If you are interested in having wider and leaner shoulders, or if you only want a good workout routine for your shoulders, you should try these easy steps.

One of the most famous steps is shoulder press. This is done by standing up, have your feet one shoulder width apart. Keep you back straight and your shoulders squared. Keep you abdomen tight, your chest relaxed and your knees should be slightly bent.

Then you hold the weights above your shoulders and slowly push them up. You should maintain your focus on the position of your body as well as focus on working your shoulders. Lower your arms only until they are perpendicular with your shoulders.

Then, you reverse you arms with the weights down. Slowly move the weights downward, and then upward again until it is bent straight at the elbow. You again repeat these steps. This will help work out your deltoid muscles.

Another step you can try is called a shoulder shrug. This time, you still should start with correct posture. That means you should have a straight back, relaxed chest, tight abdomen, etc. You should also maintain balance by keeping your feet firmly planted, slightly apart, and toes slightly pointing outward.

You start by lifting your shoulders slightly at the back of your head. This will simply look like as if your shrugging, only that you will have weights in hand. This type of shoulder workout will be effective for your trapezius muscles.

Side shoulder raise is another exercise which will work out your deltoid muscles.

Still standing in a proper position, put your arms with weights in them slightly in front of your body. Then you lift the weights sideways and upwards. Maintain focus on your shoulders.

Lift only until your arms are in line with your shoulders. Then you can lower your arms and start the routine again.

Another very simple exercise is arm circles. In here, you won’t need any equipment. After standing in a proper position, you need to lift your shoulders sideways. You then do circular motions with your arms. Reverse the direction as necessary. However, it is recommended to do the circular motion in the same direction for at least 10 seconds before you reverse the direction.

You may also modify this exercise by doing shoulder shrugs instead of whole arm circles. The shrugs will be done without weights and can be repeated as many times for ten seconds and reversed in the opposite direction.

So, if you want to have simple steps in shoulder workouts, you should try the above exercises.

If you don’t know this already then you should know now that if you want to have a good shape to your body then you need to concentrate on your shoulders. If you develop your shoulders well enough then it accentuates the entire body and its posture.

The most basic workout involving the development of your shoulders includes weight lifting. Start with lifting dumb bells. Don’t use the heaviest dumb bell you can lay your hands on. Develop your shoulders by gradually increasing the weight and duration of the dumb bell lift. While lifting it you should be slightly bent around the hips while keeping the wrists straight. Bring up the dumb bells to your ears each time. Once you are used to lifting the weights you should start with the heaviest one while working out and go to the lightest one as you proceed.

You should be lifting the dumb bells in two ways: first by keeping your arms to the side of your body, like the flapping of bird wings. Don’t try doing it too fast as you might strain your ligaments. Once you enter into the mode continue lifting the dumb bells, but this time from the first, while keeping the arms parallel to the ground. Doing this regularly will develop your shoulders gradually.

You should also try the complete lateral raise with your dumb bells. This requires you to lift the dumb bells, once to the side, once to the front and once above your head. This raises the intensity of the workout manifold.

However, you need to be very careful so as to not lift the weights in jerking motions. This involves a high risk of injury. You can tear ligaments or suffer from muscle tear if you don’t keep your arms steady while lifting the dumb bells.

The next step towards your shoulder development workout involves the pulling of cable cross rows. However, in order to up the intensity quotient you should pull the right stirrup with your left hand and the left with your right hand. Do this for sometime with medium tension. Then increase the tension as you continue. Make sure the cables are fixed at angles of 45 degrees.

Use a barbell plate for this next exercise. Hold the plate to the front of your body and lift it up. Repeat this process a considerable number of times.

All these workout tactics concentrate on your shoulders. If you want to develop your shoulders then you need to follow these tips and do them regularly. Unless you keep up with the regime and up your intensity consistently you will not be able to build sufficient muscle mass and tone your shoulders.

Remember, the shoulders give shape to your entire body.

Most people have at least one thing in common, one of the most said things is that people never have enough time in the day to get in a decent workout. If you’re finding it simply too hard to stick to a workout plan or simply can find time to hit the gym on a regular basis, then why not try a full-body workout program? Yes, you will still have to work hard but in less time, read on and check out these 6 training routines to make your full-body workout program.

The Arnold Press

With this exercise you’re going to work your shoulders (Traps and Delts) as well your arms (Bicep). Grab a pair of dumbbells and sit on a bench. Begin with your elbows bent and palms facing inward (toward the shoulders). Push up and finish with your arms above your head, twisting the arms so that the palms are facing outward (away from the face). Return to the starting position, and perform eight-10 reps, increasing weight for each of three sets. This is usually the first exercise I do when I start my shoulder workout. Try to work the shoulders at least twice a week to get good results and also remember to go heavy with this exercise because you’re going to get a great pump going.

Lat Pulldowns

This is a great workout for the back. First sit at a lat pulldown machine, lock your thighs under the pad and grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip. Lean back slightly and pull the bar down to your chest, taking care not to rock back and forth, and then raise the bar back up, completing 10-12 reps. Complete another 10-12 reps, pulling the bar behind your neck. Perform three full sets. I’ve come to find that it’s best to use a lighter amount of weight and combine two pulldown exercises into a superset.

Chin-Ups

Just like reinforced steel can bear more weight than sheet aluminum, a strong, well-conditioned back can withstand more stress, and protect the spine better, than a back that has not been conditioned through exercise. This is a great and easy exercise to help strengthen your back. First, stand under the chin-up bar and grab it with your hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing away (not toward) your body. Pull yourself up until your chin (and not just your forehead) is above the bar. Make sure you aren’t swinging your legs during the lifts. Make sure you perform as many reps as you can until exhaustion.

Unweighted Squats

I am always stretching when I work out, I never go too heavy in my workouts. There’s really no need to, the only power move I do now is squats, and I do those with no weight at all. For this workout, stand straight up, with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms extended out in front of you. Bend your knees to lower yourself, keeping your weight balanced above your feet. When your butt is in line with your knees, press up. Perform 15-35 reps for three sets and remember to go all the way down!

Leg Extensions

Leg Extensions target the front of the quads. I use a lighter weight, and do more reps…Keep the weight low, and make sure you do the exercise nice and slow to feel the burn. Sit at the leg extension machine and adjust the pad so that it rests on your ankles. Keep your back pressed against the backing and extend your legs up. Slowly lower your legs back down; that’s half the workout there, yo’! Perform eight-12 reps for three sets.

Tricep Pushdowns

Face the cable machine and grab the handle with your palms facing down. Push down until your arms are nearly straight and then return to your starting position with a slow, controlled motion. To isolate the triceps, always keeps your back straight. Perform eight-10 reps for three sets. I enjoy this work out because my biceps aren’t as big as my triceps, but that exactly why I have big arms. If you want huge arms you cannot neglect your triceps.

Using the right shoulder exercise and routine is a science and in this article I will show you how to use it for maximum muscle gains

So here are a few steps to begin this shoulder routine for big shoulders

Building big shoulders?

Step 1. stop doing compound  shoulder exercises- these include behind the neck press and any basic compound shoulder exercise- yes I know this goes against all that you know about building big shoulders but trust me on this one

Step 2. Use super heavy weights and cheats on this one shoulder exercise I will share with you

Step 3 over train the shoulders for a week using this one shoulder exercise

Step 4 rest, rest and rest for a week after this for big shoulders

So the best shoulder exercise here is the side lateral raise –more specifically the standing lateral side raise

Here is how you do this shoulder exercise

Grab a heavy dumbbell with your right hands using a weight you can do 2-3 reps with in good form with and grab a support bar with your left hands, now with the weight in the right hand, lift the weight with the help of momentum. In other words cheat up the weights

Do not use all momentum or too much momentum here ,  the key to this shoulder exercise is to use just enough momentum to get the weight up the weak portion of the exercise (which is at the bottom part) and then you are using shoulder muscle power to do the rest. Lift the weight to shoulder level and no more and then slowly lower the weight

The key when doing this exercise, is to keep the body slightly bent forward-you should be able to see your rear delts

Does this set until you reach full positive muscular failure?

Now here is the key

This shoulder routine is temporary and requires shock, so you will do only one set of this as I explained once a day and

Do this for the next 5 days after which you will stop doing this routine for a week and rest

You must not do any other

Shoulder workout whiles on this routine

If done correctly and if you are not over trained you will see changes in strength and

A little bit on size and definition. You can discover more powerful shoulder training tips clicking the link in the author’s box below. Use them and you will never have small shoulders and you will know h0ow to use this best should exercise to give you big shoulders

In addition, the shoulders, along with the upper back, are largely responsible for the appearance of a wide upper body.  If this is combined with a lean stomach it gives the appearance of what is known as the “V-taper”.

There are a ton of exercises you can use build bigger shoulders, but the key with all of them is to follow a progressive program that allows you to constantly improve.  Only by improving will your shoulders grow.  These improvements can come in the way of added weight, more reps, or decreased rest periods.  As long as you are improving (and eating) the mass will come.

So with that, let’s take a look at some of the best exercises for building bigger shoulders!

Bradford Presses

This movement is named after a 1930’s Olympic lifter named Sam Bradford.

Start with a weight that is about 20-25% lighter than what you can military press.  Take a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip on the bar. You will begin in the traditional military press position with the bar in front you.  From this position you will press the bar until it is just above the top of your head.  Once you get to this height you will bring the bar over your head and lower it down behind your head into the behind the neck press position.  From the position you will again press the bar to a height just over your head and then lower it back down in front you back to the position in which you started.

This is one repetition.  Complete 6-8 reps for 3-4 sets.  

One important technique point is to make sure that you keep looking straight ahead throughout the movements.  Resist the temptation to look down, which will not only make the exercise easier, but can also lead to some pretty severe neck and upper back injuries.  Don’t do it!

This movement will really blast your shoulders and will also greatly improve your serratus anterior strength which will help your starting strength in all pressing movements.  If you are someone who struggles to get the bar off your chest during a bench press, this exercise is for you!

Front Plate Raise

This movement is a simple one.  All you need is a weight plate.  The beginning lifter will start with a 25 pound plate, while advanced lifters can use a 45 pound plate, or even a 100 pound plate.

Grab the plate with your hands at the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions, just like you are holding a steering wheel.  With your elbows straight, raise the weight up in front of you and continue until it is all the way over your head.  Many lifters stop the movement once they get to eye level, but you are losing a lot of the benefit by doing so.  From this position simply lower the plate back to the starting position.

This movement is a great finisher for the front deltoids after a pressing movement like Bradford presses.  Because your hands are in a neutral position (thumbs towards the ceiling) it also puts the shoulder joint in a much healthier position than barbell front raises.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps here.

Lean-away Dumbbell Lateral Raises

Now that your front delts are toasted from the first two exercises, it’s time to move on to finishing off the medial deltoids (outer shoulders).  This is the part of the shoulder muscle that really contributes to your upper body width.

Lateral raises are a great way to target this area.  So, let’s look at how to do this unique lateral raise exercise.

You are going to start with just one dumbbell in your hand.  Your free hand should hold on to something sturdy like a power rack at shoulder height.  You will then shift your feet so that they are directly under your free hand.  At this point you should lean away from your free hand so that you are holding yourself up with the power rack.  From this position you will simply perform a lateral raise.

This variation really targets the top half of the movement, while the bottom half will be very easy.  Make not to use too much momentum in the bottom half of the exercise, or you will short-change the muscle building tension in the top-half.

Complete 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per arm.

So there you go! A great shoulder workout that shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes to complete.  Remember, the key with any workout is consistent progression.  

Eat big, train hard, rest long.  Repeat this process month after month and you will have a muscular body you will proud of!

The shoulders are made up of three ‘heads’, or different muscles that allow the shoulder to move as it does.

The Anterior Head
The anterior head is, as the name suggests is at the front of the shoulders.

This anterior head can be trained directly with exercises such as the military press and standing lateral barbell raises.

This head is also trained heavily during the bench press (any version), so compared to the other two heads of the shoulders the anterior needs the least amount of direct work to stimulate growth (as long as you are performing bench presses in your workout regime).

The Medial, or Lateral Head
The medial (middle head) of the delts is responsible for the width in your shoulders and can be trained with lateral raises. To perform a lateral raise, hold a pair of dumbbells by your sides, palms facing inwards. Then raise you arms upwards, until they are parallel to the floor and then back down to your sides, this is one repetition.

The medial head needs to be trained with very strict form as there are many ways to cheat on this exercise for example swinging the weight up with your body. This will not stimulate your medial delt for full development.

Train your medial deltoid muscle with a rep range of 10 – 15 reps. This will enable you to control the movement through all of its stages and really concentrate on fatiguing the muscle. Most people also agree that a higher rep range is best to stimulate growth in this head of the delts.

The Posterior Head
The muscle at the back of the shoulders can be trained with reverse dumbbell flyes. You can sit on a bench, lean over your knees, then raise the dumbbells out, much like a lateral raise. Or, even better, position a bench as if you were going to perform a incline bench press, but lie your chest on the bench instead of your back. This may feel slightly awkward initially, but really stretches the posterior head. Think of this exercise as a ‘reverse flye’ movement.

Now we know the different deltoid heads and what exercises stimulate them, we can discuss different types workout regime.

As the heads of the shoulders are relatively small and you want to isolate them there are intensity techniques you can use to train your shoulders in the least amount of time to produce the biggest growth response.

Most people advocate a ‘superset’ or ‘triset’. Basically this means performing two or three exercises, one after another. An example of this would be

Military press x 5 – 7
Dumbbell side lateral x 10 – 12
Dumbbell rear delt flye x 10 – 12

Perform these one after another with basically no rest between the exercises, beginners may want to start with two instead of three exercises. Take a few minutes rest and repeat.

If you are performing a separate shoulder workout then simple sets of 3 x 10 – 12 will work fine. However most people add them on to a chest routine, or a push movement routine (a workout with only push movements). Therefore moving quickly throughout the exercises will be best for overall growth.