Behind the Neck Barbell Presses Aggravate Shoulder - What to Do?

I tend to stay away from any movements that require you to push or pull from behind the neck (Lat Pulldowns, Barbell Presses, etc.) as I feel this puts the neck and the shoulder in very unnatural positions that invite injury.

One of the best and safest exercises I've found for all-around shoulder development is the Seated Dumbbell Press.

When doing seated presses for shoulder development, you want to maintain the stress on your delts by not locking out your elbows in the top position.

Locking your elbows out actually serves to take the weight off your delts and thus gives them a momentary break from the set. This break is clearly counter-productive to growth and development.

By maintaining continuous tension on the delts, you'll dramatically increase the effectiveness of this movement. You may have to drop your poundage down slightly, but I've found that with most people shoulders respond well to highly controlled, continuous tension sets.