What do you notice the first thing when you saw some muscular guy walks into a gym? Most of us can’t resist looking at those well developed shoulders other than that impressive muscular physique.
Having well developed shoulders are many beginning weight-lifters’ dreams, isn’t it?
So what kind of muscles does the shoulder consist of?
Basically, our shoulders consist of the front (anterior), middle (medial) and rear (posterior) heads.
To develop such impressive shoulders we require two exercises – an overhead press and a raise.
The overhead press, when used properly can have a shoulder stimulating effect. This can be done by either using barbells or dumbbells. I would recommend dumbbells would be a better choice as it gives the lifter a better natural range of motion, and it prevents amateur lifters from cheating from using either arm while lifting. Also, dumbbells place a greater amount of stress on each arm compared to barbells, where the stress placed is mostly equal in dist. The best recommendation will be to use the seated overhead dumbbell press as your main shoulders workout exercise.
The seated overhead dumbbell press is performed by sitting on the bench with back support, with your lower back seated closely against the seat pads. Sit upright, with both dumbbells held in your arms at shoulder level in starting position. Push the weights up all the way till they are over the head, while breathing out. The ending position is when both arms are straightened, almost touching against your ears. Lower the arms back to starting position and repeat the cycle again.
When done properly and with great intensity, this exercise is enough to help you build maximum size and strength. Actually, there is no need for isolation exercises for the anterior and posterior heads. The reason being that the shoulders are heavily worked out during all chest pressing movements, and all rowing movements for the back. Remember, the essential principle when comes to training to build shoulders is to focus on quality of each exercise, and not about quantity.
Here are some examples of shoulder routines:
- Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
- Standing Dumbbell Side Laterals – 1-2 sets of 10 to 12 reps
Some samples of exercises for the front and rear heads:
- Standing Front Dumbbell Raise – 1 set of 10 to 12 reps
- Seated Rear Lateral Dumbbell Raise – 1 set of 10 to 12 reps
It should be reminded that these sets should be taken to complete muscular failure, where no extra reps can be done using proper form. To systematically monitor your training progress, you should keep track each workout and exercise you had done in a workout journal. As you see progress in your routines, try to increase the resistance or the number of reps performed on the weights.
What do you notice the first thing when you saw some muscular guy walks into a gym? Most of us can’t resist
looking at that well developed shoulders other than the impressive muscular physique.
Having well developed shoulders are many beginning weight-lifters’ dreams, isn’t it?
Our shoulders consist of the front (anterior), middle (medial) and rear (posterior) heads.
To develop such impressive shoulders require two exercises – an overhead press and a raise.
The overhead press, when used properly can have a shoulder stimulating effect. This can be done by either
using barbells or dumbbells. I would recommend dumbbells would be a better choice as it gives the lifter a
better natural range of motion, and it prevents amateur lifters from cheating from either arms while
lifting. Also, dumbbells place a greater amount of stress on each arm compared to barbells, where the
stress placed is mostly equal. The best recommendation will be to use the seated overhead dumbbell press as
your main shoulder workout exercise.
The seated overhead dumbbell press is performed by sitting on bench with back support, with your lower back
sitted closely against the seat pads. Sit upright, with both dumbbells held in your arms at shoulder level
in starting position. Push the weights up all the way till they are over the head, while breathing out. The
ending position is when both arms are straightened, almost touching against your ears. Lower the arms back
to starting position and repeat the cycle again.
When done properly and with great intensity, this exercise is enough to help you build maximum size and
strength. Actually, there is no need for isolation exercises for the anterior and posterior heads.
