Everyone talks about growing bigger glutes, bulging biceps, or rock-solid abs, but what about your shoulders?
You've no doubt seen people in the gym hitting shoulders from all angles, and now you're probably wondering what the best shoulder exercises actually are and why you should even bother training them in the first place.
In this article, we'll discuss why you should be training your shoulders, the benefits of training your shoulder muscles, and give you seven of the best shoulder exercises to help you grow bigger, stronger shoulders.
Why Should I Train Shoulders?
Although the shoulders may not be the strongest muscle group in the body, the shoulder joint and supporting muscles play a crucial role in many lifts and movements.
The shoulder muscles are most involved during overhead movements, such as the overhead shoulder press, but also play a key role in pushing and pulling, alongside stabilizing the joint during other activities.
And if you're ever planning on stepping on stage, then big shoulders will win you points in the aesthetics world too.
Broader shoulders give an illusion of a more tapered back and narrower waist, something the judges look for when marking bodybuilders on stage.
What Muscles Are In The Shoulder?
The shoulder is a complicated joint containing multiple layers of superficial and deep muscle tissue.
When training shoulders for strength, it's important to utilize a variety of movements to ensure we strengthen the various muscles that help stabilize the shoulder joint and reduce the risk of injury.
The major muscles in the shoulder include:
Deltoid
Trapezius
Rotator Cuff
Deltoid
The deltoid is a superficial muscle and is the most known shoulder muscle and consists of the Anterior Deltoid, Lateral Deltoid & Posterior Deltoid, attaching at the shoulder's front, middle, and back, respectively.
The deltoid's primary function is the arm's movement in multiple directions, playing a key role in pushing and pulling movements.
Trapezius
The trapezius blurs the lines between many areas of the upper posterior in the body, running from your neck to your back. However, the middle trapezius runs directly across the top of the shoulders.
The trapezius plays a key role in maintaining good posture and helps to both stabilize and move, aiding movements such as shrugging, tilting, and moving the neck.
Rotator Cuff
The shoulder rotator cuff consists of 4 muscles, these are:
Subscapularis
Infraspinatus
Teres minor
Supraspinatus
With many shoulder injuries relating to the rotator cuff, it's important to include movements that help target these smaller muscles to reduce the risk of injury.
From abduction of the arm to lateral and external rotation, the rotator cuff allows the ball and socket of the shoulder joint to move around freely in various directions.
The 7 Best Exercises To Build Bigger Shoulders
Overhead Shoulder Press
Rear Delt Flies
Lateral Raises
Upright Row
Frontal Raises
Face Pulls
Cable External Rotation
Overhead Shoulder Press
A staple compound exercise, the overhead shoulder press is a fantastic shoulder exercise for building strength and size in the shoulder muscles.
With the overhead press being a compound exercise, several muscle groups work together, improving functional strength and stability.
This exercise can be done with a barbell or dumbells and either seated or standing. If you have muscular imbalances, opt for the dumbells to try and iron out weaknesses.
How To Do The Overhead Shoulder Press
Begin standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, gripping the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width, with the bar just under your chin.
Keep your knees soft to aid stability, but do not use them to assist with the lift.
Keep your core engaged, glutes tight, and a neutral spine throughout the movement.
Press the bar straight up overhead by extending your arms until they're fully extended overhead, be sure not to lock out your elbows or hyperextend.
Pause, then slowly lower the bar back to your shoulders to complete one rep.
Ensure the bar path stays vertical, and don't lean back as you press.
Want to delve a little deeper into the overhead press? We've got a full article on the benefits of the overhead press and how to do it properly.
Rear Delt Raises
The clue is in the name, but these bad boys will help build those rear delts (basically, the back part of your shoulder).
Stronger rear delts working through a greater range of motion will help retain posture and stability while aiding pulling movements such as the barbell row.
How To Do Rear Delt Raises
This exercise requires you to tilt forward slightly to emphasize the rear delts, and keeping your arms fixed while using a light weight will ensure the rear delts are the muscle taking all the heat.
Lateral Raises
Now you have worked the back of the shoulders; it's time the work the sides or the 'caps' of the shoulders.
Lateral raises are a very similar movement to rear delt flies, but the workload is placed onto the lateral head of the deltoids – the middle section of the muscle.
How To Do Lateral Raises
Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand, resting by your side.
With a slight bend in your arms, raise your arms out to the side until they are parallel to the floor.
Slowly return your arms to the start position.
If you struggle to hit parallel, lower the weight and increase the reps.
Dumbbell Front Raise
You're probably starting to see a trend now with the last few isolation shoulder exercises...
Front raises are going to target the anterior deltoids located at the front of your shoulder.
While these exercises all seem very similar, if done correctly, they will help develop the various sections of the deltoid muscle, improving muscle symmetry and building strength.
With the frontal raise, we're doing a similar movement to the rear delt fly and lateral raise. However, this time, we'll be bringing our arms up in front of us.
How To Do Dumbbell Front Raises
Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand, resting against your thighs.
With a slight bend in your arms, raise your arms up in front of you until they are parallel to the floor.
Slowly return your arms to the start position by your thighs.
Be sure to control the movement and avoid swinging the weights.
Upright Row
Not another shoulder raise, we promise.
The upright row is a versatile shoulder exercise that targets the delts and trapezius.
This exercise can feel a little awkward to do at first, but it's one worth including in your shoulder workouts if size and strength are your goals.
Dumbells, barbells, or an EZ bar all work great for this shoulder exercise.
How To Do Lateral Raises
Start with your arms lowered and the weight hanging in your hands
Bring up the bar or dumbells toward your chin, and keep your shoulders and elbows pinned back.
Once your hands are above your shoulders, slowly lower the weight back down to the start position.
Face Pulls
There's a good chance you've seen someone in the gym doing these and wondered what it does.
Face pulls are a cable shoulder exercise that targets the rear delts, along with the rhomboids and traps – an excellent shoulder exercise for strength and posture.
Isolating these posterior shoulder muscles means less weight is needed to build strength and size within the target muscles.
Setting the cable above head height will target more of the rear delts and rhomboids while lowering the cable to head height or just below will place more emphasis on the rear delts and traps.
How To Do Face Pulls
Set the height of the cable machine and use a two-handled attachment (the rope, for example).
Step back until your arms are fully extended, and you have tension on the cable.
Pull the handles toward your forehead, keeping your palms facing in, and lift your elbows up and out. Focus on contracting the upper back and rear delts.
Slowly return to your start position.
Cable External Shoulder Rotation
This one is less of a muscle builder, but it's an excellent prehabilitation exercise to build stability and strength within the rotator cuff and posterior deltoid.
It also makes for a great warm-up exercise to mobilize the joint before taking on bigger lifts.
How To Do External Shoulder Rotations
Standing or sitting, position the cable on the opposite side of your body with a handle attachment.
Place the cable height in-line with your hand with the elbow bent at 90 degrees.
Grab the handle and take one step away from the machine to put tension on the cable.
Externally rotate your shoulder as far as you comfortably can before slowly returning your arms to the middle.
Arnold Press
One of the best shoulder exercises for targeting the delts, the Arnold press puts a huge emphasis on the anterior, lateral, and posterior deltoid.
It's one of the more advanced shoulder exercises, but there's no need to go heavy and once you get the hang of it, you'll reap the rewards from this one.
How To Do The Arnold Press
Adjust the bench upright - the seated Arnold Press requires you to have your bench around 70 degrees upright, giving you some more range of motion than an otherwise rigid 90-degree setting.
Grab your dumbbells - start with a weight that’s around 20% lower than your go-to for a shoulder press, just to be safe. Once ready, hold the dumbbells in both hands just above your pectoral muscles, with your hands facing your chest. Tuck your elbows in and make sure they’re pointing down. You should look like you’ve reached the end-point of a bicep curl, minus the flex.
Keep your chin tucked - pretend you’re holding an egg with your chin. Keeping your chin tucked in can help reduce strain on your neck and keep movements strict.
The twist- whilst making sure your spine is neutral and your feet are firmly planted onto the floor, gently press the dumbbells up whilst rotating your arms out so that your palms are facing away from you.
The press - push the dumbbells up above your shoulders in the same way you would a traditional overhead press, with your palms facing away from you as you lock out your rep.
The twist on the way down - once you’ve held the rep for a couple of seconds, bring the dumbbells back down slowly, rotating your arms inwards, tucking your elbows in, and twisting your wrists so that your palms are once again facing your body.
Pause and repeat - have a one-second rest, and do it all over again for 12-15 more reps.
Building muscle and strength in your shoulders in just about one-rep maxes. Adding variety to your shoulder workouts through the inclusion of compound and isolation exercises can help build resilience, strength, and size when training shoulders.
We've given seven excellent shoulder exercises for you to include in your workouts, whether you train upper/lower splits or have a specific shoulder day – there's enough here for a brutal shoulder workout. With consistency and volume progression, you'll begin to see results in no time.
