If it is your goal to have a muscular build, then working on your shoulders is definitely important. Massive and round shoulder muscles will help the upper body look broad and will give you this V-form that every bodybuilder is looking for.
So what are the good news? You can develop shoulder muscles with very little work!
The shoulder is a three-headed muscle. The lifting and rotation of the arm are regulated by the shoulder. It consists of anterior, medial, and posterior regions. To activate all three heads of the muscle, using a raise and an overhead press is more than enough.
The basis of any exercise program to build shoulder muscles is for sure an overhead. The stimulating effects on the shoulder of the easy, but powerful overhead press cannot be beaten by any other exercise. You can use dumbbells or a barbell to perform overhead presses. I recommend the use of dumbbells.
You should give the seated overhead dumbbell press a try – it is one of the greatest moves to develop shoulder muscles. Make sure that the bench you use for this exercise has a vertical support for your back. Press the hand weights to the position where the elbows almost lock out, and then lower the dumbbells back down.
If you want to develop shoulder muscles, hand weights will be a great way to get a full range of motion. They also make sure that your stronger arm does not do the majority of the work. Additionally, using a barbell does not allow you to concentrate on your shoulders only because it puts strain on the upper part of the chest.
Another exercise to think about is a standard side lateral raise. A great exercise to build shoulder muscles with dumbbells. The side lateral puts the most stress on the medial head of the shoulder. You can increase your shoulder width with the lateral raise and it will help you to attain a wider upper body.
To perform this exercise, hold your dumbbells with your palms pointing inwards. Your knees should be slightly bent. Bending your elbows slightly, raise the dumbbells to your shoulders and go back to the starting position.
If you are trying to get big and powerful shoulders, really the only exercise routines you need are the side lateral raise and overhead press. Since the shoulders are triggered via almost every upper body exercise, it is not necessary to do plenty of extra work to build massive shoulder muscles.
Do you know that doing too much to build the shoulder muscles can in fact hinder your results? That is the reason why performing isolation exercises for the anterior and posterior heads is not the very best idea.
For example doing a lot of chest pressing movements already trigger the anterior heads, and doing lots of rowing movements hits the posterior heads. A few extra sets are ok, but avoid going for too much of volume.
Here are two shoulder routines that I recommend…
Routine #1
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press – 2 sets of 5 – 7 repetitions
Standing Dumbbell Side Laterals – 1 – 2 sets of 10 – 12 repetitions
You can try the routine below if you wish to continue with isolation exercises for the front and rear heads.
Routine #2
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press – two sets of 5 – 7 repetitions
Standing Dumbbell Side Laterals – 1 – 2 sets of 10 – 12 repetitions
Standing Front Dumbbell Raise – one set of 10 – 12 repetitions
Seated Rear Lateral Dumbbell Raise – one set of 10 – 12 repetitions
It is important that you push it to concentric muscular failure on every single set and keep it going till you simply cannot perform further reps without losing correct form. Keep track of your exercise sessions and push yourself for increased performance each week by adding more weight or increasing the number of reps.
I hope my article was helpful and if you would like to read more tips about bodybuilding, weight lifting and fitness related topics, then feel free to check out my fitness blog!
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