Overhead pressing—like military presses, push presses, and seated dumbbell presses—can turn your shoulders from pebbles to boulders.

And who doesn’t want a strong, chiseled set of shoulders that will make your T-shirts look like they’re all from Baby GAP?

Related: THE 21-DAY METASHRED—an All-New Fitness and Diet Program From Men’s Health. 30 Minutes, 21 Days, Killer Results.

But before you start hoisting heavy loads straight above you, know one thing: You have to earn the right to overhead press.

Here’s why: Most men spend the majority of their days sitting—at a desk, in the car, on the couch. This leads to a flexed posture with an overly rounded upper back, and internally-rotated shoulders that round forward and inward.

This is commonly referred to as upper-cross syndrome, a term coined by physiotherapist Vladimir Janda. Basically, it’s a fancy schmancy way of saying “caveman posture.”

The slumped posture is due to weak, lengthened, and underactive upper-back musculature (think: rhomboids and traps), and a strong, shortened, and overactive chest musculature (think: pecs).

Related: The 6 Best Exercises For Your Back

Vanity shouldn’t be your only concern, though. Upper-cross syndrome can cause weight-lifting plateaus, pain, and injury—especially when you press weight overhead.

So how do you know if you have the go-ahead to press overhead? The simple test below. It’s a quick way to tell if you have the shoulder flexion to safely execute an overhead lift.

In fact, you can take the test right now. You just need someone to watch you. Have them tell you which of the illustrations (pass or fail) below you most closely resemble.

How to Test Your Overhead Mobility

Stand tall. Take a deep breath, and then exhale. As you breathe out, lift your arms straight overhead as far as you can.

Fail: In order to bring your arms overhead, you must excessively arch your lower back (a.k.a. go into lumbar extension).

Dan Redding

Fail: In order to bring your arms overhead, you must move and tilt your head forward.

Dan Redding

Pass: Your arms get overhead with zero compensations. Congrats! Go press things.

Dan Redding

Failed? Then overhead pressing isn’t a great fit for you—at least right now. Sure, you could try it, but sooner or later, you’ll get hurt.

Instead, try the single-arm landmine press.

The Single-Arm Landmine Press

The exercise still heavily targets your shoulders, but it limits the press’ range of motion so you don’t have to bring your arms completely overhead.

The landmine press also challenges your body to stay upright and to resist rotation, making it a valuable core exercise as well. You can see me demonstrate the exercise below.

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How to do it: Place a barbell with one 45-pound weight plate into a landmine. (Add 5 to 10 pounds every week.)

(A landmine resembles a baseball home plate with a small metal tube on the top. You’ll place one end of a barbell inside this tube, which allows the bar to move in any direction. If your gym doesn’t have a landmine or you’re working out at home, wedge a towel in a corner at the floor, and place the barbell there instead.)

Stand about 6 feet in front of the landmine, holding the top of the barbell in one hand at shoulder level. You elbow should be bent to 90 degrees.

Related: 5 Guys Who Wake Up at 4 a.m. to Work Out Tell You How They Do It

Get in a square stance with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Brace your core, as if you’re about to be punched in the gut. Pull your shoulders away from your ears and keep them there the entire time.

Press your arm out until it is completely straight, and angled up and away from your shoulder. Don’t allow your shoulder to “roll” forward or your core to twist. Pause, and then release the weight toward your shoulder.

Do 8 to 12 repetitions on one side, and then switch arms and repeat.

How to Increase Your Overhead Mobility

In addition to the landmine press, you should follow the steps below. After 5 weeks, test your overhead mobility again to see if you’re ready to overhead press the standard way.

1. Perform more upper-back exercises like seated cable rows, dumbbell rows, and chest-supported rows during your workouts.

Your goal should be a row-to-press ratio of 2:1 or even 3:1. For every “press” variation you perform (like a bench press or pushup), you’d counteract it with 2 or 3 “row” variations.

2. Every time you work your upper body, perform the bench T-spine mobilization drill, which I show in the video below. It’ll help mobilize tight lats and upper-back muscles.

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Add more thoracic spine extensions drills into your routine, too.

3. If you’re going to press overhead, you need a strong core.

Related: The 25 Best Abs Exercises

The reason: A weak core is unable support heavy weights extended above, which limits the amount of load you can lift and raises your risk of a back injury.

Perform the band-resisted dead bug, which is a fantastic exercise to strength the abdominals and increase spinal stability.

Tony Gentilcore, C.S.C.S., is the co-founder of Cressey Performance in Hudson, Massachusetts, and trains clients and top-level athletes in Boston. He’s also the author of the blog Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves.

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