Whether you’re trying to get bigger shoulders or are trying to increase strength, its imperative you workout your shoulders correctly. By building bigger shoulders you give your body’s physique a much more aesthetic look. You can also increase your bench press by building bigger shoulders as well. Not to mention, your shoulders are an important muscle group that helps with stabilizationin pressing exercises. Whether you like working out your shoulders on chest day or dedicate a whole day to them, GYMCADDY has you covered with our list of Best Shoulder Workouts. As always, remember to pick up your GYMCADDY Today!
If you're more into bodybuilding you may be asking yourself how to get big shoulders, and thats perfectly fine. But first, we would like to teach you a little more about your shoulders. Your shoulders are made up of 3 key muscles; the anterior deltoid, lateral deltoid, and posterior deltoid. These 3 muscles work together to move your arms around in multiple directions. Whether you're into bodybuilding, powerlifting, or any other training style its imperative you have good posture before you try focusing on these muscles. If you fail to correct your posture before hand you will run the risk of injury, and making your posture even worse. Click here to read our article on how to correct your posture.
Standing Shoulder Press
Whether youre a beginner or veteran we recommend you start incorporating standing shoulders presses into your workout routine. The standing shoulder press is an amazing exercise because it not only targets your shoulders but also your core and trains your balance as well. The standing shoulder press is also great because it allows you to move the bar on a much more natural path than if you were on a machine. This natural bar path will also help keep your shoulders healthy and away from injury. The standing shoulder press can be done either with a barbell or two dumbbells. The two different methods will also change the sensation of the standing shoulder press. If you’re new to lifting then we recommend you start off with dumbbells, if you have some experience lifting and are trying to increase your bench then we recommend you proceed with the barbell variant. No matter which variant you choose, its imperative you press all the way up and bring the weight all the way down. To the point where the barbell rests on your clavicle or the dumbbells tap your shoulders. Its also important to point out the standing shoulder press is vastly different from the push press. There should be absolutely no pushing off with your legs before each rep to build moment and aiding you on the lift off of the exercise. If you find yourself needing to kick, then you should lower the weight. We also like to advise our clients to take a narrow stance when preforming this exercise so your core is activated as well.
Standing Single Arm Shoulder Press
Another great exercise you can do while standing and with minimal equipment is the Standing Single Arm Shoulder Press. Again, by standing you will not only workout your shoulders, you will also workout your core and train your balance. The Standing Single Arm Shoulder Press is also great because it will allow you to press the weight in the most natural path possible, keeping you safe and preventing injury.
The Arnold Press
Next up is the ever so popular Arnold Press. Made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself, this exercise is great because it targets all three delts that make up the shoulder. We recommend that everyone who tries this exercise shoulder focus more on the quality of the rep and worry about who's putting up the most weight. This advice to goes to everyone. The Arnold Press should also be done slowly so that theres more time under tension for the muscles involved.
Single Landmine Press
If you read our article on How To Get A Bigger Chest, you may have seen we mentioned the Landmine. Well the landmine press also makes for a great shoulder exercise if you change it a little. By switching from a dual grip landmine press to a single arm landmine press you'll be sure to give your lateral delt a killer workout. You can also switch it up some more by doing an alternative single arm land mine press where you do on rep with your left arm and then switch grip to your right arm until you've done 10 reps per arm. The alternative single arm landmine press wont just get your shoulders on fire, it'll also increase your heart rate so you get a quick burst of cardio in you weightlifting session.
Reverse Machine Shoulder Press
Ok, this next exercise might seem a little weird and you'll basically be sitting on the machine backwards. If you have access to a Hammer Strength Shoulder Press then you should try out the Reverse Hammer Strength Machine Shoulder Press. Although this is a mouthful of a name, this exercise is great because it attacks your shoulder like no other and the contraction on this exercise is like no other. Its important to note that this exercise should be done with light weight and higher volume than most. This is one of those “finisher” exercises that we like to incorporate into the tail end of a workout routine to get a few contractions in.
Dumbbell Rear Delt Flies
The Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly is a great isolation exercise that will focus on the Posterior Deltoid. This simple but effective exercises should be done with lower weights and with volume in mind. This exercise can be super effective if you incorporate a 2 second hold at the top of the fly. The Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly is also a great exercise to incorporate into a super set with the standing shoulder press.
Dive Bomber Push Ups
Finally theres the Dive Bomber Push Ups. This intricate exercise is not only super effective if done correctly, it also doesn't require any equipment. Although you will have to practice a few times before you get it right, you will get a full body workout from this one exercise alone. The Dive Bomber Push Up should only be attempted if you can already do proper push ups.
Want More? Checkout Our Other Articles
The Best Chest Exercises You Should Be Doing
How To Fix Your Hunched Posture
Fitbit Chrage 2 Review