Z Press shoulder exercise teaching

What is Z-shaped recommendation (Z Press)

Z-shaped press is a kind of press that sits on the ground, as shown in the picture above.

The characteristics of Z-shaped press

Different from standing press, Z-shaped press is a kind of press that sits on the ground and performs shoulder press.

The knees need to be kept straight. If you try to maintain that movement without any weight bearing, you will feel that it is not as comfortable as you imagined.

To do this movement well, you need to have good whole body strength, sufficient hip mobility, and good thoracic and lumbar spine condition. If you are not satisfied, it will be difficult for you to complete it

Remember, your body must not lean back, and your feet must be placed on the ground. You have to lift your chest and raise your head.

Correct posture

Keep your body upright and sit on the ground (imagine sitting on the ground on the back of your legs), so that your lower back feels tense.

Keep your heels and knee joints against the ground, and don’t try to move them.

Incorrect posture

Sit on your butt. This will cause a round back and easily hurt.

The back is tilted. If you cannot keep your torso stable and neutral, then don’t continue.

At the beginning, the barbell Place on the ground.

Improvement 　　This movement is not easy. If your flexibility is poor, it may be limited by the movement.

There are two ways to overcome it. The first is to expand the distance between the feet - spread the legs as much as possible - to provide enough room for movement for the hips. At the same time, this is also the best position to place the femoral head in the acetabular socket.

If there is still no improvement, the second method is to reduce the angle of the hip flexor (iliopsoas muscle). Set a step below the buttocks so that you feel a slight oblique angle. Even if it is a few inches, you It will feel a huge difference, which will give you a satisfactory start and a perfect end.

The lack of trunk stability is also an important reason. Compared with standing pressing, you do not have lower limb strength as support. For this reason, I recommend using lighter weight bearing and unilateral training (dumbbells) to make the trunk muscles participate more in the work to resist external forces and keep the body straight.

You can use dumbbells to perform unilateral pressing exercises - changing the way of grasping and the position of the elbow joint. In addition, when the humeral head rotates, using the grip method can effectively protect the shoulder joint.