The Cuban Press: What It Does, How to Do It, and Who Actually Needs It

The cuban press combines three movements into one: an upright row to shoulder height, an external rotation of the shoulder, and an overhead press. It is not a mass builder and it will not add kilos to your bench in a week. Its job is keeping your shoulder capable of handling everything else you do in the gym.

What it actually does

The main targets are the external rotators of the shoulder — infraspinatus and teres minor. Along the way you get the rear delt, the mid and lower traps and the rhomboids during the row, plus front delt and triceps during the press.

Why train that separately: in most people who bench, do push-ups and press regularly, the internal rotators end up far stronger than the external ones. A reasonable target is external rotation strength sitting around 65–75% of internal rotation strength. When the ratio drops well below that, the shoulder eventually complains — usually at the front, during overhead pressing, or when you sleep on that side.

The second benefit is scapular control. The cuban press forces you to hold the elbow at shoulder height while rotating, and that is exactly the position where the shoulder depends most on the traps doing their job. If you cannot control it, you will see it immediately: the load pulls you forward and your shoulders creep toward your ears.

Technique, step by step

1. Setup. Standing, feet hip-width, dumbbells in hand, palms facing your body, arms relaxed in front of your thighs. Ribs down, light abdominal brace, knees soft.
2. Row to 90 degrees. Pull the elbows up and out until the upper arms are parallel to the floor and the elbows are exactly at shoulder height — no higher. Forearms hang straight down, elbow angle 90 degrees. Keep the elbows 20–30 degrees in front of your torso, not straight out to the sides.
3. External rotation. Without moving the elbows, rotate the forearms up until they are vertical, or as far as the shoulder allows without the elbow dropping. This is the slow part: count 2 seconds.
4. Press. From that position press the dumbbells overhead until the elbows lock out. Ribs stay down, no arching through the lower back.
5. Reverse the path. Lower back to the forearms-up position, rotate down under control for 2–3 seconds, then lower the arms to your sides.

One rep takes 6–8 seconds. If it takes you 2 seconds, you are not doing a cuban press, you are throwing dumbbells around.

Load, sets and reps

• Starting weight: 2–3 kg per hand for most men, 1–2 kg for most women. Yes, that light.
• Realistic ceiling: 5–8 kg per hand. If you are using 12 kg or more, film yourself from the side — you are almost certainly using momentum or cutting the rotation short.
• Sets and reps: 2–3 sets of 10–15 reps, never to failure.
• Rest: 45–60 seconds.
• Frequency: 2–3 times per week, 6–9 total sets weekly.
• Progression: add reps first (10 up to 15), then add 0.5–1 kg. Jumping from 4 kg to 6 kg is a huge jump for this movement.

Where it belongs in a session

Two placements that work:

• Warm-up: 1–2 sets of 10 reps with 2 kg before bench press or overhead press. Three to four minutes total.
• End of session: 3 sets of 12–15 in the last 8–10 minutes of an upper body day.

What does not work: making it the first heavy exercise of the day, or grinding it to failure. Fatigued external rotators going into heavy pressing is worse than skipping the exercise entirely.

Common mistakes

• Too much weight. You spot it by the shoulders rising toward the ears and the torso leaning back.
• Elbows above shoulder height during the row. This is the most common reason the movement irritates a shoulder.
• Rotating from the wrist instead of the shoulder. The wrist stays neutral throughout.
• Rushing. Without 2 seconds in the rotation, the exercise loses its point.
• Arching the lower back during the press — a sign you have gone past your usable overhead range.
• Training through pain. If the shoulder already hurts, this is not the exercise that fixes it.

Who it pays off for

• People doing a lot of horizontal pressing — benching twice a week with little pulling to balance it.
• Overhead sports: volleyball, handball, tennis, swimming, throwing events.
• Anyone sitting 8 hours a day and lifting 3–4 times a week.
• People who have finished shoulder rehab and need a bridge back to normal training.

Who can skip it for now

• Complete beginners in their first 2–3 months. Lying external rotations and face pulls are simpler and give you the same thing.
• Anyone with current shoulder pain.
• Anyone who cannot get their arms overhead without arching the lower back — fix the mobility first.

Substitutes if it does not suit you

If you cannot hit the positions cleanly, pick something simpler: face pulls 3 sets of 12–15, lying dumbbell external rotations with 2–4 kg for 3 sets of 12, banded external rotations at your side for 2–3 sets of 15–20, or incline bench Y-raises with 2 kg for 3 sets of 12. The effect on the external rotators is very close.

When to see a doctor

The cuban press is an exercise for a healthy shoulder, not a treatment. See a doctor or physiotherapist if any of this applies:

• Pain that wakes you at night, or stops you sleeping on that side, for more than 2 weeks.
• You cannot actively raise the arm above 90 degrees.
• Tingling, numbness or weakness in the hand and fingers.
• Pain following a fall or impact, especially with a visible deformity.
• Pain that does not settle after 3–4 weeks of reduced load.
• Swelling, redness or heat around the joint.

Pain rated 4 or higher on a 0–10 scale during the exercise itself means stop right there.

The short version

• The cuban press trains the external rotators and scapular control, not size.
• Technique: row to elbows at shoulder height, rotate for 2 seconds, press, then reverse the same path — 6–8 seconds per rep.
• Start at 2–3 kg, ceiling around 5–8 kg; 2–3 sets of 10–15, two or three times a week.
• Use it as a warm-up or a finisher, never as the first heavy lift and never to failure.
• Shoulder pain, night pain, tingling or an arm you cannot lift belong at a doctor, not in another set.