Early February, I had began doing some front raises, dumbbell presses, overhead tricep extensions, rear delt flys, and continued doing lateral raises. All the exercises have sustained momentum except for overhead tricep extensions, where I stalled in days 4-5. Then I lost consistency with that exercise. Around February, I wasn’t going to gym as often, so there was no opportunity for the long head of the triceps to atrophy. I don’t have the index card log of my early dumbbell press as well as the index card log of overhead tricep extensions. On March 6th, there was an overlap between front delts and long head of triceps. When I first started front raises at home along with dumbbell shoulder press, I wrote down a temporary conversion of:
Dumbbell front raises * 1.83 = Dumbbell Shoulder Press
based on either comparing the performances between front raises and the dumbbell shoulder press or using the strengthlevel.com. I had made some solid strides in the front raises from 2/7/26 (44lb 1rm) till 3/4/26 (56.6lbs 1rm) and still going to now 4/12/26 (63.5lbs 1rm). However my skullcushers got weaker from Janurary 29, 2026 till March 6th 2026.
Before Mid February when I took a lifting break:
1/15/26 Shoulder Press: 135lbs x 7 reps; 162.7 lbs
1/22/26 DB Lateral Raises 40lbs x 8 reps; 49.4 lbs
1/22/26 Incline Press: 185lbs x 4 reps; 201.1 lbs
1/22/26 DB Skullcruhers: 55lbs x 5 reps (left) / 6 reps (right); 61.8lbs / 64.0lbs
1/29/26 DB Skullcrushers 55lbs x 6 reps (left) / 7 reps (right)
2/7/26 DB Front Raises 22lbs x 31 reps; 44lbs
2/22/26 DB Front Raises 38.5lbs x 10 reps
After Mid-February:
3/6/26 DB Skullcrushers 55lbs x 2 reps; 56.7lbs
3/14/26 DB Skullcrushers 50lbs x 6 reps
3/19/26 DB Skullcrushers 50 x 9 reps; 64.1lbs
3/23/26 DB Front Raises 49.5lbs x 5 reps; 55.6lbs
3/26/26 DB Lateral Raises (about 75-80 degrees armpit) 44lbs x 8 reps; 61.1lbs
3/28/26 Shoulder Press 135lbs x 5 reps; 151.7lbs
3/31/26 Incline Press 185lbs x 1 reps; 185lbs
From this data, even though my front delts and side delts got stronger, my shoulder press and incline press got weaker, due to not also getting stronger on my triceps. From the past few months, I didn’t maintain my lateral head of triceps strength via tricep pushdown that I should have. The lift was polarizing regarding sticking points because I would have an easier time getting the halfway point but struggle in the top half. It’s very clear in this point in time what is my sticking point.
Great time to implement Partials
On April 8th, I had the idea of implementing partials, but tried the computer chair to minimize rocking, but it went back enough for it to be an incline preses, so that was a waste. 2 days later, I tried it again, but this time I will do Parial Shoulder Press from 90 degree elbow/halfway point to top; top 1/2 parials, then lateral raises and front raises to test this mini program that is very sustainable and also confirm that the front delts and side delts aren’t the weak point. Side note, on April 8th, I did my front raises before I spontaenously decided to try dumbbell shoulder press.
Before April 10th:
4/7/26 DB Lateral Raises: 49.5lbs x 9 reps; 63.5lbs
4/8/26 DB Front Raises: 49.5lbs x 7 reps; 59.6lbs
April 10th run:
Standing Partial DB Press: 60.5lbs x 9 reps (left) / 8 reps (right); 77.6lbs (left) / 74.7lbs (right)
DB Front Raises: 49.5lbs x 9 reps (left) / 11 reps (right); 63.5lbs (left) / 67.8lbs (right) (+2-4 reps)
DB Lateral Raises: 49.5 x 11 reps (left) / 10 reps (right); 67.8lbs (left) / 66lbs (right) (+1-2 reps)
April 10 Analysis
After doing the set of partial dumbbell press, my left front delts were pumped, but not fatigued. In the partial dumbbell press, I tend to struggle slightly above the halfway point. This is more of a long head of triceps exercise rather than a side delt or front delt exercise. Because the front delts and side delts aren’t the weak points, it’s isolation exercises weren’t compromised. I think for now on, I’m going to just stick to this partial dumbbell press and progress on it due to involving all heads of triceps, time saving, joint adaptaions, and inherent complexity of the move.
If we recall from Blog 10,
Barbell Standing Shoulder Press = Seated Dumbbell Press (weakest hand only) * 1.915
Using this estimate, the weakest side of the standing partial dumbbell press is the right side at 74.7 lbs 1 rep max.
Estimate Shoulder Press = 74.7 * 1.915 = 143.05
The Shoulder Press on 3/28/26 was 135lbs x 5 reps; 151.7lbs 1 rep max or 79.2 estimated 1RM for dumbbell press. There are two caveats to this data: the formula is with seated press instead of the recent performance being standing press, and I did this exercise shortly and spontaneously after I broke my fast without warming up, somehow thinking that I was going to be able to do at least 10 reps; still in partial denial. With warming up, I probably could have done 9-10 reps on the right side, but then again, it’s with 60.5lb (~115lb shoulder press) instead of 70.5lb (~135lb shoulder press). The 1RM is better in lighter weights than heavier weights for me. I chose 60.5 because I want to get good at pressing 115lb shoulder press for reps as a long-term goal.
At this point in my strength distribution, this is the perfect time for me to do partial shoulder press as long as I maintain or progress in my front and side delts while keeping the core muscles in mind. I’m planning on doing them one arm at a time because I can easily initiate negative after my best effort in the concentric set, then a drop set of the same. I’m thinking about the program creation as we speak, and will most likely do an alternate 2-day split of barbell shoulder press one day and dumbbell shoulder press the next day. Even though I’m a bit behind, I like this situation because I have a valid reason to do partials, and if I progress well on them using my one-arm tactics, I can progress well on them to finally break some lifelong plateaus and grow some bigger triceps in the same effort; all in one exercise. I’m getting tired of having to worry about isolating triceps while having shoulder press in mind. Now that my shoulders are stronger relative to triceps and chest development, partial shoulder press, if done well, can save me time and effort and improve adherence because it minimizes stages in the strength development, yet have some isolation or sense of control in the situation.