Shoulder Press VS Pike Pushups

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been changing up my push day workout to find efficient yet powerful exercises I can do from home.

With 2 sets of dumbbells and 25lbs and 30lbs each, as well as a 15lbs kettlebell, my options are fairly limited.

But recently, I remembered I have a floor and my own body weight so I started doing pike pushups for shoulder development.

(For those who may not know: Pike pushups are pushups with your feet much closer to your hands so you end up looking like an upper case letter A)

Prior to this change, I was doing single arm shoulder press for upwards of 17 reps per set and to be frank…

It wasn’t enjoyable doing all that.

I’d much prefer doing heavier weight for fewer reps, which I’ll go back to when I move into a house in March, but in the meantime…

Pike pushups will more than suffice.

In fact, they’re more challenging than I thought and my form isn’t all that good yet.

Shoulder press is great because:

It’s simple, straightforward, and effective at strengthening and growing your shoulders.

And there’s lots of options such as seated, standing, barbell, dumbbell, machine, and so on.

Pike pushups are great because:

They don’t require any equipment, they hit the upper chest quite a bit on top of great shoulder stimulation, and have a long progression path to handstand pushups which are simply cool.

You really can’t go wrong with either one.

I’m just ready to take on a new challenge and see how far I can take them.

In semi-related news, I’ve finally decided to relaunch The Gains With Gabe Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, and pretty much every other platform out there.

You can check out the latest episodes to help you get in better shape in minimal time here:

https://youtube.com/@gainswithgabe

Any questions? Let me know.

Talk soon,
-Gabe

Originally published at https://gainswithgabe.com on November 27, 2023.