Shoulder Press - With Bands

A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a resistance band.

Shoulder Press - With Bands — Starting position Starting position
Shoulder Press - With Bands — End position End position
Difficulty Beginner
Type Strength
Equipment Resistance Bands
Primary Muscle Shoulders
AI Rep Counting Log manually

How to Do Shoulder Press - With Bands

  1. To begin, stand on an exercise band so that tension begins at arm's length. Grasp the handles and lift them so that the hands are at shoulder height at each side.
  2. Rotate the wrists so that the palms of your hands are facing forward. Your elbows should be bent, with the upper arms and forearms in line to the torso. This is your starting position.
  3. As you exhale, lift the handles up until your arms are fully extended overhead.

Muscles Worked

Front
Back

Primary

Where Shoulder Press - With Bands does most of its work.

Secondary

Assisting and stabilising muscles.

Alternatives to Shoulder Press - With Bands

10 movements that train the same primary muscle, closest substitutes first — same kind of training, then variations of the movement itself, then a similar difficulty.

  1. 1 Alternating Cable Shoulder Press

    Alternating Cable Shoulder Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  2. 2 Cable Shoulder Press

    Cable Shoulder Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  3. 3 Leverage Shoulder Press

    Leverage Shoulder Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a machine.

    beginner Machines
  4. 4 Machine Shoulder (Military) Press

    Machine Shoulder (Military) Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a machine.

    beginner Machines
  5. 5 Seated Cable Shoulder Press

    Seated Cable Shoulder Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  6. 6 Smith Machine Overhead Shoulder Press

    Smith Machine Overhead Shoulder Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a machine.

    beginner Machines
  7. 7 Barbell Shoulder Press

    Barbell Shoulder Press

    An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a barbell.

    intermediate Barbell
  8. 8 Dumbbell One-Arm Shoulder Press

    Dumbbell One-Arm Shoulder Press

    An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using dumbbells.

    intermediate Dumbbells
  9. 9 Shoulder Press

    Shoulder Press

    The shoulder press is a fundamental overhead pressing movement that builds strong, broad shoulders. It targets all three heads of the deltoid and develops functional pressing strength.

    intermediate Dumbbells
  10. 10 Anti-Gravity Press

    Anti-Gravity Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the shoulders, using a barbell.

    beginner Barbell

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles do shoulder press - with bands work?

Shoulder Press - With Bands primarily works the shoulders. The triceps assist as secondary muscles.

What equipment do I need for shoulder press - with bands?

Shoulder Press - With Bands uses resistance bands.

Shoulder Press - With Bands: is it suitable for beginners?

Yes. Shoulder Press - With Bands is rated beginner. Movements you can learn in a session, with a low skill floor and a forgiving failure mode.

What can I do instead of shoulder press - with bands?

Alternating Cable Shoulder Press, Cable Shoulder Press, Leverage Shoulder Press train the same primary muscles and are listed with 7 more alternatives above.

Can Fitnit count my shoulder press - with bands reps automatically?

Not automatically yet. Fitnit's AI rep counting covers push-ups, squats, dumbbell curls, crunches and pull-ups today; shoulder press - with bands can be logged manually in the app, and tracked movements are added over time.

Photographs and step-by-step instructions from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. Muscle mapping and alternatives by Fitnit.

Track Your Shoulder Press - With Bands with AI

Fitnit automatically tracks push-ups, crunches, squats, pull-ups, and curls with advanced body tracking technology — and you can manually input any other workout too. Start free — Pro is $8.99/month.