Strength discipline · Weights

Dumbbell shoulder press

Dumbbell shoulder press is a strength discipline in BYOH, trained with weights and building arms and core. Its ladder runs from 6 reps at BW/12 at Level 1 to 6 reps at BW/4 at Level 9, and Level 10 is the world record.

The ten levels

BYOH measures a discipline in ten cleared levels. Level 9 is a genuine feat; Level 10 is the standing world record, which is there to be looked at rather than reached.

Dumbbell shoulder press starts at Level 1 with 6 reps at BW/12. Level 5 asks for 6 reps at BW/6, and Level 9 - the last level a person can train towards - 6 reps at BW/4. The largest single jump is from Level 8 to Level 9, 6 reps at BW/4.5 to 6 reps at BW/4.

Dumbbell shoulder press level thresholds in BYOH
Level	Target
1	6 reps at BW/12
2	6 reps at BW/10
3	6 reps at BW/8
4	6 reps at BW/7
5	6 reps at BW/6
6	6 reps at BW/5.5
7	6 reps at BW/5
8	6 reps at BW/4.5
9	6 reps at BW/4
10 · Legend	Provisional legend benchmark

The load is a fraction of your own bodyweight — BW÷12, BW÷10, BW÷8, BW÷7, BW÷6, BW÷5.5, BW÷5, BW÷4.5, BW÷4 across the ten levels — so the kilograms follow the hero rather than the table. For a female hero the upper body reference is 0.60 of that.

The record past Level 9

Dumbbell shoulder press — Provisional legend benchmark.

BYOH uses a provisional final gate until a comparable governed record format is selected. This is a provisional benchmark rather than a governed record.

How it is done

While holding a dumbbell in each hand, sit on a military press bench or utility bench that has back support. Place the dumbbells upright on top of your thighs.
Now raise the dumbbells to shoulder height one at a time using your thighs to help propel them up into position.
Make sure to rotate your wrists so that the palms of your hands are facing forward. This is your starting position.
Now, exhale and push the dumbbells upward until they touch at the top.
Then, after a brief pause at the top contracted position, slowly lower the weights back down to the starting position while inhaling.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Movement guidance and imagery from the public-domain Free Exercise DB. BYOH adds the level thresholds.

How the attempt is judged

A level only means something if two heroes clearing it have done the same thing. These are the rules BYOH counts an attempt by — they are the rules of a game, not coaching.

What counts as one: One repetition is from the dumbbells at shoulder height to straight arms overhead, and back.
The set: One unbroken set with both dumbbells. You may pause holding the weights at the start position; setting either down ends the set.
What you need: Standing, feet under the hips, dumbbells at the shoulders. The load is the combined weight of both dumbbells: your bodyweight divided by the level's figure, and BYOH scales that for a female hero's reference.
What ends it: Bending the knees to drive the weight up, or leaning back to press, voids the repetition.

What it builds

Dumbbell shoulder press feeds Arms and Core in a hero’s record, working shoulders, triceps.

Dumbbell shoulder press is one of 32 strength disciplines. It shares its weights requirement with 10 other strength disciplines. Arms is also built by pull-ups, cross-body hammer curl, chin-ups and 2 more, and a broad attribute needs several of them rather than one taken far.

Quests that ask for it

Forged TogetherDiscipline · Level 5
The Walking ArmouryDiscipline · Level 7

Put it on a record

BYOH turns these levels into a hero: what you clear becomes attributes, quests and a character that grows with your training. It is free, and in open alpha.

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