The stretch is one of THE most powerful triggers for muscle growth.

Yet when it comes to stretch-tension, the problem with most shoulder exercises is that they don't really put a tremendous amount of stretch on the delts. With most exercises, the shoulders primarily grow due to volume overload and tension on the muscles.

There's nothing wrong with that...however, lack of a meaningful stretch means you're missing out on potential growth in the deltoids. And for many people with stubborn delts, that can be a BIG problem because it sets you back before you even begin.

In normal shoulder exercises, the stretch-tension either gets absorbed by the triceps at the bottom (i.e. the shoulder press) or the stretch position can be potentially injurious to the joint. For example, a cross-body cable lateral raise allows for stretch at the bottom but puts the shoulders in a sensitive position, preventing the use of much resistance without risking injury to the joint.

The specialized movement I've got for you here produces excellent stretch-tension on the delts (especially the lateral delt as a "pre-exhaust" for the press part of the exercise.

Granted, it does look a bit strange, but it's VERY effective.

I highly recommend starting with a pair of light dumbbells the first time you do it (I'm using a pair of 35's in the demo here). You can progress upwards from there, once you get an idea of how the movement is performed, as long as you don't use so much that you lose the stretch-tension in the delts.

Start with the dumbbells in the bottom of the standing shoulder press position.

Now, make sure your shoulder girdle is locked down tight. Squeeze your lats as though finishing a pulldown (this helps lock down the shoulders).

Next, slowly lower the dumbbells directly down to the sides, keeping your upper arms pressed against your lats. Keep your forearms a bit higher than horizontal. We want to keep the upper arm flexors (biceps and brachialis) above the 90 degree point so that they stay in a strong position and don't limit the exercise or become the focus of the exercise). 

Hold this bottom position for 5 seconds.

This is important as it's what allows you to "sink" into the stretch. If you just come down then right back up, it becomes an awkward hammer curl...and not a very effective one. Holding that stretch is key.

Now, bring the dumbbells back up to the bottom position of the dumbbell press.

Then press to the top.

Because the triceps aren't involved in the first "stretch" part of the exercise, they'll be relatively fresh and will help you push you already-fatigued delts harder. I find this technique very effectively targets the side delts.

Bring the dumbbells back down to the bottom press position, then repeat.

Perform this for a set of 6 to 8 reps (2-4 sets total is good).

Remember, the big key is to HOLD that bottom stretch for 5 seconds on EVERY rep. That is non-optional. The exercise won't be effective without that stretch hold.

You can use this exercise at any point in your shoulder workout, however I prefer to use it either on it's own as my only shoulder exercise for the day or AFTER the heavier pressing is done. It will fatigue the shoulder muscles and it won't be effective to do any heavy pressing following this.

Give this exercise a try next time you hit shoulders...I think you'll be happy with the tension it puts directly on your deltoids!

To see this exercise in action (it'll help a lot!), watch the video on my YouTube channel here: