Shoulder Exercises and Workouts - A Look at Some of The Best Shoulder Exercises and Workouts You Can Do
The Shoulders are made up of 3 muscle groups. The anterior(front), medial(middle) and posterior(rear) deltiods. Each head will require different lifting exercises/techniques in order to fully develop the shoulder muscles so lets take a look at some of the different shoulder exercises and workouts you can perform.
Shoulder Press
The shoulder press is the king of shoulder exercises as it works the majority of muscles in the shoulder. To perform the shoulder press, grab a dumbbell or barbell just over shoulder width apart and position the weight up by your shoulders. Your palms should be facing away from you when gripping the weight. Now push the weight up above your head to arms length. Hold for a second and then lower the weight in a controlled manner back to just above shoulder height.
Front Raises
Take hold of a pair of dumbbells using an overhand grip, and position them down towards your thighs. Palms should be facing inwards towards your body. Raise a dumbbell (or both) up in front of you whilst keeping the arms straight. The elbow may be slightly bent to make the raise more comfortable should you wish to do so. Raise the weight to around eye level and then lower it back to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of reps. Make sure you do not cheat on this exercise by swaying or leaning your body in any way. Keep strict form and ensure the weight is under control at all times. The weight should go straight up and not to the side when lifting. This exercise can be done seated or standing.
Side Raises/Lateral Raises
Grasp two dumbbells and place them down by your side. Dumbbells should be horizontally placed in your hands with palms facing in towards your thighs. Keeping arms reasonably straight (there may be a slight bend in the elbow however), raise them up and out towards the side. Raise them to shoulder height and then slowly back down to your sides. This exercise will require you to use a much lower weight than you normally would so be careful.
Barbell Upright row
Grasp a barbell with hands shoulder width apart using an overhand grip (palms facing towards your body). Pull the bar up towards the neck whilst allowing the elbows to bend. Allow wrists to flex as the bar rises. Raise the bar to around neck height then lower and repeat.