Exercise guide
Cuban Press
The Cuban Press combines an upright scarecrow position, external shoulder rotation, and an overhead press. The shoulders perform the main movement while the traps help stabilize the upper body. Because the rotation phase uses a long lever, the exercise is normally performed with light dumbbells.
Training context
Setup cues for the Cuban Press
The upper arms remain near shoulder height as the forearms rotate from pointing downward to pointing upward. The elbows should not travel significantly during this phase.
This is not intended to be a heavy pressing exercise. A load that is easy to press may still be too heavy to rotate with control.
Technique overview
Control the rotation before pressing
Raise the upper arms to the sides with the elbows bent and forearms hanging. Rotate until the wrists are above the elbows without shrugging or arching the back. Press overhead, then reverse the press and rotation in the same order. Stop if the shoulders feel pinched or the elbows cannot remain controlled.
Treat this as an overview and use a range, pace, and setup you can control.