What muscles are used in a shoulder press?

Although your deltoids produce the greatest amount of force to perform the movement involved in shoulder press, they would not be able to complete the exercise without the pectoralis major, which assists in shoulder flexion, the triceps brachii, which extends your elbow joints, and the supraspinatus, trapezius and ... read more

The shoulder press is a compound weight training exercise, meaning it requires movement around more than one joint. In this specific exercise, it is your shoulder and elbow joints that must move to complete the exercise. Most of the force responsibility required of shoulder press, however, falls on one particular muscle in your upper body. read more

The shoulder press is a fundamental shoulder exercise, especially for building muscle. When you are performing the shoulder press, you are using far more than three muscles to execute the lift. The arm muscles are the prime movers in the shoulder press, but the muscles of your trunk and core contract to stabilize you when you are lifting. read more

Primary Muscles. The main muscle targeted by the dumbbell shoulder press is the anterior deltoid, or the front shoulder. To a slightly lesser degree, the exercise also hits the remaining deltoid muscles, including the lateral deltoid, or the outside of your shoulder, and posterior deltoid, or the back of your shoulder. read more