While it may not be as impressive-looking as strapping plates around your waist and doing pull-ups until the cows come home, the simple face pull is a staple exercise for building a set of strong, robust, and muscular shoulders while targeting the multiple muscles that makeup your entire upper back.

While most rowing movements target larger back muscles like the lats and most shoulder exercises involve pressing which may aggravate joint issues, the face pull gives attention where it’s most needed. Here’s how to get the very best out of this reliable movement. 

Face Pull

• How to Do the Face Pull
• Face Pull Mistakes to Avoid
• How to Progress the Face Pull
• Benefits of the Face Pull
• Muscles Worked by the Face Pull
• How to Program the Face Pull
• Face Pull Variations
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Face Pull

The face pull is a type of rowing exercise, performed standing in front of an adjustable cable pulley. A successful and efficient face pull shares the workload between your traps and shoulders, while minimizing assistance from your biceps. To pull this off, you need to nail the grip, arm position, and cable path.

Step 1 — Proper Height with Proper Grip

Set a cable pulley at eye-level and attach a rope handle. Getting the proper cable height is critical to engage the target muscles. Grab the rope handle with your palms down, your palms facing back toward you, and your knuckles facing each other.

Form Tip: If the pulley is set too high or too low, you’ll change the focus of the exercise away with different muscle recruitment. This can sometimes be done deliberately, to intentionally recruit a variety of muscles, but the basic and most efficient setting is roughly in-line with your eyes.

Step 2 — Stretch to Start

Step back from the pulley far enough to allow your arms to fully straighten. The slack should be taken out of the cable without the weights lifting from the stack. Start with your shoulders protracted (rounded forward). This will put your traps and rhomboids (upper back muscles) into a stretch, which helps to build mobility and strength. (1)

Form Tip: If you feel yourself being pulled forward and you’re too unstable, you can use a staggered or split stance with one foot in front of the other, or put one foot up on a sturdy support like the edge of a bench. This will let you focus your energy on the pulling motion rather than fighting to stay upright.

Step 3 — Pull to Your Face

Pull the weight straight toward your face, at eye-level, by driving the dorsal (back) side of your hands and forearms back behind you. As you reach the top position, feel your shoulder blades naturally move down to your back pockets. Don’t let your shoulders shrug up. Do not overfocus on pulling with your shoulder blades or overexaggerate the motion, because other back muscles should be involved in the movement.

In the finished position, your fists should be beside your temples and your elbows should be level with your shoulders. You should look like a bodybuilder doing a “double biceps pose.” Focus on feeling your back and shoulders flexing, not your arms.

Form Tip: Do not let your trunk “tip backwards” as you pull. Your body should remain upright as you pull and reach the finished position. If you feel your glutes or lower back contracting significantly, you may be leaning too far backward.

Step 4 — Return to the Stretch

After a brief pause in the top position, control the weight as you straighten your arms and reach forward. Make sure to fully extend your arms and protract your shoulder blades toward the pulley. Keep your feet stationary and your upper body vertical.

Form Tip: Lower the weight at a slightly slower speed to keep control. Don’t allow the plates to slam onto the weight stack.

Face Pull Mistakes to Avoid

The face pull is often performed with some common errors which reduce its effectiveness. To keep tension on the target muscles and build strength and mobility, be sure to stay focused throughout each repetition.

Going Too Heavy

Trying to use too much load with a face pull will make it really hard to recruit the right muscles. Instead, it becomes a face pull/curl/body heave combo that misses a lot of the benefits of this exercise and adds unnecessary risk.

Turning the exercise into a momentum-based, full-body lift by swinging your torso only increases strain on your lower back and decreases tension on your relatively smaller upper back.

Avoid it: Don’t even think about using the full weight stack. Stick to a weight that’s challenging for at least 10 or more repetitions. That should allow you to target your back and shoulders without needing to swing your body or sacrifice technique to move the weight.

Pulling with Your Arms

Focusing only on the “face” part of “face pull” will usually result in doing a weird rope hammer curl to bring the handles toward your face. That will turn a very good upper back and shoulder exercise into a very awkward an inefficient biceps exercise.

If your biceps are fatiguing and reaching muscular failure before your back or shoulder muscles, reduce the weight and re-evaluate your technique.

Avoid it: Focus on pulling with your back and shoulders instead of “curling” the weight toward you. In the top position, make sure the dorsum (backs) of your hands and forearms are facing away from you, not up toward the ceiling.

Too Much Body Movement

It’s sometimes tempting to cheat the face pull and reduce the range of motion by leaning your body back to start the movement and quickly leaning forward to “meet” the weight, rather than keeping your body still and staying relatively strict.

This issue often occurs when the load of the cable is too much for your spine extensors (lower back) to resist. When you can’t keep a stable core, it’s not uncommon to recruit more muscles to make the exercise easier.

Avoid it: Either decrease the load to reduce the challenge to your core stability, brace your foot on a stable bench or box, or sit with your chest against a vertical support (like an upright bench) to provide a more stable pulling position.

How to Progress the Face Pull

The face pull is essentially a “horizontal” movement, with the cable set around face-height, which provides a effective upper back and rear shoulder stimulus. Adjusting the pulley’s angle can create changes to muscle recruitment which may be beneficial to people looking to address specific muscle weaknesses.

Low Anchor Face Pull

Setting the pulley anywhere from stomach-level to knee-level will significantly change the pulling angle, which increases the work done by your upper traps, external rotators, and middle deltoid.

Low anchor face pulls are a terrific modification for lifters trying to build a “yoked” look — wide, thick shoulders and muscular traps.

High Anchor Face Pull

Anchoring the cable higher than eye-level increases the work done by your lower traps and can begin to recruit your lats because, and the pulley gets higher, the movement becomes more similar to a type of lat pulldown.

High anchor face pulls are fantastic for lifters and athletes who need to get better at “setting” their shoulders for better upper body stability during movements like the bench press or low bar squat.

Benefits of the Face Pull

While it may not carry the esteem of a deadlift or squat, the face pull has built a steadily growing reputation as a versatile and efficient addition to nearly any lifter’s training plan.

Overall Shoulder Health

When it comes to improving or maintaining overall shoulder health, one general movement pattern often receives a lot of attention — horizontal pulling. This comes from a belief that a rowing motion “reverses” the joint stress from horizontal pushing like the bench press and push-up, and therefore provides structural balance to the body.

However, this overlooks the fact that the main muscles trained by horizontal pushes (the pecs) and horizontal pulls (the lats) both internally rotate the shoulder. Therefore, it is important that to regularly load shoulder external rotation in addition to horizontal pulling.

The face pull fits this requirement perfectly because your arms are externally rotated during the peak contraction of each rep. The movement should be included by anybody who regularly performs significant chest or shoulder pressing exercises in training.

Muscle Size

The face pull puts many muscles through a long time under tension, which is ideal for hypertrophy (muscle growth). (2) The trapezius, rhomboids, and deltoids (shoulders), especially the rear deltoid, are all key movers in the face pull.

These muscles are trained with constant tension from the cable, which helps to stimulate muscle growth. These muscles not only work together to help produce strength and stability, but they contribute to an aesthetic and athletic-looking physique.

Muscles Worked by the Face Pull

Face pulls will load and train your upper back and shoulders, which are comprised of several separate muscle groups sharing similar movements.

Trapezius

The trapezius, running along the majority of your upper and mid-back area, is a key player in shoulder blade movement.

All “divisions” of the traps (upper, middle, and lower) are worked by the face pull, but emphasis can be shifted by changing the height of the pulley — a higher angle recruits more lower traps and a lower angle recruits the upper traps more strongly.

Shoulders

Your shoulders are comprised of three separate muscle heads — the front, rear, and middle. These are often trained with overhead presses or different raises or flyes, but the face pull particularly recruits the middle and rear heads of the delts. These sections of the muscle are responsible for manipulating your upper arm during the pulling portion of the face pull.

Rhomboids and Rotator Cuff

The rhomboid major, rhomboid minor, and posterior muscles of the rotator cuff (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor) work together to keep the shoulder joint in a stable and powerful position. They are significantly recruited during the latter portion of the face pull, and your hands approach eye level.

Strengthening these muscles can be very useful to balance high amounts of pressing volume. They also contribute to maintaining the coveted and elusive “good posture” with your shoulders back and your chest up.

How to Program the Face Pull

Face pulls are best programmed like other relatively light, “pump”-type exercises (think lateral raises or dumbbell flyes), as opposed to big barbell exercises which are often more conducive to very heavy lifting (like deadlifts or barbell rows).

Light to Moderate Weight, Moderate to High Repetition

To keep the work focused on the target muscles without assistance from addition body parts, use a weight that allows at least 10-12 reps. when you start going heavier, other muscles begin contributing to move the weight and it can be tempting to use body English to start the movement.

Perform two to three sets of 10-15 reps at least once per week, ideally after a workout that included heavy pressing, to achieve a restorative-type effect from the face pulls. These also work fantastically as part of a low-intensity “extra workout” on a day off, or paired with your warm-up sets prior heavy pressing to ensure your shoulders and upper back are primed for optimal training.

Face Pull Variations

Whether you’re not able to stand while performing the face pull or if you don’t have access to a full cable stack, you can still benefit from similar movements. Try these alternatives.

Chest-Supported Face Pull

This variation is ideal for lifters who have trouble stabilizing themselves against the weight when standing. It’s also useful for lifters with pre-existing lower back problems who may want added support.

Because your upper body is braced against the pad, it also reduces your ability to “unintentionally” swing your body to initiate the lift, making it a much more strict movement.

Dumbbell Face Pull

This dumbbell-only option is ideal for lifters in home gyms who may not have access to a cable machine. By setting the angle and pulling appropriately, you can mimic the face pull movements and target the same back and shoulder muscles.

Don’t turn the exercise into a chest-supported dumbbell row. Keep you elbows in line with your shoulders and externally rotate your hands at the top instead of keeping your elbows close to your body. That’s an essential step for targeting the rotator cuff muscles.

FAQs

Build a Better Back and Shoulders

The face pull is the muscle-building, performance boosting staple exercise you didn’t know you needed. Make it a regular player in your weekly training and you should soon notice your upper body feeling stronger, moving more easily, and looking more muscular.

References

1. Afonso, J., Ramirez-Campillo, R., Moscão, J., Rocha, T., Zacca, R., Martins, A., Milheiro, A. A., Ferreira, J., Sarmento, H., & Clemente, F. M. (2021). Strength Training versus Stretching for Improving Range of Motion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 9(4), 427. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9040427
2. Burd, Nicholas & Andrews, Richard & West, Daniel & Little, Jonathan & Cochran, Andrew & Hector, Amy & Cashaback, Joshua & Gibala, Martin & Potvin, James & Baker, Steven & Phillips, Stuart. (2011). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology. 590. 351-62. 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200.

Featured Image: Photo by Jason Aggarwal

The post How to Do the Face Pull for a Stronger Upper Body appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The “swimmer’s look” is often admired, and if you want to achieve it, you need well-developed shoulders. In particular, the lateral head of the deltoid gives your shoulders visible width.

The trick is that this particular body part is easily overlooked and there aren’t many exercises that directly focus on it. The lateral raise is the prime boulder-shoulder builder, but the basic movement is often poorly performed. This useful exercise is great for improving your shoulders’ size, strength, and joint health, but you can take things even further.

Here are 10 lateral raise variations to refresh your workouts and provide your muscles new stimuli to help you get rounded delts.

Best Lateral Raise Variations

• Cable Lateral Raise
• Leaning Lateral Raise
• Seated Lateral Raise
• Machine Lateral Raise
• Partial Lateral Raise
• Landmine Lateral Raise
• Y-Raise
• 6-Way Raise
• Barbell Upright Row
• Rope Upright Row

Cable Lateral Raise

The cable lateral raise provides constant tension and shifts the hardest part of the range of motion from the top position — in a dumbbell lateral raise — to the bottom, stretched position.

Switching the equipment from a dumbbell to a cable pulley also changes the stimulus of the exercise and delivers a serious deltoid stretch, which is almost nonexistent with the dumbbell variation.

When to Do It

This is a great movement for working on your general technique and your mind-muscle connection, improving muscle-growth at the same time. (1) Program this exercise the same way you would do dumbbell lateral raises — at the end of a shoulder workout or “push” workout. Keep the reps relatively high, use pristine form, and focus on the muscle burn.

How to Do It

Stand next to a cable station set to the lowest point. Grab a single handle with the hand farthest from the station and flex your abs. Keep a rigid upper body and raise your arm out to your side while keeping your shoulder blade down and your wrist lower than your elbow. 

Stop around shoulder-level, when you feel the load shifting away from your shoulder and to your traps. Exhale and lower with control to the starting position. Start light and avoid using momentum. If the cable station is big enough, you can do the exercise with both arms at the same time.

Leaning Lateral Raise

The leaning lateral raise emphasizes the shortened position or peak contraction. Because of the leaning position, a portion of the side delt’s range of motion is not trained because gravity’s pull doesn’t significantly affect the weight, but this allows you to use a relatively heavier weight and trigger new growth. (2)

Along with the lateral head of the deltoid, this differently emphasized range of motion also works the rotator cuff muscles, notably the supraspinatus.

When to Use It

Even though you can use more weight than the standard lateral raise, this variation is best performed after your heavier compound (multi-joint) lifts of the workout. Use it as your primary lateral deltoid exercise of the day or in a spicy superset combining this exercise, which targets the peak contraction, and a delt exercise focusing on the stretched contraction, like the cable lateral raise.

How to Do It

Grab a sturdy power rack with one hand, place your feet near the support, and lean away at an angle supporting yourself from a locked arm. Hold a dumbbell in your free hand and lift the weight sideways from a straight hanging position. You can raise the weight higher than shoulder-level without worrying about muscle recruitment, because the goal is to emphasize the shortened range of motion which means your traps will be recruited no matter what. Make sure you control the movement speed to optimize time under tension. Don’t swing the weight from the bottom position.

Seated Lateral Raise

This variation is for the “accidental” cheaters out there or anyone who has trouble controlling a strict movement. The stable, upright position makes it almost impossible to swing your torso without noticing.

The bench support ensures strict form for better muscle tension and a complete range of motion to trigger hypertrophy (muscle growth).

When to Use It

The seated lateral raise is a great way to learn the standing variation without interference from the rest of your body. It prevents involuntary cheating, as well as helping to focus with laser precision on your lateral delts. Perform it in lieu of standing raises until you feel your form is impeccable or when you want to go heavier while still avoiding any cheating.

How to Do It

Sit on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and assume an upright torso position. Raise your hands out to your sides, near shoulder-level, without succumbing to the temptation of swinging your torso or shrugging your traps to compensate for this more challenging execution. Lower the weights with control to avoid momentum in the bottom position.

Machine Lateral Raise

Some exercise machines can be scoffed by experienced gym goers for their simplicity or design, but the fact is that they can often be as efficient as free weight exercises for building muscle. (4)

Certain machines might not be as useful for improving strength or coordination, but as long as your primary goal is building muscle, you’re covered with a well-designed machine. It might be even better in some cases. For instance, beginners can find some machine exercises easier to perform that with barbells or dumbbells. Many machines are also designed to minimize interference from non-target muscles.

When to Do It

If you’re a beginner or advanced lifter, or just want to change things to refresh your workouts and prime new growth, give this variation a try. For beginners, machines are usually very easy to use and they can ensure proper form, so you’re training the desired muscles. Advanced lifters will appreciate the fact that machines will isolate and fatigue a specific head of the deltoid, more easily accumulating quality training volume for a body part.

How to Do It

Sit down in the machine and place your elbows under the pads. Raise your elbows to your sides until they are parallel to the ground, then lower them with control. The machine lateral raise can serve as a great teaching tool for learning to “lead with your elbows” and not your wrists, focusing more on the lateral head of your shoulders and less on straining the joints of your shoulders, elbows, and wrists.

Partial Lateral Raise

You’re used to light weights when you perform lateral raises, right? It’s time to shock your muscles into growth. Research has shown that using a limited range of motion can be useful for promoting strength and hypertrophy under the right conditions. (3)

Use a shortened range of motion to your advantage and provide the lateral delts something they never experienced to promote hypertrophy — very heavy weights and super-high tension.

When to Do It

Partial movements and “calculated cheating” can be beneficial, but should be reserved for experienced lifters who’ve already mastered the full movement with good form. If you’re using heaving weights just for the sake of it, and start swinging the dumbbells like a monkey with a pair of cymbals, you might trigger injuries instead of growth.

If you’re a gym veteran that has lagging shoulders, give this high-intensity variation a go. You can use it earlier in your shoulder or upper body push workout without trouble, because it’s a heavy-duty exercise.

How to Do It

Just because it’s a partial range of motion doesn’t mean you can just whack away at it without care. Stand up holding a pair of relatively heavy dumbbells. Keep your torso stable and rigid without swaying your hips. Raise your arms to your sides, similar to performing regular lateral raises. Stop at roughly half of your usual range of motion, when your arms are at an angle toward the ground.

Even though you’re using heavier weights, it’s still an isolation exercise. To prevent trap activation and emphasize you shoulders, think about pushing the weights to the side walls and not up in the air. Avoid shrugging your shoulders with the heavy weights. Do not be afraid of trying longer duration sets of 15 to 20 repetitions to compensate for the shorter time under tension.

Landmine Lateral Raise

The landmine is a versatile tool which can provide countless exercise variations, and the lateral raise is no exception. The thick handle will challenge your grip and the unique barbell path will train your core to a greater extent than other lateral raises.

If you’re concerned with athleticism or being functional while also increasing shoulder size, this variation will provide an effective upper body stimulus.

When to Do It

This unique single-arm movement can be used either at the start of a workout to prime you for a heavy pushing exercise, during a circuit combining different athletic attributes, or at the end of your session to focus on hypertrophy.

How to Do It

Set a barbell in a landmine unit and grab the sleeve with a palm-down grip. Stand tall with the weight around pelvis-level. Brace your core, briefly hold your breath, and lift your arm “up and out” to the side. Lead with your elbow to ensure maximum deltoid engagement and keep your arm straight. In the top position, your palm should be facing forward. Slowly lower the weight to its initial position. Perform all reps with one arm before switching to the other side.

Y-Raise

This exercise is often used in rehab or “prehab” because it is restorative and not strenuous on the shoulder joint, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used for building muscle.

The Y-raise is an effective deltoid-builder and it will also reinforce other key muscles responsible for shoulder health, such as the middle and lower trapezius and the supraspinatus.

When to Do It

This variation is relatively harder than many others on this list, so you’ll have to refrain from using heavy weights. As such, use it at the very beginning of a workout, to warm-up your shoulders, or at the end of your session to finish the lateral head of the deltoid.

If you have a history of joint pain, or if basic lateral raises leave you feeling achy (in a bad way, not simple muscle soreness), then make the Y-raise your middle-delt builder of choice. It’s one of the least stressful movements on your joints.

How to Do It

Get an adjustable bench and set it at a low incline, around 30 degrees. Lay face down on it with a dumbbell in each hand, hanging your arms down toward the ground. Keep your arms mostly straight as you raise your arms up and out. At the top of the motion, your body should resemble a giant “Y” if viewed from above. If you can’t lift your arms until they’re in line with your head, reduce the weight. This exercise is not meant for moving heavy weight, so aim for sets of 10 to 20 repetitions.

6-Way Raise

The 6-way raise takes the basic lateral raise up a notch by increasing the range of motion and recruiting even more muscles.

This exercise, popularized by late bodybuilding legend John Meadows, is a combination of shoulder raises in various directions. It’s designed for complete development of the deltoids and trapezius. This is the variation you want to employ if you desire to build an impressive “yoke” — the muscles of the shoulders, upper back, and neck.

When to Do It

Consider this exercise if you have a bit of experience under your belt, after you’ve mastered standard lateral and front raises. It is a great finisher, performed as the last exercise of your workout. Try this exercise at the very end of a shoulder or push session, to provide a burning session and terminate the deltoids. It’s also the perfect fit when you don’t have time or energy to perform several shoulder exercises after your main work.

How to Do It

Sit on a bench holding relatively light dumbbells and perform a strict lateral raise, bringing the weights from your sides your to shoulder-levels. From there, bring your thumbs together while keeping the weights horizontal to the ground. Next, raise your arms over your head. Then, you have to execute all of these motions in reverse — lower your arms in front of you, then bring them to your sides, and lower them down straight. That’s one single repetition.

You can understand why it would be nearly impossible to use heavy weights. Each repetition is very long, so you can’t go crazy with the load, but it provides a very long time under tension for your whole shoulders and upper traps, which is amazing for muscle growth.

Barbell Upright Row

The upright row isn’t technically a lateral raise variation, but the exercise follows the same anatomical motion — humerus abduction, or lifting your upper arm out to the side — and it trains the same target muscles in pretty much the same fashion. Using both arms to lift a barbell will also allow you to use a heavier weight, triggering more muscle growth. 

This movement does have a reputation as a “shoulder wrecker,” but it actually depends upon the individual and the context. It may put stress on your shoulders and wrists, but avoiding a close-grip movement and adjusting the range of motion can help reduce the risks.

When to Do It

If you want to embark on a muscle-building, bulking phase while lifting some heavy weights, this movement is perfect for you. The barbell upright row will recruit slightly more muscles overall, but it is still focusing on the side deltoids and upper trapezius. As such, you can perform it in a full-body workout, or during your shoulder or push sessions. More weight and more muscle recruited means that you’ll trigger a greater anabolic response from the body, leading to better growth.

How to Do It

Grab a barbell or EZ-curl bar with a shoulder-width, palm-down grip and stand tall with your arms straight down in front of you. Raise your elbows to the sides to lift the barbell while keeping it close to your body. Lead the movement with your elbows, like you would do with a lateral raise. Stop when your upper arms are around parallel to the ground or near shoulder-level.

You can often go heavier with this movement, but that doesn’t mean you should shift the focus of the exercise away from the key muscled. Don’t start swinging the weight up or excessively shrugging your shoulders. Keep your shoulder blades down and think of your elbows as the prime movers. Don’t get too crazy with super-heavy weights. Sets of eight to 12 reps will do the trick for building size and strength.

Rope Upright Row

If you have persistent joint problems and can’t find a way to safely or comfortably perform the barbell upright row, try this cable variation to enjoy the same feeling and benefits.

The rope handle allows more freedom of movement in your wrists and shoulders, while the constant tension from the cable allows a good training stimulus without heavy weights.

When to Do It

With this exercise, you can’t and shouldn’t go as heavy as with a barbell. So perform it at the end of your shoulder sessions, to finish off your delts. If you’ve been afraid of the barbell upright row, or if you have generally painful joints, think about giving this exercise a go. You should be able to trigger hypertrophy with a longer range of motion and with less pain.

How to Do It

Stand in front of a cable station set at the lowest point. Attach to it a rope, grab it with your thumbs pointed down and your palms facing your body. Drive your elbows up and out, as high as you comfortably can without feeling pain. Keep your elbows higher than your wrists during the movement. 

Do not specifically think about your hands, just let them move freely so you can focus solely on your deltoids. If you want to get spicy, pause at the top for several seconds.

Muscles Worked by the Lateral Raise

The lateral raise is an isolation movement focusing on the lateral head of the deltoid, but other muscles also contribute to the exercise. In fact, no exercise can technically “isolate” a single muscle, it just emphasizes one. Here are all the muscles trained by these variations.

Deltoids

The deltoids, or shoulder muscles, are composed of the three heads, all attached to the humerus (arm bone). The anterior head is on the front of the shoulder, attached to the clavicle, and shares function with the pecs — internally rotating the arm, raising it forward, and adducting it (bringing the arms together).

The lateral head is located on the middle of the shoulder and its fibers arise from the acromion process of the scapula (shoulder blade). This is the prime mover during the lateral raise, because it is responsible for arm abduction (raising it to the side). Finally, the posterior deltoid, also attached to the scapula, can be found at the rear of the shoulder and is involved in externally rotating and extending the arm.

When you perform a lateral raise, all three heads will contribute to the movement, but the focus should be on the side delts. Rotating your arm internally or externally will make the front or rear delts contribute a bit more, so you can also use that to target your weakness.

Trapezius

This big and strong back muscle, going from the base of your neck to the middle of your spine, is a big contributor to the lateral raise. The traps are composed of several regions having slightly different functions, but they’re all responsible for scapular motion and stability. 

Your middle and lower traps hold your shoulder blades back together and down, while the upper traps are recruited extensively because the motion of raising your arm also involves raising your scapulae, to allow full range of motion. Unless you don’t move your scapulae at all, which is almost impossible, you will feel the exercise in your upper traps.

Supraspinatus

This tiny shoulder muscle is one of the four members of the rotator cuff. It’s located on the scapula in a cavity between the acromion and clavicle and it attaches to the humerus. The supraspinatus assists the deltoids in arm adduction and will be involved during the lateral raise. Having a strong and healthy rotator cuff is key for injury prevention, strength, and longevity. (5)

Lateral Raise Form Tips

The lateral is often butchered for the sake of ego-lifting and moving more weight. This creates the typical blunder of shrugging the weight up as your arms are raised, which uses the traps assist the delts.

The problem is that the traps will then overshadow the shoulders, because they are a relatively stronger muscle, which leaves the shoulders undertrained. Keep your shoulder blades down and limit scapular motion to a minimum. A good cue is to try to lift the weight outward, not upward. This will cue your lateral delts to be recruited first.

Hand and arm position can also be difficult. If you’re not careful, you can very easily ask for the assistance of a closely related muscle: the anterior deltoid. The front delts are already overstimulated by many pressing movements, so it’s often best to focus on your side delts with this exercise. To do that, drive the weight with your elbows and have your wrists lower than your elbows at all times. You can even slightly rotate your arms internally (forward) to focus more on the outer delts. And keep your elbow close to in-line with your shoulder, not far in front of your body.

Finally, another mistake caused by ego is to employ excessive momentum. This increases the risk of injuries, recruits the traps too much, and diminishes the range of motion. Flex your abs hard to stabilize your upper body and prevent swinging. Use your shoulders, not your lower back, to lift the weight.

Raise Your Shoulders to the Next Level

The lateral raise is a must for any lifter who desires broad shoulders. Focusing on your side delt is the best way to get there and achieve the coveted v-taper look. If the simplicity of the classic dumbbell lateral raise isn’t enough and you’re ready for more challenges, include one of these variations in your training plan to get your delts to the next level.

References

1. Calatayud J, Vinstrup J, Jakobsen MD, Sundstrup E, Brandt M, Jay K, Colado JC, Andersen LL. Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2016 Mar;116(3):527-33. doi: 10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7. Epub 2015 Dec 23. PMID: 26700744.
2. Peterson MD, Pistilli E, Haff GG, Hoffman EP, Gordon PM. Progression of volume load and muscular adaptation during resistance exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Jun;111(6):1063-71. doi: 10.1007/s00421-010-1735-9. Epub 2010 Nov 27. PMID: 21113614; PMCID: PMC4215195.
3. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J. Effects of range of motion on muscle development during resistance training interventions: A systematic review. SAGE Open Med. 2020 Jan 21;8:2050312120901559. doi: 10.1177/2050312120901559. PMID: 32030125; PMCID: PMC6977096.
4. Schwanbeck SR, Cornish SM, Barss T, Chilibeck PD. Effects of Training With Free Weights Versus Machines on Muscle Mass, Strength, Free Testosterone, and Free Cortisol Levels. J Strength Cond Res. 2020 Jul;34(7):1851-1859. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003349. PMID: 32358310.
5. Schwanbeck SR, Cornish SM, Barss T, Chilibeck PD. Effects of Training With Free Weights Versus Machines on Muscle Mass, Strength, Free Testosterone, and Free Cortisol Levels. J Strength Cond Res. 2020 Jul;34(7):1851-1859. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003349. PMID: 32358310.

Featured Image: MDV Edwards / Shutterstock

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That’s not to mention the overall performance boost you get from strengthening one of the most important joints in the upper body. Your shoulders are involved, to some degree, in almost all upper body movements. The versatile joint can perform a variety muscle actions in multiple directions.

To minimize your time and maximize your effort, your need to train the shoulders with a combination of exercises and motions. This means incorporating exercises designed for strength and power, high volume training, and isolation-focused work. Here is a rundown of the most effective exercises to attack your shoulders from all angles.

Best Shoulder Exercises

• Machine Shoulder Press
• High Incline Dumbbell Press
• Seated Arnold Press
• Single-Arm Standing Dumbbell Press
• Dumbbell Z Press
• Dumbbell Cuban Press
• Behind-the-Neck Press
• Military Press
• Push Press
• Machine Lateral Raise
• Cable Lateral Raise
• Chest-Supported Lateral Raise
• Machine Rear Delt Flye
• Single-Arm Cable Rear Delt Flye
• Pike Push-Up

Machine Shoulder Press

In order to maximize muscle recruitment, you need to produce high levels of force. Being in a more stable and supported position allows you to direct that force into the exercise you’re trying to perform. This is why well-designed exercise machines can be invaluable.

Imagine trying to fire a cannon out of a canoe — it’s unlikely you’re going to hit your target. The machine shoulder press creates the most amount of total-body stability so you can take the muscles through a full range of motion with more focus. You can also safely take those muscles closer to failure without worrying about controlling free weights.

How to Do the Machine Shoulder Press

Adjust the seat height so that the handles are slightly below shoulder-height. This is going to make sure there is constant tension in the muscle throughout the whole range of motion. Take an overhand (palms facing away) grip. If you have limited shoulder mobility, use a neutral grip (palms facing each other).

Raise your feet with a box, step, or foot pegs if the machine includes them. Lifting your feet will elevate the knees so that you can more successfully keep your low back in contact with the bench for added support. A secure footing also makes you less likely to slide forward in the seat when the set becomes challenging.

Benefits of the Machine Shoulder Press

• This exercise allows focus on recruiting the shoulder muscles without concern for balancing and stabilizing weights.
• The seat’s back support can benefit lifters who have recurring lower back problems, by providing external torso stability.
• The shoulder press machine allows muscular failure to be reached more safely than overhead barbell or dumbbell exercises.

High Incline Dumbbell Press

This is very similar to the machine shoulder press, but dumbbells allow you to take your shoulders through a longer range of motion. Your elbows can start the movement down by the sides of your body, move upward to the mid-point of the press, and moving together as your elbows lockout towards your body’s midline, stacking above your shoulders and underneath your wrists.

Dumbbells also offer the ability to rotate your hand position as you press, which can accommodate any wrist or elbow discomfort. This dumbbell press is an ideal alternative for lifters with joint problems.

How to Do the High Incline Dumbbell Press

Set an adjustable bench one notch below 90-degrees. This high angle allows the benefits of an overhead shoulder press while further reducing joint stress. The top part of the shoulder press is the joint’s most vulnerable position. By taking the bench down one notch from fully upright, you can still take the shoulders through a full range of movement but it’s safer because your upper back and shoulders have more room to move.

Begin with the dumbbells at shoulder-height, palms facing away from you. Press upward with control, bringing your thumbs toward each other as the weights pass above your head. Maintain control of the dumbbells and don’t allow them to bounce together at lockout. Pause briefly before returning to the starting position.

Benefits of the High Incline Dumbbell Press

• The high incline dumbbell press combines the upper-body support benefits of a seated press with the joint-friendly adjustability of dumbbells.
• This press variation works well as a type of “bridge” between shoulder training and chest training, due to the bench angle. A slightly lower angle would begin to emphasize the chest more than the shoulder muscles.

Seated Arnold Press

Success leaves clues and if this exercise was good enough for Arnold, then it’s good enough for you. This comprehensive movement incorporates full range of motion at the shoulders and elbows, plus coordinated movement at shoulder blades. This all combines to engage the serratus anterior, lateral and rear deltoids, trapezius, teres major and minor, plus some lats.

Sounds good to be able to hit all of those muscles in one go, right? Maybe. The problem is that you are spreading the effort, intensity, and force across so many muscles in varying amounts, so it might not be a top choice for building strength. But it’s a good pick when looking to accumulate more training volume to stimulate overall growth.

How to Do the Seated Arnold Press

Set an adjustable bench at an extremely high angle, one notch below fully upright. Elevate your feet to really lock into the seat. Start with the two dumbbells at shoulder-height in front of the body with your palms facing towards you. Start to press them up. Once your hands reach eye-level, start to rotate your arms out to the side as you continue pressing. A common mistake with this exercise is rotating your hands to early, which just makes the exercise a basic seated shoulder press.

Rotate consistently as you press upward. At the top of the press, your hands should be facing forward. If you have limited shoulder mobility, they may end up neutral (facing each other). Reverse the entire motion on the way down back to the starting position.

Benefits of the Seated Arnold Press

• The Arnold press works the shoulders through a longer range of motion than a traditional shoulder press. This can create a greater stimulus for muscle growth.(1)
• This exercise recruits more muscles throughout the shoulders and upper back, which creates greater stability, reduced risk of injury, and an increased growth stimulus.

Single-Arm Standing Dumbbell Press

Unilateral training can be very beneficial because we have something called the bilateral deficit, or BLD. While I do share the same initials, rest assured I did not come up with this concept. The bilateral deficit is essentially the body’s ability to more efficiently recruit individual limbs compared to working both limbs together.(2) For example, if you can shoulder press two 40-pound dumbbells simultaneously, you can likely press one 45 or 50-pound dumbbell for the same number of repetitions.

You can use the bilateral deficit to your advantage with the single-arm standing dumbbell press. This will not only allow you to use a relatively greater load, for increased strength and muscle gains, but the standing position can increase the range of motion and improve shoulder mobility.

How to Do the Single-Arm Standing Dumbbell Press

Stand behind a vertical bench, holding a dumbbell at shoulder-level in one hand with your free hand on top of the bench for support. Push into the bench to create stability as you press the weight to lockout above your head. Lower the weight under control. Perform all reps with one arm before switching sides.

Benefits of the Single-Arm Standing Dumbbell Press

• The single-arm standing dumbbell press allows you to use relatively heavier weights than pressing two dumbbells together, which can lead to greater size and strength.
• The added bench support provides stability and can help to reduce lower back strain.
• This standing position incorporates core strength and total-body stability.

Dumbbell Z Press

This exercise has become relatively popular over the last few years. In part, possibly because it’s named after one of the greatest strongmen of all-time, Žydrūnas Savickas, also known as “Big Z.” While the Z press is often performed with a barbell, using a pair of dumbbells can further increase the core stability challenge.

The Z press requires, and can improve, mobility in your thoracic spine (upper back) and it creates tremendous core engagement because your upper body is entirely unsupported. This means you probably won’t be moving very heavy weights, but the exercise can be great for accumulating plenty of muscle-building volume.

How to Do the Dumbbell Z Press

Sit on the ground with your legs extended straight. If you lack hip mobility or if it’s too uncomfortable, sit on a very low box or step. Make sure you keep your shoulders stacked over your hips and your spine straight.

Bring two dumbbells to shoulder-level with your palms facing forward. Press both weights overhead to lockout, being sure to keep your upper body vertical as you stabilize the weights. Pause very briefly at lockout and lower the dumbbells to your shoulders.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Z Press

• The Z press builds major core strength because you’re forced to support the weight as it moves.
• The exercise reinforced strict pressing technique and eliminates the ability to swing the weights using your lower body. Leaning backward to cheat the movement also becomes much more apparent and easier to correct.

Dumbbell Cuban Press

Legend has it that this exercise was initially used by the Cuban Olympic weightlifting team to strengthen their shoulders. It was also popularized by the legendary late strength coach Charles Poliquin. The Cuban press trains the smaller internal stabilizer muscles of the shoulder and upper back, as well as the aesthetic outer shoulder muscles.

It walks the fine line between being a “prehab” movement focused on preserving and building shoulder health and being a strict muscle-building movement with a long time under tension.

How to Do the Dumbbell Cuban Press

Stand with two light dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing behind you. Lift your elbows up and out to the side with your hands hanging straight down. Once your elbows are in line with your shoulders, rotate your arms to point your hands toward the ceiling, with the weights around eye-level. Keep a roughly 90-degree angle at your elbows.

Finish by fully extending your arms and press to lockout. Reverse the process to lower the weights to the starting position. This exercise is a lot harder than it looks, so you won’t need much load or too many sets and reps. Starting with two sets of eight to 10 reps to learn the movement with very light weights.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Cuban Press

• The dumbbell cuban press strengthens shoulder stabilizers, including the rotator cuff, during the rotation movement prior to pressing.
• The exercise is typically performed slowly with an emphasis on technique, which increases the overall time under tension. This can contribute to greater muscle growth.

Behind-the-Neck Press

This exercise is performed with a barbell and, as the name suggests, the bar travels behind the neck instead of in front. This bar path makes it easier to stay in a stronger, safer position with your upper body stacked and in alignment. However, it does require good upper back mobility and it makes the initial part of the press significantly more challenging for both your shoulders and your triceps.

The biggest complaint (or fear) some lifters have is that the behind-neck position requires a good amount of shoulder mobility in order to successfully go through the full range of motion. If you don’t have the mobility to perform the movement, don’t worry. There are many other exercises you can do, this is just not one of them. But the behind-the-neck press has been a staple for weightlifters and bodybuilders for decades, so it’s not an exercise to steer away from if you can handle it.

How to Do the Behind-the-Neck Press

Set a barbell in a power rack at roughly shoulder-height. Grab the bar with your hands just outside shoulder-width and pull your elbows forward to sit directly below your wrists. Unrack the weight and take a small step backward. Brace your core, and keep your legs and torso stable as you press the weight up. Fully extend your arms at the top.

To lower the weight, focus on pulling your elbows towards the sides of your body to load the shoulders more than the triceps. Keep your elbows beneath your wrists throughout the exercise. Depending on your mobility, the bar might gently touch the base of your neck before you press back up again.

Benefits of the Behind-the-Neck Press

• The behind-the-neck press helps to build functional mobility by training the shoulders, upper back muscles, and shoulder blades through a long range of motion.
• The bar path and body position reinforces strict pressing technique which puts emphasis on muscle recruitment instead of momentum.

Military Press

To many experienced lifters, this exercise is the end-all-be-all shoulder movement. The classic standing barbell press is a hallmark of old school weightlifting, classic bodybuilding, and all-around power and athleticism.

With this more common variation of the shoulder press, the barbell moves in front of the body. This creates two distinct challenges. First, core stability — You need to be more active in pulling your ribs down and tucking your hips under to stay stacked. Second, core control — You are unable to press straight up because the bar begins underneath your chin, so you have to move the barbell in an arching motion around your head while maintaining a strong center.

How to Do the Military Press

Set the barbell in a power rack at roughly shoulder-height. Grab the bar with your hands just outside shoulder-width. Take a small step back with the bar resting across the fronts of your shoulders. Brace your abs and press up, staying as close to your face as possible without hitting your chin, nose, or forehead (obviously).

As you reach the lockout, “punch” your head between your arms. Your biceps should end up in-line with your ears. Maintain control of the bar by attempting to pull the bar apart as you’re pressing the weight above your head. This one small change can make a big difference in how the movement feels on your muscles and joints.

Benefits of the Military Press

• The military press is often considered a gold standard movement, on par with the flat bench press, for assessing and building upper body strength.
• This overhead press allows you to move potentially heavy weights, overloading the shoulders for greater strength and muscle gains.

Push Press

The push press has been wide-spread with the rise in popularity of things like CrossFit and HIIT-style group fitness workouts. In the push press, you are focusing on dip and drive — using your legs and hips to get the weight above your head.

Using your legs allows you to move a load that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to press with strict form for as many reps. At the top of the rep, you can really overload your shoulders and triceps as they control the weight back down with a slow eccentric contraction.

How to Do the Push Press

Hold a barbell in front of your shoulders, with a shoulder-width grip and your hands facing away from your body. Bend your knees slightly and drop your hips as if you were about to initiate a front squat. Quickly and powerfully extend your legs and drive your hips forward to get the weights moving off your body.

When the barbell is in motion, use your arms to guide it above your head to lockout. Think “legs drive, arms guide.” Don’t squat too deep before rising. You’ll only make it harder to get the weights above your head quickly. For maximum power output, be sure to get the weights moving using leg drive, not shoulder pressing strength.

Benefits of the Push Press

• This can be a great exercise for building upper body strength due to the use of heavy weights and total-body coordination.
• The strict eccentric portion of each repetition lets you accumulate significant volume and time under tension, which benefits muscle growth.

Machine Lateral Raise

The machine lateral raise is a great exercise for isolating and emphasizing the lateral, or side, part of the shoulder muscle. The lateral head of the shoulder primarily responsible for abducting the arm, or raising it away from the midline of the body.

Many very successful bodybuilders will prioritize lateral raise variations like this to help create a classic v-taper upper body. The machine lateral raise offers constant resistance compared to a dumbbell, which offers varying levels of resistance due to the changing pull of gravity throughout the range of motion.

How to Do the Machine Lateral Raise

Sit in the machine with your chest supported on the pad, if available. With most machines, you’ll perform this exercise with your elbows bent at roughly 90-degrees and the pads sitting on the outside of your upper arms.

Lift both arms until they’re parallel with the floor. Your elbows and upper arms should be in-line with your shoulders. Lower the pads with control. The bent arm position helps to focus the work on the shoulders and reduces the temptation to use your traps and upper back muscles.

Benefits of the Machine Lateral Raise

• The machine provides a controlled setup which makes it safer to take sets up to, or beyond, muscular failure.
• The machine lateral raise offers constant resistance throughout the entire range of motion, creating a longer time under tension and greater muscle-building stimulus.

Cable Lateral Raise

This version of the lateral raise is normally performed unilaterally (one arm at a time). The cable provides constant tension, so you are forced to work against the resistance throughout the whole range of motion.

The movement is also more strict because it is harder to use momentum to lift the weight due to the cable pulley. The cable setup also allows you to increase muscular stress in the lower portion of the repetition, compared to dumbbell lateral raises which have reduced resistance in the bottom of each rep.

How to Do the Cable Lateral Raise

Attach a single handle to a cable pulley set just below your knee. Stand sideways to the pulley with your non-working arm near the weight stack. Grab the handle with your palm facing the cable pulley. Begin with your arm slightly bent and your hand just below your belly button. Raise the handle sideways until your elbow is in line with your shoulder. Imagine reaching your hand out as far away from your body as you can. This should stop you from lifting your shoulders and engaging your traps.

Hold the top position for one second and initiate the eccentric portion as slowly. Pause briefly in the bottom position before starting the next rep to emphasize the stretched position.

Benefits of the Cable Lateral Raise

• The cable lateral raise provides high-tension with relatively light weights. It can be humbling and much harder than you think, making it a joint-friendly way to train without needing to move heavy weights.
• The unilateral movement allows you to concentrate on the working muscle, which can improve the mind-muscle connection and boost muscle growth.

Chest-Supported Lateral Raise

This version of the classic dumbbell lateral raise puts you in a more supported position with a greater opportunity use strict form and avoid momentum. This shifts more stress onto the side head of the shoulders.

The chest-supported lateral raise is perfect for high volume with slow repetitions. The bench support  reduces lower back strain by removing your ability to swing your torso when lifting the weights.

How to Do the Chest-Supported Lateral Raise

Set an adjustable bench slightly below vertical. Straddle the bench with your chest supported on the back pad. Bring your arms slightly in front of you, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other.

Raise your arms up and out to the sides. Focus on feeling tension in your shoulders and not your traps or back. Pause briefly when your hands reach shoulder-height. You can further reduce momentum and increase muscle tension by taking two seconds to raise the weights and two seconds to lower them.

Benefits of the Chest-Supported Lateral Raise

• The stabilized body position significantly reduces lower back strain, making it an ideal option for lifters with back issues.
• The chest-supported lateral raise reinforces strict exercise performance by limiting the ability to swing your body and create momentum.

Machine Rear Delt Flye

The rear deltoid is the forgotten child of the shoulder family. It gets some secondary attention during many pulling movements like pull-ups, rows, and deadlifts, but this relatively small muscle head rarely gets the attention it deserves when it comes to direct shoulder training.

The rear deltoid is not only important for building a well-rounded, well-muscled shoulder. It also plays a key role in overall shoulder joint health. Strong posterior deltoids are associated with rotator cuff health and overall shoulder mobility.(3)

How to Do the Machine Rear Delt Flye

Adjust the seat height until the handles are in-line or slightly higher than your shoulders. If the handles are too low, you’ll get a lot of help from the muscles in the upper back and triceps which are both stronger than the rear deltoids.

Face into the seat, brace against the pad, and grab the handles with a thumbs-up grip. Keep your arms slightly bent as you pull back until your elbows are even with your shoulders. Focus on separating your hands as far away from your body as possible instead of pulling your shoulders together.

Benefits of the Machine Rear Delt Flye

• The machine rear delt flye allows total-body support for focused work on the small target muscle.
• This exercise is ideal for working the rear deltoids with a high volume of work without fatiguing surrounding muscles. Performing the exercise three to four times per week with two to three sets of 10-15 can be an effective way to emphasize the rear delts.

Single-Arm Cable Rear Delt flye

The cable rear delt flye allows you to take the muscle through a very long range of motion, across your entire body, with constant tension. The adjustable pulley makes it easier to set the height of the cable appropriately for your body compared to rear delt machines with fewer seat height options.

When performed correctly and with strict technique, this is an extremely effective high-tension, isolation exercise to zone in on the rear delt with minimal contribution from other body parts.

How to Do the Single-Arm Cable Rear Delt Flye

Set the cable pulley to just above shoulder-height. You can either hold the end of the cable without a handle attachment or, if it’s uncomfortable, grab a single rope handle. Set up perpendicular to the cable and grab the handle palm-down with your outside arm. Begin with your arm straight and your hand in line with your chin.

This is where the muscle will be at its most lengthened under load. Reach your arm away from your body, keeping your hand at chin-height to avoid recruiting muscles in the upper back. Don’t twist your upper body as your arm extends to the side. Pause briefly when your arm is extended directly to your side before returning to the starting position.

Benefits of the Single-Arm Cable Rear Delt Flye

• The cable pulley provides constant tension for improved muscle growth.
• The single-arm cable rear delt flye helps to improve the mind-muscle connection by limiting the muscles that can contribute to the movement.
• The standing position recruits your core stabilizers, particularly your oblique muscles, more than many other shoulder movements.

Pike Push-Up

The full handstand push-up is a very advanced skill, but you can use a variation to successfully improve strength and shoulder mobility, with the latter being a major benefit.

By setting your feet on an elevated platform and “piking” your body into an L-shape, you build overhead pressing strength using only your bodyweight, while improving your leverage and reducing the overall load you need to press.

How to Do the Pike Push-Up

Place your hands on the floor and your knees on a 20 to 24-inch box or bench. Hinge at your hips to bring your upper body close to perpendicular to the ground. Bend your elbows to lower your head down toward the ground.

Keep your core engaged and maintain a stable position as you press up. Keep your hips stacked over your ribcage, and your shoulders over your hands. In the fully locked out position, drive your shoulders toward your ears to engage your serratus anterior (near your chest, ribs, and abs). This will open your upper back and shoulders for more range of motion.

Benefits of the Pike Push-Up

• The pike push-up works well as a thorough upper body warm-up performing, performing several sets of three to five reps before any other pressing exercises.
• The inverted position helps to build core strength while also improving hip and hamstring mobility and stability.
• This is one of the few bodyweight exercises to emphasize the shoulders. The majority of push-up variations emphasize the chest or triceps.

The Shoulder Muscles

Because your shoulder muscles are comprised of three separate heads, each emphasized by different movements and functions, a well-designed shoulder workout recognizes and addresses their differences. This is the most efficient way to build maximum size and strength.

Anterior Deltoid

The anterior deltoid, or front delt, is located in the front section of the shoulder muscle. It, appropriately, is involved in raising the arm from your side, in front of your body, to an overhead position.

Because this is an extremely common movement, the anterior deltoid is stimulated and recruited during many common exercises including many variations of the chest press, all varieties of overhead pressing, and even many biceps curls. Specific isolation exercises targeting the anterior deltoid are not often a focus of shoulder workouts, to avoid overtraining the frequently used muscle.

Lateral Deltoid

The lateral, or side, delt is the most aesthetically important section of the shoulders because it’s responsible for most of the visible width of the muscle. When looking to dramatically change your physique, emphasizing the side deltoid using lateral raise variations is the most efficient approach, but the side delts are also heavily recruited during any overhead press movement.

Posterior Deltoid

The posterior, or rear, deltoid head is sometimes considered part of the “upper back” musculature, but it resides specifically on the shoulder itself. This muscle head attaches along the shoulder blade and is involved in moving the shoulder blades toward and away from your spine. The rear delts also play a major role in pulling your upper arm backward from an extended position.

These two functions are similar to many back muscles, like the rhomboids, trapezius, and teres. While the rear delts contribute to many back exercises, they are often “overpowered” by relatively larger muscles, which is why rear delt flye variations are needed to prioritize the muscle.

How Often Should You Train The Shoulders?

Similar to other muscle groups, training a muscle more frequently seems to be better for strength, hypertrophy, and athletic performance.(4) Most people will do well training shoulders two times per week, as you’ll get a lot of extra work from many other upper body exercises like presses and rows.

If you were going to do a short-term specialization phase, you could train shoulders up to four or five times per week with a well-planned routine that manipulates volume and intensity to allow recovery and growth.

How to Progress Your Shoulder Training

Categorize exercises into movements that focus on strength, volume, or isolation (single-joint). Pick one exercise for each of those categories. Strength exercises are programmed with relatively heavy weights and low reps. Volume movements are more efficiently trained with moderately challenging weights in the eight to 15 rep range. Isolation exercises include flye and raise variations which involve only the shoulder joint, not the elbow (which is involved in pressing exercises).

The most common mistake when it comes to shoulder training is doing too much isolation work — too many flyes and raises with less pressing. This could be a symptom of using a chest, shoulder, and triceps workout in your training split, or having an upper body workout which makes the shoulders a relatively lower priority compared to the back and chest.

However because your shoulders are involved in many movements indirectly, you can generally get away with relatively less direct volume as long as you achieve sufficient volume each week. Try to approach shoulder training with two main phases: Intensity and accumulation.

In an “intensity” phase, focus more on building strength and power. Pick either a strength movement, a volume movement, and an isolation movement or a strength and two isolation movements, and focus your shoulder training on this limited selection of movements.

In an “accumulation” phase, the focus is on performing more total volume so, appropriately, pick a volume exercise plus two isolation movements or three isolation exercises. Workouts will involve racking up the reps and piling on the muscle-building tension.

Alternating between those two phases, spending several weeks in each, can help you keep as much strength as possible during the accumulation phase while maintain work capacity and conditioning during the intensity phase, as muscle growth rolls in throughout both.

How to Warm-Up Your Shoulders

The design of the shoulder joint makes it versatile and crucial to a number of movements, but it can also be prone to injury if trained improperly. A simple and effective shoulder warm-up can mean the difference between results and nagging injuries, so take the time to get blood flowing before any session. Grab a resistance band and try this simple circuit.

• Scapular Pull-Up: Hang from a pull-up bar with a shoulder-width, overhand grip. Keep your arms straight as you “reverse shrug” and drive your shoulders and shoulder blades toward the ground. Hold the top position briefly before reversing the motion to push your body away from the bar. Perform 10 repetitions before moving to the next exercise.
• Yoga Push-Up: Get on the ground with your feet well-beyond shoulder-width and your hands in-line with your shoulders. Descend into a standard push-up. When your chest is slightly above the floor, press up while pushing your hips back at an upward angle. You should feel a stretch in your hamstrings as your torso and legs form an upside down “V” shape. Reverse the motion and perform for three to five reps.
• Band Pull-Apart: Take a palms-down grip on a resistance band. Begin with your arms extended in front of your chest. Keep your arms nearly locked while pulling your hands in line with your shoulders. The band should touch your chest before returning to the starting position. Perform 10 to 15 repetitions before repeating the first exercise. Perform a total of three circuits.

The Path to Bolder, Boulder Shoulders

“Shoulder press and lateral raise” is often the default shoulder workout for beginners. While those are two fundamental exercises, complete shoulder development requires a better thought-out approach to training. By choosing specific exercises to emphasize power, strength, or particular muscle heads, you can take your shoulder development and strength to the next-level. Rethink your approach to shoulder training, incorporate the right movements, and you’ll be on the way to a stronger, wider set of delts.

References

1. Baroni, B. M., Pompermayer, M. G., Cini, A., Peruzzolo, A. S., Radaelli, R., Brusco, C. M., & Pinto, R. S. (2017). Full Range of Motion Induces Greater Muscle Damage Than Partial Range of Motion in Elbow Flexion Exercise With Free Weights. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 31(8), 2223–2230. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001562
2. Nazário-de-Rezende, Fernando et al. Déficit bilateral em exercício multiarticular para membros superiores. Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte [online]. 2012, v. 18, n. 6 [Accessed 26 October 2022] , pp. 385-389. Available from: <https://doi.org/10.1590/S1517-86922012000600008>. Epub 14 Feb 2013. ISSN 1806-9940. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1517-86922012000600008.
3. Dyrna, F., Kumar, N. S., Obopilwe, E., Scheiderer, B., Comer, B., Nowak, M., Romeo, A. A., Mazzocca, A. D., & Beitzel, K. (2018). Relationship Between Deltoid and Rotator Cuff Muscles During Dynamic Shoulder Abduction: A Biomechanical Study of Rotator Cuff Tear Progression. The American journal of sports medicine, 46(8), 1919–1926. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546518768276
4. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8

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The post The 15 Best Shoulder Exercises for Width and Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Beyond joint-friendly training, if you want to look great but haven’t added lateral raises into your workouts, two words should convince you otherwise: boulder shoulders. You can bench and overhead press all you want, but you still won’t see a set of broad, round, fully developed shoulders in the mirror.

The lateral deltoid is underdeveloped in many lifters due to the lack of direct stimulation from many compound exercises. Add lateral raises to your program, and you’ll close the gap in developing well-rounded shoulders. Let’s break down everything you need to know about performing this beneficial exercise.

• How to Do the Dumbbell Lateral Raise
• Lateral Raise Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Lateral Raise
• Muscles Worked by the Lateral Raise
• Who Should Do the Lateral Raise
• How to Program the Lateral Raise
• Lateral Raise Variations
• Lateral Raise Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Lateral Raise

The lateral raise seems simple enough. Grab hold of some dumbbells, raise them out to the side, lower them down, and repeat.

The shoulder is a tricky piece of machinery, and if poor technical habits are engrained, they may lead to an increased risk of injury. Let’s give you the rundown on performing this exercise perfectly.

Step 1 — Find the Starting Position

Stand up straight with your arms at your sides and a dumbbell in each hand. Position your feet just inside shoulder-width apart and brace your core. Lean forward slightly and allow the weights to touch each other in front of your thighs. Your palms should be facing each other and your elbows should be very slightly bent.

Form Tip: Slightly bending at the hips will shift your center of gravity and help to keep yourself grounded as long as you also tense your core. It also elicits a greater range of motion for the shoulder to move through, compared to keeping the weights at your sides.

Step 2 — Raise to Shoulder-Level

Maintain a neutral grip (palms facing your body) and keep your elbows in a softly bent position. Initiate the raise by driving out and up through your elbows until your upper arm is parallel to the floor. As the weights come up, your hands should naturally rotate to point your palms towards the ground.

Focus on moving your elbows to lift the weight, not leading with your hands. Your shoulders should be kept down, not shrugged up towards your ears.

Form Tip: Think of standing on the face of a clock. During the movement, your left arm should be pointing between nine and ten and your right arm should be between two and three. Keeping your arms in this alignment will better serve shoulder health while maintaining tension on the muscle.

Step 3 — Lower to Stretch

Maintain tightness through your core and lower body as you lower the weights along the same path. Use a controlled tempo, taking one to two seconds. The dumbbells should end up in the starting position touching each other in front of your thighs.

Form Tip: Rest in the bottom position for one second before starting the next rep. This will lessen any momentum being used to drive up the dumbbells.

Lateral Raise Mistakes to Avoid

While the lateral raise may seem easy enough to perform, there are some important mistakes that must be avoided to prevent any unnecessary risk of injury.

Lifting the Dumbbells Above Your Head

While lifting with a large range of motion can sometimes provide greater benefits in building muscle, in this case more is not better.

Lifting your arms too high (bringing the upper arms well-above shoulder-level) can place you at risk of an impingement in the shoulder, which is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. (1)

Avoid It: Imagine you have a barbell across your upper back, much like when performing a barbell squat. As you raise the dumbbells upwards, think about the barbell. Once your upper arm “touches” the bar, lower the weights down.

Lifting Too Much Weight

A lot of gym-goers can be seen using a weight that is so heavy it forces them to use momentum to complete the lateral raise.

This form of “cheating” will allow you to move more weight, but it also means that you lose a lot of the tension being placed on the target muscle. This goes against the objective of the exercise, which is to maximally recruit and stimulate the lateral deltoid.

Avoid it: Leave your ego at the door. Use a weight that you can lift with control for at least six reps. Keep your entire body tensed to maximize stability and reduce any chance of momentum being used.

Over-Rotating the Wrists

In order to increase the activation of the lateral delt, many lifters dramatically rotate their wrists during each rep, tipping their thumbs towards the floor and their pinkies towards the ceiling (imagine pouring a glass of juice). (2)

At first, this sounds like a great technique to implement into your training due to the increased muscle activation. However, further studies have also shown that using this technique can increase your shoulders’ vulnerability and increase your risk of injury. (1)

Avoid it: Ensure that your palms, not your thumbs, are pointed towards the ground in the top position of each rep.

Benefits of the Lateral Raise

The benefits of the lateral raise are largely aligned with strengthening the shoulder and improving muscle development through isolating the side shoulder (lateral deltoid) muscle.

Shoulder Strength

The shoulder muscle is most commonly trained with various types of overhead pressing. However, directly training the lateral deltoid head with lateral raises, similar to directly training the front and rear heads of the shoulder, carryover to improved pressing strength.

Well-Balanced Upper Body Appearance

The lateral deltoid is a muscle that is not effectively or efficiently stimulated in many compound exercises, which can leave them lagging and under-developed. The lateral raise can specifically isolate this muscle allowing you to build a more balanced and aesthetic upper body.

Muscles Worked by the Lateral Raise

The shoulder joint has a very high degree of freedom, which means the shoulder muscle can perform a variety of functions. The shoulders are anatomically split into three heads — the anterior (front), the lateral (side), and the posterior (rear).

The lateral raise trains all three heads of the deltoids, but the movement is most effective at isolating the lateral head, hence the name of the exercise itself.

Lateral Deltoids

The lateral delts are most visible in the center part of the shoulder muscle. They connect your upper arm to the acromion process on top of your shoulder blade. This head of the shoulder assists in moving your arm out to the side and away from your body, which is the exact movement performed during the lateral raise.

Anterior Deltoids

The anterior, or front, delts are found just above the biceps. They connect your upper arm to your shoulder blade. While they primarily work to bring your arm in front of your body, they are recruited during lateral raises.

Posterior Deltoids

Your posterior, or rear, delts are on the back section of the shoulder muscles. They attach your upper arm to a different section of your shoulder blade. The rear delts function to move your arms behind your body and help control your scapulae (shoulder blades). The posterior delts are significantly recruited during lateral raises, particularly while your torso is slightly bent forward during the exercise.

Trapezius

The trapezius is a relatively large muscle found along your neck and upper back. It isn’t, and shouldn’t be, a primary mover during the lateral raise, but it’s recruited as the weight is moved during the exercise. When lateral raises are performed incorrectly (swinging the upper body or shrugging the shoulders up), the traps can “take over” and reduce deltoid activation.

Who Should Do the Lateral Raise

The lateral raise is a good shoulder strengthening exercise and a great choice for lifters who want to maximize their lateral head muscle development.

Training for Strength

The lateral raise supports overall pressing strength by helping to build the shoulders, which are required for all variations of the bench press and overhead presses. Strength athletes looking to move significant weight in any press will build shoulder strength and overall joint health by incorporating the lateral raise.

Training for Muscle

The lateral raise is one of the few exercises to target and specifically emphasize the side delt directly. When performed correctly, you can overload this section of your shoulder without relying on an excessive amount of weight, making it ideal for any lifters looking to increase shoulder size with minimal joint strain.

How to Program the Lateral Raise

To prioritize muscle growth in the side delts, the dumbbell lateral raise should be programmed earlier in the session to capitalize on energy and focus. However, the exercise can also be effective when used to completely exhaust the muscle fibers towards the end of your workout.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

To build a well-developed set of shoulders, a classic bodybuilding approach working for three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range will increase training volume for the side delts, which is beneficial for building muscle. (3)

Low Weight, High Repetition

Working for two to three sets in the 13 to 20 rep range (or higher) will deliver the best results when using lighter weights, but it is important to ensure you are not just going through the motions when reps get incredibly high. Each repetition should be performed with crisp technique, no matter how many are performed.

High-rep sets with lighter weight can increase total training volume even further. These types of “burnout sets” are ideal at the back end of your workouts to fully exhaust the muscle fibers of the side delt.

Lateral Raise Variations

While the lateral raise will forever be a time-tested movement, there are also a few variations that can be rotated into your workouts for additional lateral delt development.

Machine Lateral Raise

The machine lateral raise can make it more comfortable for lifters to target the side delt. The main benefit is the weight being placed on your forearms or upper arms instead of being held in your hands. No longer will your grip be a limiting factor.

The machine also makes it more difficult to swing the weight into position, requiring more muscle activation.

Seated Lateral Raise

The seated lateral raise makes it next-to-impossible to move your torso without noticing, which ensures the tension is maintained on the side delt and reinforces strict form.

The seated variation is nearly identical to the standing exercise. The key difference is the stable upright position of your torso, which makes any swinging of your torso immediately noticeable.

Lean-Away Cable Lateral Raise

This cable variation places the muscle under a significant amount of tension throughout its entire range of motion and allows for a more constant resistance curve.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=H-TvQGfhR0w

The basic dumbbell exercise relies on gravity to provide resistance, which is minimal in the lower portion of the movement. The cable pulley provides steady resistance throughout the entire exercise.

The lean away approach also changes the arm angle so that less emphasis is placed on the rotator cuff, and a greater emphasis is placed on the lateral delt. (4)

Lateral Raise Alternatives

The lateral raise is a great exercise that targets the side delt. However, there are a few alternatives that you can rotate into your programming for variety and more diverse muscle activation.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Upright Row

This unusual but highly effective movement allows for greater freedom at the shoulder joint than the more traditional barbell upright row, which has a reputation for excessive joint stress.

The single dumbbell also allows the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints to move and adjust for the exact range of motion that feels most comfortable and least stressful on the joints.

Cable Upright Row

This exercise may be the most effective compound movement for lateral delt development due to the significant shoulder abduction (upwards and outwards) component. Using a rope on a low cable pulley gives the shoulder joint more freedom to move, compared to attaching a straight bar to the cable.

To prevent any chance of shoulder impingement or joint strain, don’t allow your elbows to rise up above shoulder-height. To minimize the trapezius being recruited, initiate the movement by pulling the rope handle apart and out towards your shoulders, rather than straight up towards your chin.

FAQs

How heavy should I perform lateral raises?

The side delt is a relatively small muscle and does not require an extremely heavy load to stimulate the muscle. You want a weight that is challenging for the intended rep range, but not so heavy that it forces you to cheat the weight up.

Remember that the goal of the exercise is to stimulate the side deltoid, not to move the most weight.

How many times per week can I do lateral raises?

Throwing in some lateral raises twice per week is going to be more effective than once per week for maximizing growth. (5) As you become a more experienced lifter, it can be worthwhile adding in an extra day per week.

Because the lateral raise doesn’t contribute significantly to overall training stress (compared to a bigger exercise like deadlift), it can be plugged into many other workouts without drastically affecting recovery.

References

1. Kolber, M.J., Cheatham, S.W., Salamh, P.A., & Hanney, W.J. (2014). Characteristics of Shoulder Impingement in the Recreational Weight-Training Population. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28, 1081–1089.
2. Coratella, G., Tornatore, G., Longo, S., Esposito, F., & Cè, E. (2020). An Electromyographic Analysis of Lateral Raise Variations and Frontal Raise in Competitive Bodybuilders. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(17), 6015. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176015
3. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764
4. McMahon PJ, Debski RE, Thompson WO, Warner JJ, Fu FH, Woo SL. Shoulder muscle forces and tendon excursions during glenohumeral abduction in the scapular plane. J shoulder Elb Surg. 1995;4(3):199-208.
5. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8

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The post How to Do the Lateral Raise for Bigger Shoulders appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Whether you want to add more muscle, get stronger, or if you’re only now starting your journey into the iron game, a systematic approach to shoulder training is best. Formulating a solid and effective plan will take some careful consideration of function.

Breaking down the shoulders into separate-but-connected parts, and training them accordingly, is the optimal path for the greatest progress towards fulfilling your specific goals. Below are four options for shoulder training specific to the goals of building muscle, dumbbell-only training, beginner workouts, and pure strength.

The Best Shoulder Workouts

• For More Muscle
• With Dumbbells
• For Beginners
• For Strength

Shoulder Workout for More Muscle

If more muscle is the goal, your ego needs to take a hike. Building muscle isn’t entirely about lifting heavier weight for more reps. Yes, progressive overload is a part of the more-muscle equation, but form and function are imperative to your success, especially when it comes to training the shoulders.

Your focus should be on controlling the weight, avoiding any cheating to move the weight up, and getting maximum fiber recruitment and blood flow.

The Wide Delt Workout

Many lifters invariably start each shoulder workout with a heavy overhead press to take advantage of increased strength levels early in the session. However, those same lifters would benefit from starting with work for common weak points or overlooked muscles.

This more effective approach will help to balance out shoulder mass and pre-exhaust the area, facilitating a greater training effect without the need for super-heavy weights — which can create stress on the joints and, elicit poor form, and shift the focus to strength-building.

Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raise

• How to Do It: Grasp a pair of dumbbells and bend at your hips until your upper body is nearly parallel to the floor. Allow the weights to hang straight down, just above your feet. Avoid rounding your lower back. Raise the dumbbells up and out to the side with your palms facing the floor during the movement. Keep a slight bend in your elbows and keep the weights in line with your head. Squeeze your rear deltoids (back of the shoulder) in the top position and then return under control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest Time: 30 to 45 seconds between sets.

Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise

• How to Do It: Stand with a pair of dumbbells held at your sides, palms facing your body. Keep a slight bend in your elbow and a tightly braced core. Raise the weights out to your sides until you reach shoulder-height. Return slowly to your sides.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest Time: 30 to 45 seconds between sets.

Machine Shoulder Press

• How to Do It: Sit in a shoulder press machine and grasp the handles with either a pronated (palms forward) or neutral (palms-in) grip. Adjust the seat or handle to begin the movement around ear-level. Press up until just before your elbows lockout, then return back down.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest Time: 30 to 45 seconds between sets.

Cable Face Pull

• How to Do It: Attach a rope handle to a cable pulley set around eye-level. Grasp the rope with your thumbs near the end stoppers and step back with your arms extended in front of you. Pull the rope towards your forehead. Keep your elbows up and out to the sides, in line with your shoulders. Squeeze your shoulders back and return slowly to the stretched position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest Time: 30 to 45 seconds between sets.

Shoulder Workout with Dumbbells

Effective shoulder training shouldn’t be reserved for those who have the latest state-of-the-art technology, the most current training machinery, and the most plush workout environments.

With just a simple set of dumbbells, anyone can build an impressive set of deltoids without needing any flashy equipment.

Dumbbell-Only Delt Training

Below is a basic dumbbell workout covering all the important bases needed for any solid plan. It hits each deltoid head — front, side, and rear — and utilizes a few unique planes of motion, setting you up for a great workout without the traditional (and expensive) gym equipment.

Seated Dumbbell Press

• How to Do It: Sit on a seat with a back pad and grasp two dumbbells. Bring them to shoulder-level with your elbows angled slightly out to your sides. Press the weights up and in, ending up directly over your head. Stop just before your elbows lockout. Return the dumbbells down to the starting position slowly and under control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: 60 seconds between sets.

Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise

• How to Do It: Stand with a pair of dumbbells held at your sides, palms facing your body. Keep a slight bend in your elbow and a tightly braced core. Raise the weights out to your sides until you reach shoulder-height. Return slowly to your sides.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest Time: 60 seconds between sets.

Standing Dumbbell Upright Row

• How to Do It: Stand with a pair of dumbbells resting on the front of your thighs with your palms facing your body. Maintain the same hand position while raising the weight up, leading with your elbows. Keep the weights close to your body. Stop when the dumbbells are at shoulder-height. Your elbows should always be slightly higher than your hands. Return down under control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: 60 seconds between sets

Seated Dumbbell Front Raise

• How to Do It: Sit on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand hanging at your sides with your palms facing each other. Keep your arms straight and raise both dumbbells up and inwards, making a slight curve from your sides up to eye-level. At the top, the dumbbells should be close together but not touching. Reverse the movement and lower the weights to the bottom.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-15
• Rest Time: 60 seconds between sets.

Shoulder Workout for Beginners

With the overwhelming amount of information on the web, it’s tough to discern what works and what doesn’t (about everything, let alone shoulder training).

It also seems that everyone has an opinion about how beginners “should” start out whether it’s with the barebones basics, diving right into some complex program, or using something in between. But rest assured, shoulder training doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, all that confusing.

The Basic Beginner’s Shoulder Workout

A beginner’s routine shouldn’t be too complicated, and that’s especially true for the shoulders. The deltoid complex is made up of many smaller muscles that work in concert to function through many planes of motion. Additionally, it can be a vulnerable area when trained incorrectly.

Beginners need to simply focus on practicing proper form and working the muscles through a full range of motion without worrying too much about loading heavy weights.

Seated Barbell Shoulder Press

• How to Do It: Sit on a bench with a padded back grasping a barbell a bit outside of shoulder-width. Begin with the bar held just in front of your chin and push the bar straight up. Once it passes your head, push the bar slightly back so it’s directly overhead and allow your head to travel between your arms. After locking out overhead, lower the weight under control to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: 60 seconds between sets.

Wide-Grip Barbell Upright Row

• How to Do It: Grasp a barbell with an overhand grip six to 12 inches outside of shoulder-width. Stand with the bar resting against your thighs. Pull the weight up by bending your elbows. Lead the movement with your elbows, keeping them higher than your hands. The bar should travel up your body until it reaches mid-chest level. Lower the bar back down slowly.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: 60 seconds between sets.

Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise

• How to Do It: Stand with a pair of dumbbells held at your sides, palms facing your body. Keep a slight bend in your elbow and a tightly braced core. Raise the weights out to your sides until you reach shoulder-height. Return slowly to your sides.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12
• Rest Time: 60 seconds between sets.

Shoulder Workout for Strength

Building strong shoulders isn’t as simple as hoisting heavier weights with your current routine. It’ll take a bit of a paradigm shift. The goal should be to lift heavier, but only with the right exercises.

Stronger shoulders are the hub of all upper body movements. A strong and stable shoulder girdle has the ability to support many of the bigger lifts such as bench presses, rows, pull-ups, and deadlifts.

The Strength-Building Shoulder Workout

Take a different approach to strength here. You’ll need to think about big compound movements, developing some speed strength, and using exercises that can add more foundational stability. This plan is designed to do just that.

Standing Push Press

• How to Do It: Stand with a barbell at shoulder-height, holding the bar slightly outside of each shoulder. Begin with a stable core, flexed glutes, and slightly bent legs. Begin the movement by straightening your legs to provide a little push. Capitalize on this assistance by also pressing powerfully overhead. Lockout the weight directly above your head. Brace your core again before controlling the weight down to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 5
• Rest Time: Two minutes between sets.

Hang Clean

• How to Do It: Grasp a barbell with an overhand grip a bit wider than your shoulders. Bend slightly at your knees and hips, allowing the bar to travel down your thighs. Forcefully straighten your entire body while pulling the bar up in a straight line towards your chest. Once it reaches chest-level, quickly bend your knees to drop your body down while fully bending your arms to “catch” the bar on the front of your shoulders.
• Sets and Reps: 4 x 5
• Rest Time: Two minutes between sets.

Farmer’s Walk

• How to Do It: Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells and allow them to hang by your sides. Find a straight path and begin by walking as far as possible while carrying the weights. Keep your arms slightly bent and your shoulder blades pinched back to maintain strong, safe posture. One complete round trip — from your starting point, going out as far as possible and returning to the starting point — is one “rep.”
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 1
• Rest Time: Two minutes between sets.

Muscles of Your Shoulders

The shoulders, or deltoids, are one muscle composed of three separate heads.

Each head contributes to overall movement, but their anatomical position allows each to be a larger contributor during certain movements, making the shoulder a relatively complex muscle group.

Anterior Deltoids

The anterior deltoids, or front delts, are in front of the shoulder above your biceps. They connect your upper arm to your clavicle. They primarily raise your arm upwards in front of your body..

Lateral Deltoids

The lateral deltoids, or side delts, are located on the central section of the shoulder and are most commonly associated with the “wide shoulder” appearance. The lateral delts connect your upper arm to the acromion process on your shoulder blade. Lateral delts are significantly recruited to move your arm out to the side.

Posterior Deltoids

The posterior deltoids, or rear delts, connect your upper arm to the flat portion of your shoulder blade. They play a key role in moving your arms backwards, especially during pulling or rowing exercises. Because several muscles of the upper back also perform a similar function, the rear deltoids often require (but don’t often receive) specifically targeted training.

How to Warm-Up Your Shoulders

Skipping a warm-up isn’t good for any body part. Sure, you may quickly warm-up your legs, chest, or back, but many lifters have no good reason for simply jumping right into shoulder training without prepping them for the work to come.

The shoulders are a complex, multi-angular group of muscles that require a proper warm-up specific to their needs. Since their function is to lift the arm to the front, side, and back, it’s best to give these movements attention.

A Complete Shoulder Warm-Up

• Face Pull: Attach a rope handle to a cable pulley set around eye-level. Grasp the rope with your thumbs near the end stoppers and step back with your arms extended in front of you. Pull the rope towards your forehead. Keep your elbows up and out to the sides, in line with your shoulders. Squeeze your shoulders back and return slowly to the stretched position. Perform two sets of 10 reps.
• Standing Dumbbell Press: Stand with a pair of dumbbells at shoulder-level with your elbows angled slightly out to your sides. Flex your abs and glutes for total-body stability. Keep a slight bend in your knees. Press the weights up and in. At the top, the weights should be directly over your head with your arms locked. Return the dumbbells under control down to shoulder-level. Perform two sets of 10 reps.
• Band Pull-Apart: Stand with your arms extended in front of your chest, with a palms-down grip on a resistance band. Keep a slight bend in your arms while pulling the band apart until it touches your chest. Hold for one second before reversing the motion under control. Perform two sets of 10 reps.

Well-Rounded, Well-Built Shoulders

No matter if your goal is muscle growth, more strength, or if you need an all dumbbell option or you’re a beginner there’s a shoulder workout designed just for you. Choose a plan, execute with razor-like focus, and finally reach those goals for better shoulders.

Featured Image: Aleksandr Lupin / Shutterstock

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