Not sure the best way to train shoulders? I am sure you have read a lot of information out there on how you should train them. In this article I will give some basic tips and exercises you can perform for some shoulder gains.
Shoulder Press:
This is the most common exercise for shoulders. Using either a barbell or dumbells you simply press the weight over your head. These can be performed either sitting on a bench or standing. There are benefits of each.
Arnold Press:
These were made famous by Arnold, hence the name. You take two dumbells and bring them to your shoulders. Your palms should be facing you. While you press up you twist the dumbbells so that at the top of the movement your palms are facing away. When you come back down you do the same thing. These really burn your shoulders good and are a great variation to throw int your workout.
Push Press:
A push press is a standing shoulder press with assistance from your legs. Instead of just standing planted to the ground you do a mini squat and launch up with your legs. With push presses you can use a lot more weight which can help with shoulder growth. It is also an awesome explosive power movement that can carry over to a lot of things.
Kettle Bell Press:
Similar to a DB press, but instead you use a kettlebell. To put less stress on your wrist have the kettlebell go behind your hands.
Landmine Press:
These are one of my favorite exercises. If your gym doenst have a landmine station you can simply place a barbell in a corner of a wall. Be sure to pad the corner so you don’t mess it up. These can be performed single armed or with two arms. I prefer single arm. Grab the barbell and you simply press forward. It will go up at an elevated angle.
Lateral Raises:
Lateral raises are a very popular shoulder exercises. For these you want to go for the pump. I wouldn’t stray much lower than 10 reps for these. Grab two dumbbells and with a slight bend in your arm raise your arms up. Almost like you are flapping your wings. Go up to just about parallel and then come back down. When you come back down do not rest at the bottom, jump right back up.
Leaning Lateral Raises:
These are performed while holding a power rack with one hand and dumbbell in another. You will lean to the side which will give the raise a bigger range of motion. These are another favorite of mine.
Front Raises:
I am throwing this exercise in here just to mention it but I personally do not like it that much. Instead of raising DB’s to the sides, you raise them to the front. This exercise can sometimes hurt my shoulders so I rarely do it.
Handstand Push-Ups:
If you have the strength, handstand push ups are an awesome shoulder exercise. If you do not have the balance you can place your feet against a wall.
DB Bench Press:
The bench press actually hits the anterior deltoid quite a bit.
Leaning over lateral raises:
To hit the rear delts you can perform this exercise.