Who wouldn't want to look strong and healthy, have perfect posture, and exude confidence?
Well, count me in! So what if I told you all this could actually be achieved by building
broader, bigger shoulders? And, it only takes a month of training either at the gym or at
home. Seriously, check it out! But before bulking up your shoulders, it's
useful to figure out how they work. Your shoulder muscle (aka deltoid muscle) is made up of
three sets of muscle fiber. The anterior covers your shoulder joint on the front, the lateral
covers the joint from the side, and the posterior deltoid is located on the back side of your
shoulder joint. The anterior deltoid helps you to both flex
and rotate your arms. Thanks to the lateral, you can reach out to the side. As for the
posterior deltoid, it helps you to extend your arm to the back and rotate it.
The following exercises work all three muscles and can help you get broader, more defined
shoulders in a month. Well, if you don't slack off, that is.
1. Seated Shoulder Press First of all, you need to adjust an incline
bench so that its back is vertical. Sit down and hold two heavy dumbbells in your hands.
You can use two of your friends or you can get some weights. Just kidding. Your arms
should be bent at the elbow, your palms should face forward, and your feet should be positioned
flat on the floor. Remember that your upper arms are supposed to be parallel to the floor.
Slowly move your arms up by drawing the insides of your elbows toward your head until your
arms are straight. After that, lower the dumbbells back to the initial position. Make sure that
you have complete control over your movements. Do 8 to 12 reps.
This exercise effectively works your anteriors in a position that prevents you from swaying
or dipping your torso when you're doing it. As a result, you can try using heavier weights.
2. Standing Lateral Raise Start by making sure you have enough space
around you since you'll need proper clearance while doing this exercise. You don’t want
to smash the lamp. With a dumbbell in each hand, stand straight,
your feet hip-width apart. Your palms should be facing you, and your elbows should be slightly
bent. Raise your arms to the sides until they're
parallel to the floor. While the dumbbells may go a bit higher, they shouldn't end up
above your head. Take a short break, breathe in, and lower your arms back to the initial
position. Repeat this exercise from 8 to 12 times.
As you may guess from the name of the exercise, standing lateral raise bulks up and strengthens
your lateral deltoids.
3. Bent-Over Rows These are great for working your posterior
deltoids. But before you get down to the exercise itself, prepare for it by putting a dumbbell
on the floor near a flat bench. Then, place your left knee on the bench so that your lower
leg is parallel to the ground. Position your right foot on the floor and slightly bend
at the knee. Your left hand should be on the bench, but not too close to your knee. This
way, your back will have a neutral and straight posture.
With your right hand, reach for the dumbbell you left on the floor and hold it with your
palm facing in. Pull the dumbbell up as much as you can but make sure that you keep it
near your body. It's crucial that you pull the weight straight up. Also, remember to
exhale when you do this movement. Lower the dumbbell to the initial position,
but don't put it on the floor. While your arm should get straight at the end of the
movement, the dumbbell shouldn’t touch the ground. After you finish with one side, move
the dumbbell to the other and start working your left shoulder without taking a break.
Do from 10 to 12 reps on each side.
4. Handstand Pushups To do this exercise, you'll only need a wall.
Crouch down, facing away from it. Then, slowly and carefully, put your feet on the wall.
Start to carefully walk your feet up the wall until your body is positioned straight up.
You should be facing the wall and be careful not to lose balance.
Place your hands approximately shoulder-width apart and lower yourself down by bending your
elbows. When your head is about 2 inches away from the floor, start to straighten your arms
again to the initial position. Do 8 to 12 reps.
Besides helping to build massive shoulders, this exercise also develops your back, upper
chest, and core muscles.
5. Alternating Lateral and Forward Raises Stand in the middle of a resistance band and
grab its handles. Your hands should be in front of your thighs, with the palms facing
each other. First, lift your arms to the sides until they're
parallel to the floor, then lower them to the initial position. After that, raise your
arms in front of your body until they're parallel to the floor, then lower them again. Alternate
between lateral and forward raises while keeping your elbows a bit bent. Do from 10 to 12 reps
of the exercise.
6. Bent-Over Reverse Fly Take a dumbbell in each hand and bend forward
at the hip joint. You should keep your knees slightly bent and your core tight. Breathe
out and raise your arms to the sides so that your palms face each other. Do 7 reps. After
that, repeat this exercise 7 times with your palms facing down. And for the last 7 reps,
make sure that your palms face each other again. But this time, do a forward raise.
Be careful not to lift your shoulders. This exercise works all three kinds of deltoids,
and it's a good idea to do it at the end of your workout. The only thing you should remember
is to keep your weights relatively light.
During one training session, you should repeat from 3 to 5 sets of these exercises. Also,
for the fastest and most prominent results, do this shoulder workout three times a week
and make sure you have a day off between your training days.
At the same time, you should also avoid some major mistakes a lot of men make.
- First of all, make sure that nothing limits your range of motion when you're doing the
exercises. If you feel some muscle tightness during the workout, it means that you put
additional stress on both your joints and the muscles assisting them. It can lead to
pain and even injuries. To avoid these issues, it's better to stretch before getting down
to work. - Try to choose more prolonged and more intense
workouts to make your shoulders grow and bulk up; you may want to test your limits.
- Make sure you don't concentrate on working just one type of deltoid while neglecting
others. That would sabotage your ultimate goal of getting full, rounded shoulders.
- Don't forget that if you want to build muscle, you need to eat. That's why you should consume
more calories than you normally would and have more protein-rich foods, such as eggs,
meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and dairy products.
So, that’s it! Do you know any other exercises that can help build impressive shoulders?
Let me know down in the comments! If you learned something new today, then give this video
a like, share it with a friend, and here are some more cool videos to check out from the
Bright Side of life!