Fok the Gym: the fundamental theorem of arm pressing

If calculus can have a fundamental theorem then why can't I?  Thus, the fundamental theorem of arm pressing.

Let's clarify a few terms before I go on.  

First what do I mean by arm pressing? It could be a shoulder press, a bench press, a dip, a decline press, so on and so forth.

Second what do I mean by fundamental theorem?  Fundamental to any arm press, there are three fundamental movements.  The first is the sweeping backwards of the shoulders.  Second is the acute angle between forearm and bicep that is formed when one lowers the bar to his chest or anytime the the knuckles of the hand are in parallel or below the chest.  Third is the wrist joint.  Often overlooked in arm press training, the wrists are one small important part of the kinetic chain in the arm press movements.

Now I'm going to blow your mind.

I claim that without a strong bench press you can't have a strong shoulder press, or without a strong decline press you can't have a strong behind the neck press.  In other words, all arm pressing is interrelated and dependent on each other because of the simple fact of the fundamental theorem of arm pressing.

All the varieties of arm pressing all follow the same principle:  sweep the shoulders rearwards, form a twenty degree or less angle between forearm and bicep making them almost touch each other, and use the wrists and hands as bar stabilizers during the movement.

Now what do you do with information?

The answer is train all varieties of arm pressing even if your only goal is to get stronger in the bench press, or shoulder press, etc., because they are all linked in a symbiotic kinetic chain.

When training the bench press, your pectoral muscles and front deltoids will fatigue quickly.  Remedy that by moving onto the shoulder press.  It will still train your upper pectorals and upper deltoids, and that will have tremendous strength training carry over to your bench press but lessen the stress on the lower pectorals and front deltoids. Then move onto a behind the neck shoulder press because that will focus on the posterior deltoids and triceps and wrists and forearms.  

A side note about the dip. Dips only lead to strength carryover to other arm presses if they don't violate the fundamental theorem of arm pressing which means the shoulders sweep backwards putting a nice stretch on the pectorals and front deltoids, the wrists and forearms stabilize the movement and the acute angle between bicep and forearm closes them together almost touching each other.

Another side note.  Cable tricep pushdowns have zero strength carryover to any arm press.  For the fact the cable pushdowns violate the fundamental theorem of arm pressing.  True, the movement forces the angle between forearm and bicep closed but it completely misses the pectoral and front deltoid stretch.  That stretch is essential for any accessory movement to have strength gain carryover to any arm press.

Last but not least are the wrists and forearms.  Train the wrists by putting them close to each other in the middle of the bar while arm pressing.  This will also tax your forearms.  Then to hit the forearms, alternate on one day with underhand bicep curls and then on your next workout, do overhand bicep curls.  Overhand bicep curls will alleviate stress on your bicep tendons and will minimize the chance of bicep tendon tears.