

Honestly, I think Arnold presses are a gimmick--something flashy that Weider's cronies overhyped to fill otherwise dead magazine space. Remember, back in the 60's and 70's, they didn't have many fancy supplements like Musclemagtech or whatever; they could only do so many liver pill ads, so the order of the day was to fixate on other stupid shit. (I guess it was better than making ads and crappy articles one in the same, though *sigh*.)

Anyway, the exercise is billed as a way to "work the delts harder" but I've seen no proof of that claim, let alone just how much harder we're talking about. I've actually ready that regular seated DBP elicit just a hair greater delt activity, though the difference was miniscule.

But even if the Arnolds did live up to their reputation, they still:

A--force you to use lighter weights than in conventional (esp. barbell) presses. That might not sound so bad, but it means the movement's more difficult to eek progress out of. Simply, because the weight is light, every little increase constitutes a big percentage gain. That's not to mention you have to go up 10 lbs. at a time if, like most people, you ain't got Platemates.

B--fuck up rotator cuffs roughly on par with BNPs and behind-neck chins or pulldowns.

Regular presses are more effective in the long-term, and rep by rep give you about the same bang for your buck. I wouldn't do Arnolds for more than a month or two, using them to get over boredom more than anything else.

 

[supersizeme]

guldukat brought up some good points

i rarely do arnold presses, but i find that they seem to hit the medial delts in conjunction with the front delts, as opposed to just the front delts on regular shoulder presses.