Training guide
The Cuban press is a light-dumbbell shoulder exercise in three parts: lift your elbows out to shoulder height with your forearms hanging, turn your forearms up until your hands are over your elbows, then press overhead. The turn is the work of your rotator cuff, so the weights are much lighter than for a shoulder press, and every step has a 3D demo below.
No study has tested the Cuban press itself. Studies of its parts show the turn works the rotator cuff and the deltoids hard, and that its starting position, arm out and turned in, is the one that loads the shoulder most, which is why it stays light and stops at shoulder height. It won't bulletproof your shoulders, and with a sore shoulder it's one to leave out.
This guide shows the press step by step, the ladder from simple rotations, how heavy to go, what the shoulder claims rest on, how many to do, and who should change it.
With light dumbbells, lead with your elbows out to the sides until your upper arms are level with your shoulders and your forearms hang down, a short upright row. Keeping your elbows at shoulder height, turn your forearms up until your hands are over your elbows: an outward rotation at 90 degrees, the "90/90" or Cuban rotation. Then press overhead, and reverse each part to lower.
We found no study of the Cuban press or the Cuban rotation itself. The only outcome study that used it put it inside a 15-minute programme in one team of 20 swimmers, with no comparison group. Everything else on this page comes from studies of its parts.
Source 4
With a 1 kg weight in 30 healthy adults, turning the arm out at 90 degrees worked the rotator cuff, but the front and middle deltoid and the serratus anterior worked hard too. Lying on your side with your elbow tucked singles out the cuff better.
With the upper arm out at shoulder height and turned in, as at the top of the lift, force under the shoulder's bony roof was about seven times higher than with the arm turned out in 13 healthy adults. The Cuban press starts there and turns out of it, so keep it light and your elbows no higher than your shoulders, as our upright row guide advises.
Coaches use dumbbells of about 1.5 to 4.5 kg (3 to 10 lb), or a broomstick to learn. Lifters who trained their outward rotators had fewer signs of impingement in a snapshot study that can't show cause, and whole shoulder warm-up programmes cut shoulder problems in some handball trials but not others. Nothing has tested the Cuban press for preventing injury.
Learn the turn with your elbow at your side first, then with the arm raised, as NHS and sports-medicine programmes do. Then 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 with light dumbbells, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (the move page's dose), 2 or 3 times a week. With shoulder pain, impingement, a recent dislocation or a shoulder that feels loose, leave it out and follow our shoulder pain guides.
A light-dumbbell shoulder exercise in three parts: a short upright row to shoulder height with your elbows out to the sides, an outward turn of the upper arm with the elbow bent to a right angle (forearms from hanging down to pointing up, the "90/90" position), and an overhead press. Coaching pages and our move page describe the same three parts.
The name is usually credited to the strength coach Charles Poliquin; one coaching site says he supposedly named it after Cuban lifters, and we couldn't confirm the story.
The turn is the job of two of the four rotator cuff muscles, the infraspinatus and teres minor, helped by the back of the deltoid; with the arm raised, the supraspinatus works more, as our external rotation guide explains. In the one study of the standing 90/90 position with a weight, the front and middle deltoid, the upper trapezius and the serratus anterior also worked hard, so it isn't an isolation exercise for the cuff. The lift works the side of the shoulder and the upper trapezius, and the press the deltoids and triceps.
At the top of the lift, your upper arm is out at shoulder height and turned in, with the forearm hanging: the position in which force under the shoulder's bony roof was highest in 13 healthy adults (21.3 newtons, against 3 or less turned out). Turning your forearms up moves the arm into the lower-force position, and holding 4 kg, the space under the roof was larger at 90 degrees turned out than at the top of an upright row in 25 men.
A scan study adds a caution: the gap itself was widest turned in, but the tendon sat closest to the roof's front edge. The measures differ, so the evidence is mixed; the practical rule, elbows no higher than your shoulders, light and slow, is the same either way.
Not a strength press: the weights are too light to load the press. Not a lateral raise: the side of your shoulder grows best with raises, as our lateral raise guide says. And not the Arnold press, which turns your palms during a press from in front of your shoulders.
Shoulders that reach overhead without pain, the Cuban rotation (the move page's prerequisite), and an easy band or side-lying rotation with your elbow at your side (the Cuban rotation's prerequisite).
Shoulders that don't reach overhead comfortably will arch your back in the press: stop the press short or leave it out (editorial). With very flexible shoulders, or a shoulder that has dislocated or feels loose, leave the 90/90 turn until a physiotherapist clears it, as our external rotation guide says. Every muscle-activity study here is small and in healthy young or middle-aged adults; none was in older adults or people with shoulder pain.
From our move page, Coach magazine, StrengthLog and BarBend; the pace and breathing are editorial.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Cuban press
We searched PubMed and Europe PMC and found no study of the Cuban press or the Cuban rotation. The nearest is a case study of one team of 20 female college swimmers who did a 15-minute corrective programme twice a week for a season, including banded and then dumbbell Cuban presses: 3 of 18 had shoulder injuries, against 8 of 20 the season before. The authors say the lack of a control group limits what it shows, and it can't credit any one exercise.
Source 4
In 30 active adults with a 1 kg weight, standing outward rotation at 90 degrees worked the supraspinatus at 60%, the subscapularis at 75% and the infraspinatus at 31% of a reference effort, but also the front deltoid at 126%, the middle deltoid at 68% and the serratus anterior at 160% (the reference was a rotation effort, so values can pass 100%). Infraspinatus activity didn't differ across five rotation exercises.
With a band at 90 degrees in 13 men, a moderate band drew more infraspinatus activity than a light one (38% against 27% of maximum). Rotation at 90 degrees was among 7 tubing exercises that worked every rotator cuff muscle above 20% of maximum in 15 men, and in 10 people, lying on your side drew the most infraspinatus and teres minor activity of 7 rotation exercises. Muscle activity shows effort, not what a muscle will build.
In 77 men, signs of shoulder impingement went with lateral raises and upright rows above shoulder height, and were less common in those who trained their outward rotators. The same inverse link appeared for signs of a loose shoulder in 159 men, and 24 lifters with impingement signs had weaker outward rotators than 31 without. Snapshots like these can't show cause. Shoulders account for up to 36% of documented weight training injuries, but what predicts them is poorly studied.
An NHS physiotherapy booklet puts rotation with the shoulder and elbow at 90 degrees at its hardest level, after easier versions, and a sports-medicine review adds it as the athlete regains strength and control. The Cuban press, which adds a lift and a press, belongs after that.
Standing band external rotation, 2 sets of 12 to 15 each arm (our shoulder workout at home), or side-lying rotation on a bench, 8 to 15 reps working up to 3 sets with a light dumbbell (the move page's dose, from NHS Ayrshire & Arran). On the floor, our Pilates for shoulder pain workout uses 2 sets of 8 with a tin of beans or nothing.
Source 12
Prone dumbbell external rotation: 3 sets of 8 to 15 with a light dumbbell (the move page's dose, from NHS Ayrshire & Arran).
Source 12
Standing, the 90/90 turn on its own: 2 sets of 10, turning up over 5 seconds and down over 5 (our shoulder care routine for swimmers).
The dumbbell upright row to shoulder height, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 with your elbows no higher than your shoulders (our upright row guide, editorial), and the standing dumbbell press, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 stopping 2 or 3 reps short (the move page's dose).
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 with light dumbbells, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (the move page's dose, which it labels editorial).
Move up a step when the one you're on is easy and pain-free for 2 or 3 sessions (our editorial suggestion). The bench version of side-lying rotation is the same exercise, easier to get on and off.
3D demoStanding band external rotationBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoSide-lying external rotationBeginner · A dumbbell
3D demoSide-lying dumbbell external rotation (on a bench)Beginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoProne dumbbell external rotationIntermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoCuban rotationIntermediate · A dumbbell + A band
3D demoDumbbell upright rowIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoStanding dumbbell shoulder pressIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoCuban pressIntermediate · A dumbbellNo 3D demo shows these.
Stand on a light band and hold an end in each hand: the same three parts, with the band getting harder as you press.
Sitting on a bench with a back support stops you leaning back to finish the press.
Do the turn lying face down on the bench, as the prone rotation demo shows, then press in words: harder to cheat, and lighter still.
A bar fixes your hands and invites more weight, which works against the reason the Cuban press stays light. Most people do better with dumbbells (our editorial view).
One coaching site suggests dumbbells of about 2 to 4.5 kg (5 to 10 lb), calls more than 4.5 kg a hand too heavy, and starts beginners on 1.5 to 2.5 kg, a pipe or nothing at all. Another warns you won't be able to use a lot of weight. Our editorial starting point: a dumbbell you could lateral-raise 15 to 20 times, or about 1 to 2 kg if you're new.
Your elbows drop as your forearms turn, your shoulders shrug, or you lean back to finish the press. Go lighter (editorial).
A moderate band drew more infraspinatus activity than a light one, so the cuff can work harder. But in the 90/90 position the deltoids already work hard with 1 kg, so light is right for the Cuban press because of the position. Build by reps, then by the smallest step you have (0.5 to 1 kg).
Your elbows drop during the turn, your shoulders shrug or your back leans. Go lighter.
Source 24
That's the high-pressure position. Stop at shoulder height.
Turn slowly, only as far as is comfortable.
Source 3
Your upper arms stay still and level; only your forearms move, as the move page cues.
Ribs down and glutes lightly on, and stop the press short if your shoulders don't reach overhead comfortably (editorial).
A sharp pinch means reduce the range or the load, as the Cuban rotation's move page says. If it persists, leave it out.
In 660 elite handball players, a shoulder warm-up programme done 3 times a week, including outward rotation strength, cut the average share with shoulder problems from 23% to 17%. Another programme in adolescent elite players cut the rate of shoulder problems by more than half, but a rubber-band programme in 579 players made no difference. Pooled together, the effect was uncertain, with low-certainty evidence.
The programme that worked raised outward rotation strength no more than usual training (10% against 6%), and an 8-week rotation strength programme raised neither strength nor the balance between outward and inward rotation. A youth baseball warm-up with stretching, mobility and balance work, and no strengthening, also cut throwing injuries. In 113 high-school pitchers, nightly outward rotation holds weren't shown to prevent more injuries than stretching.
Weaker outward rotators went with more shoulder injuries in elite male handball players, youth handball players and professional pitchers, but not in a mixed group of 329 elite players. Reviews rate the evidence from limited to strong. All of it is in overhead athletes, none in people who lift.
We found no shoulder injury prevention trial in weight trainers, and none of the Cuban press. Use it as one part of a balanced routine with rows and face pulls, not as a shield.
Source 4
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (the move page's editorial starting point). A personal trainer uses 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12; another coaching site starts beginners on 3 sets of 6 and goes up to 3 sets of 15 to 20. End each set while your elbows still hold shoulder height.
About 60 seconds, or pair it with a row or a lower-body move and rest after the pair, as our plans' superset note suggests.
2 or 3 times a week, a day apart, as our external rotation guide suggests; a sports-medicine programme uses 3 times a week with a day off between. As a warm-up before pressing or throwing, 1 or 2 light sets.
Source 13
After your main lifts on an upper-body or shoulder day. Don't tire your rotator cuff before heavy overhead pressing (editorial).
Reps to 12, then a slower lowering, then the next dumbbell: one change at a time, as our plans advise.
Both train the back of the shoulder and the outward turn. Face pulls add a high row and take more load; the Cuban press adds a press with very light weights. Many programmes use both, as our external rotation guide says.
The Cuban press starts with a short upright row, so the same rule applies: elbows no higher than your shoulders, as our upright row guide teaches.
It turns your palms as you press from in front of your shoulders: a different movement, and a heavier one. Our Arnold press guide covers it.
For the side of your shoulder, lateral raises do more and can be loaded, as our lateral raise guide says. The Cuban press is a rotator cuff and control exercise.
Face pulls, 3 sets of 12 to 20, 0 to 2 reps short (our shoulder workout at home); prone Y-T-W raises, 5 to 8 of each letter, 2 rounds (our posture guides); band pull-aparts, 15 as a warm-up (our shoulder workout); band internal rotation, 2 rounds of 12 to 15 each arm, and scaption raises, 10 to 12 lowering over 3 seconds (our shoulder mobility and stability routine); lateral raises, 3 sets of 12 to 15 (our shoulder workout); shoulder circles, 3 slow ones each way with each arm, and thoracic rotations, 6 each side (the move pages' doses).
3D demoFace pullIntermediate · A band
3D demoProne Y-T-W raisesBeginner · No equipment
3D demoBand pull-apartIntermediate · A band
3D demoBand internal rotationBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoScaption raiseBeginner · A dumbbell
3D demoDumbbell lateral raiseBeginner · A dumbbell
3D demoShoulder CARs (controlled articular rotations)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoThoracic rotationBeginner · No equipmentThe NHS advises not carrying on with activities that involve repeatedly lifting your arm above your head while impingement settles, and the authors of the 30-person study advise avoiding rotation at 90 degrees with rotator cuff problems. The Cuban press move page says to leave it out with shoulder pain; follow our shoulder pain or impingement guide, which starts the turn with your elbow at your side.
Leave the 90/90 turn, so the Cuban rotation and the Cuban press, until your physiotherapist clears it, as our external rotation guide says.
After a recent shoulder dislocation, or shoulder or elbow surgery, follow your surgical team's limits first.
Source 39
After stabilisation surgery or a rotator cuff repair, follow your surgical team's protocol.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe. Breathe out as you lift, as our breathing guide advises.
Source 40
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
Source 40
The NHS says strength training you already do is fine in pregnancy; stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell. Standing versions suit it.
Source 41
No workout uses the Cuban press yet; the shoulder workout and the swimmers' and climbers' routines use the Cuban rotation, and the shoulder mobility routine starts with elbow-at-side band rotations. Once 2 sets of 10 Cuban rotations are easy and pain-free, you can swap them for Cuban presses at the move page's dose.
A shoulder workout for all three heads: overhead press, lateral raises, reverse flyes, face pulls and rotations.
40 minIntermediate8 movesA band, A barbellA 30-minute home shoulder workout with dumbbells or a band: presses, lateral raises for the side of the shoulder, and rear-shoulder and rotator cuff work.
30 minBeginner8 movesA band, A dumbbellA 25-minute band routine for healthy shoulders: move the shoulder and upper back through their range, then strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulder blades.
25 minBeginner12 movesA wall, A bandA 20-minute rotator cuff and shoulder-blade routine for swimmers, from a 12-week trial in competitive swimmers, plus a daily cross-body stretch.
20 minBeginner9 movesA wall, A dumbbellA 30-minute antagonist workout for climbers: push-ups and presses, band rotations, Y-T-W raises and face pulls, wrist and finger extensions, and a side plank.
30 minBeginner13 movesA band, A dumbbellA 35-minute session for baseball and softball players: the five Shoulder Control exercises, rotator cuff and forearm work, medicine-ball throws and legs.
35 minIntermediate17 movesA dumbbell, A cable machineIf you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
Source 40
For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; arm pain that comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest; severe difficulty breathing, or a chest that feels tight or heavy; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Arm pain that comes with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest is a 999 call, not a rotator cuff problem.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
Source 48
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain, an arm you can't move, a shoulder that has changed shape or is badly swollen, pins and needles that don't go away, no feeling in your arm or shoulder, an arm or shoulder that's hot or cold to touch, pain after an injury or a fall, severe pain in both shoulders, or feeling feverish or unwell. Go to A&E if, after an injury, you can't move your arm or your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape. See a GP if shoulder pain is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care. While your shoulder is sore, the NHS says not to make up your own strenuous exercises or use heavy gym equipment.
Keep shoulder pain to about 5 out of 10 or less during the exercise, back to its usual level by your next session, as our shoulder guides advise. A sharp pinch means lower, lighter or stop.
Sudden weakness lifting or turning your arm after a fall or a wrench needs prompt checking, as our external rotation guide says. See a GP promptly rather than trying to strengthen it.
Or a muscle that looks thinner: see a GP or physiotherapist, as our back of shoulder pain guide says, because a nerve can be involved.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
Source 51
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe. Breathe out as you lift, as our breathing guide advises.
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
No trial has tested it. In lifters, outward-rotator training went with fewer impingement signs in a snapshot that can't show cause. Whole warm-up programmes cut shoulder problems in some handball trials but not others, the one that worked didn't act through rotation strength, and a baseball programme with no strengthening worked too. Do it as part of a balanced routine, not as a shield.
As a blanket rule, no. It passes through the arm-out-and-turned-in position that loaded the shoulder's roof most in a lab, but light, slow and stopping at shoulder height, it keeps to our upright row guide's rules, and the turn moves the arm into the lower-force position. With a sore shoulder, leave it out.
At high efforts the deltoid takes over in outward rotation, as our external rotation guide says, and in the 90/90 position the deltoids already work hard with 1 kg. Light to moderate is the range.
Source 5
A moderate band drew more infraspinatus activity than a light one, and heavier and lighter programmes worked equally well in rotator cuff pain, as our external rotation guide says. Light suits the Cuban press because of the position, not because the cuff can't work harder.
Source 15
We found no study of the Cuban press and posture. Our rounded shoulders guide's evidence is for whole strengthening programmes, and posture isn't a reliable cause of shoulder pain.
With a bar your hands are fixed and you can load more, which works against the light-load logic of the position (our editorial view). Use dumbbells or a band.
A light-dumbbell shoulder exercise in three parts: lift your elbows out to shoulder height with your forearms hanging, turn your forearms up until your hands are over your elbows, then press overhead. It joins an outward rotation of the shoulder, the rotator cuff's job, to a press.
The turn works the rotator cuff, mainly the infraspinatus and teres minor, with the supraspinatus busy because your arm is raised; the deltoids, upper trapezius and serratus anterior work hard too. In one study with a 1 kg weight, the front deltoid and serratus worked at a higher share of their maximum than the cuff did in this position. The press adds the deltoids and triceps.
It's a reasonable light accessory for healthy shoulders, but nothing has tested it. Lifters who trained their outward rotators had fewer signs of impingement in one snapshot study, which can't show cause. With a sore shoulder, leave it out and follow our shoulder pain guides.
Not as a rule, but its start, upper arm at shoulder height and turned in, is the position that loaded the shoulder's roof most in a lab study. Keep it light, stop your elbows at shoulder height, turn slowly, and leave it out if it pinches.
Much lighter than your shoulder press: coaches use dumbbells of about 1.5 to 4.5 kg (3 to 10 lb), or a broomstick to learn. If your elbows drop during the turn or you lean back to press, go lighter.
Start with 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, 2 or 3 times a week: our move page's editorial starting point. Coaches use 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12.
Nobody has tested it. Whole shoulder warm-up programmes cut problems in some handball trials but not others, and the pooled effect is uncertain. The programme that worked didn't do it by making the rotators stronger.
Both train the back of the shoulder and the outward turn. Face pulls add a high row and let you use more load; the Cuban press adds a press with very light weights. Many programmes use both.
The Cuban press starts with a short upright row, so the same rule applies: elbows no higher than your shoulders. The Arnold press turns your palms as you press from in front of your shoulders, a different movement. For the side of your shoulder, lateral raises do more and can be loaded.
A light band under your feet works like dumbbells, and sitting with your back supported stops you leaning back; neither has a 3D demo. A barbell fixes your hands and invites more weight, so most people do better with dumbbells.
The turn on its own: upper arms out at shoulder height, elbows bent, forearms turning up and back down, with no press. It's the step before the Cuban press; our swimmers' routine does 2 sets of 10, 5 seconds each way, and our external rotation guide teaches it.
It's usually credited to the strength coach Charles Poliquin, who is said to have named it after Cuban lifters. We couldn't confirm the story.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
