When it comes to shoulder training, I'm a big fan of freedom of movement.

The shoulder is a multi-planar joint, meaning they can move in a variety of directions and using exercises that allow the shoulders to move relatively freely are among the best to do.

That being said, I'm also a big fan of locking in to a shoulder pressing movement to give the delts something solid to work against.

I've sometimes found with dumbell shoulder pressing that because of the substantial freedom of movement you can get with dumbells, the triceps may tend to take over unless you tightly focus on contracting the delts. There are ways to keep the focus on the delts, of course, but quite often, focusing on more "locked in" movements like barbell or machine pressing can be helpful.

So how do you get the freedom of movement the shoulders need while still locking into the movement to make delt contraction more effective?

I've got just the solution for you...the Two Barbell Shoulder Press Machine.

Now, this a very simple machine...it's two barbells set inside the power rack. You'll be standing on the outside and pressing the barbell ends up (note: if you only have one barbell, you can do this same movement one arm at a time).

I've found this technique to be extremely effective for allowing you to focus on activating the delt muscles (giving something fairly solid to work against) while still giving you a good degree of freedom of movement to allow your shoulders to follow their natural path.

Also, the neutral position (elbows forward) is much easier on the shoulder joint, making this an ideal exercise for those who have "iffy" shoulders.

Here's the setup...

Set one safety rail up about as high as it can go. The other rail should be a little lower than shoulder height. Load both ends of the bar. I've got 25 lb plates on the top and bottom ends. You don't want to use anything bigger than that or the bars won't be close enough together for pressing.

Stand outside the rack and get yourself in between the ends of the bar. You can do this one facing in towards the rack...however, the version I'm going to show is facing away from the rack. It changes the movement up a bit and I find gives a more effect arc path of the bar (I'll explain that below).

Take a neutral grip on the ends of the bar.

Now press the bar ends directly up and back. They will follow the backwards arc I mentioned above. This backwards arc activates the rear delts very effectively.

The other trick with this one is as you're pressing up, move your body forward under the bars. This further helps with rear delt contraction.

Then just repeat the press.

As you can see, the "loose" bars give you the freedom of movement that shoulders function best on and it locks your into the movement, to some degree, to give your delts something solid to work against.

It also allows for a very large range of motion with the pressing movement. It allows you to start at the bottom of the press and not have to worry about getting the bar or dumbells into position. And finally, you're gripping on the "fat" ends of the bars, which I actually find improves delt activation as well.

Now, uou might also notice the angle of the bars at the top of the press. I have a rack that has rubber grips on the rails. If your rack has rails that are slippery, this facing-away version will definitely be your best bet. As you press up, keep FORWARD-leaning tension on the bars. This forward tension will keep the bars pulled up against the rail at the pivot end.

One a side note, if you'd like to focus a bit more on the side delts, as you press up, try and flare your elbows out to the sides a bit.

Give this exercise a try in your next shoulder workout. It's an elegant exercise that solves several problems you may not even have known you have!

Interested in more unique shoulder exercises like this?

Check out my book "The Best Shoulder Exercises You've Never Heard Of"