Everyone wants bigger glutes and rock-solid abs, but what about those shoulders?
Building broader shoulders is beneficial to both men and women. They assist you achieve the X-frame style and make your waist appear smaller! Shoulder strength is important for daily activities in addition to aesthetics. It's entirely on your shoulders to clean up and take in the groceries! Shoulder exercises should be included in your training routine if you want to be strong, healthy, and balanced.
Here are 5 amazing exercises for working the various regions of your shoulders and assisting you in achieving those increases.
1. Lateral Rear Delt Raises using a Seated Bent-over Position
The name gives it away, but these are going to help you bulk up your rear delts (basically, the back part of your shoulder).
Begin by sitting down and holding a dumbbell in each hand. Raise the dumbbells until your rear delts are fully engaged by leaning forward slightly. To get the most out of the exercise, keep the movement gradual and controlled.
2. Lateral Raises
After working the back of the shoulders, it's time to move on to the sides.
Lateral raises are almost identical to lateral raises, but the burden is distributed to the lateral head of the delts - again the name says it all
Stand tall with a dumbell in each hand, raise your arms to the side until they are lateral to the floor (don't fully lock your arms out; you want to maintain a small bend). This is crucial; don't cheat yourself out of a rep! Reduce the weight if you're having trouble hitting parallel.
Maintain a moderate and controlled movement while concentrating on contracting your delts.
3. Frontal Raises
With frontal raises, the anterior (front) delts will be worked. While these exercises may appear to be fairly similar, it is critical to ensure that your shoulder workouts target all of the different parts of the delts in order to achieve muscular balance.
Begin frontal lifts in the same standing stance as you did lateral raises. Raise your arms in front of you without locking them out, hold for a few seconds, and then slowly lower them to your sides.
For these workouts, you don't want to be rocking side to side or backwards and forwards. If this is the case, you should either engage your core to help with stability or reduce the weight you're using to guarantee your shoulders benefit.
4. Military Press
One of the most efficient workouts for developing anterior deltoids is the military press. It does, however, engage the lateral and posterior heads, giving you a complete shoulder workout.
Begin by resting the bar in the squat rack at roughly the same height as though you were going to squat. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and grasp the bar like you would if you were performing a bench press. Raise the bar above your head and slightly tilt your head back. Throughout the exercise, make sure your back is neutral and your core is engaged.
Return the bar to roughly shoulder height and repeat the exercise.
5. Wide-grip Upright Row
Last but not least, the wide-grip upright row will target your middle and posterior delts. This workout can be done with dumbbells, a barbell, or even a smith machine. Begin by standing with your feet hip-width apart and the bar (or dumbbells) at thigh level.
Position your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with an upright grip. Flex your shoulders and steadily raise the bar or dumbbells to your chin (not all the way to your chin; approximately chest height is ideal!).
Hold for a few seconds in this posture to feel the heat in your shoulders, then slowly lower the bar back down to your thighs.
