Broad shoulders are one of the most aesthetically important things on a guy.
A set of powerful, wide, caps will make your chest look larger and add to the v-taper look when properly developed. Thereโs no doubting that the shoulders add a lot when it comes toย looking powerful.ย
And broad, strong-looking shoulders not only look good but are also critical for functional movements and athletic feats. Keeping them in working condition is key for avoiding injuries and maintain your health.
So, youโve been doing the overhead press andย upright rows religiously the past few weeks to get those big, broad shouldersโand youโre seeing good results but thereโs something missing. The deltoids are a complex part of your body that is capable of doing a lot of things when it comes to movement.
But when it comes to the breadth of your shoulders, thereโs one part of the delts that takes the cakeโthe medial deltoid.
This โmiddleโ part of the shoulder is essential for getting broad shoulders, hence why weโll be targeting it with five of the best exercises.
Itโs necessary to prioritize the side delts in your gym sessions because the front delts already get a lot of engagement with many compound lifts, such as the bench press.
Adding some isolation exercises that target the middle delt is important for a well-rounded development in the shoulder region.
Your front delts (or anterior deltoids) are responsible for the flexion ad medial rotation of the shoulder joints. Because of this, it often works alongside your pecs in chest workouts. Opposite the anterior delts are the posterior delts.
Located at the back of the shoulders, the rear delts are used for extension, horizontal extension, and the external rotation of the shoulder joints. This tends to be the most underdeveloped head of the delts since itโs rarely engaged enough in your other, heavier compound lifts. However, itโs extremely important along with your postural muscles in the upper back, and developing it can have carry-over effects on your bigger lifts.
And lastly, we get to the muscle of the hourโthe medial deltoid.
The medial (also known as the side delt) is the head of the muscle thatโs furthest to the sides of your shouldersโas the name would suggest. This is why itโs important to give this delt head some attention if youโre looking for broad shoulders.
The only function of this head of the shoulder is to abduct the shoulder joint. This looks like lifting your arms upward and away from either side of your body. So, while shoulder press exercises remain some of the best for developing the deltoid muscles, itโs possible to give each head one-on-one attentionโthis is especially important for the less developed posterior and middle deltoids.
Below weโll look at some of the best shoulder exercises you can do to getย shoulders like boulders with a bit of hard work and a good routine.
As always, itโs important to warm-up the muscle group youโll be training. This is especially important for the rotator cuff and shoulder blades.
The lateral raise is one of the best exercises you can do for building the shouldersโespecially when it comes to targeting the medial delts.
Itโs so good that we had to include three variations on this list for you to try. The first is the conventional lateral dumbbell raise.
Itโs a simple movement, only requiring you to raise weights up to the sides until you get to the shoulder level, then lowering again. However, while it sounds simple enough to do there are plenty of form tips to keep an eye onโ and the movement itself is more difficult than it sounds as well.
The benefit of the dumbbell lateral raise is both in terms of the aesthetics of broader shoulders, but also when it comes to functional movements and shoulder mobility. Shoulder mobility is key when it comes to several other exercises, allowing you to take advantage of the full range of motion of lifts.
Furthermore, since youโll be standing the core will get a workout as well. Youโre going to need to maintain balance, and bracing the core is the way to do that. You should also feel some burn in your upper back, neck, and arms after doing a few sets.
To begin, stand with a dumbbell in each hand, keeping them at your sides. If youโre doing this for the first time, choose a weight you think youโll be able to use and then go slightly lighter. The first rep might be easy, but by rep 8 youโll definitely be gassing out your shoulders.
Maintain a straight back and keep your core braced throughout the entire movement. Only keeping a slight bend in your elbows, bring the weights up to the side until your arms are parallel with the ground. Once at the top of the movement, pause for a moment before slowly bringing the weights back down. The key here is to go slow and steady.
Going slow will be more difficult, but it should help you avoid accidentally cheating by shrugging the weights up with your traps. You want to be feeling the majority of the engagement from your deltsโnothing else. Youโll also want to ensure that youโre keeping your arms straight out (with that slight bend in your elbows). If they start coming closer to the front of your body, itโs time to choose a lighter weight.
One pro-tip is to turn your wrists as you approach the top of the movement, so as to have your pinky fingers at the very top.
This twist at the top of the exercise will effectively place more of a focus on your side delts, rather than the other delt heads. As you reverse the movement back down, return your wrists to the starting position.
Moving onto our second lateral raise for the lateral delts, we have partial side lateral raises.
And while the regular dumbbell lateral raise is already good for isolation the medial deltโespecially with the twisting of the wrist techniqueโthe partial side lateral raise goes a step further in bringing you massive shoulders.
The โpartialโ part of this exercise refers to the fact that you wonโt be going through the full range of motion like you would with a regular lateral raise.
Yesโwe knowโwe spend a lot of time talking about going through the full range of motion with exercises to maximize their benefits and gains, but sometimes itโs useful to only go halfway but go heavier instead.
With the decreased range of motion with the partial raise, youโll be able to use much heavier weights. Furthermore, even more of an emphasis will be placed on the lateral delts since youโll only be training with the portion of the movement that relies heavily on the activation in this region of the shoulder.
The cable machine is a good variation; done as cable laterals, itโll help to maintain a constant amount of tension throughout the full movement.
So, youโll want to choose a pair of dumbbells that are slightly heavier than those you would use for full lateral raises. Just like with the conventional laterals, start with the weights by your side and your core engaged throughout the entire movement. You should also maintain a slight bend in your elbows.
Taking a deep breath, slowly raise the dumbbells to about 45-degreesโhalfway between parallel to the floor and perpendicular to the floor. Use a neutral grip with palms facing in, to start.
Once at the top, pause for a moment before slowly reversing the movement and bringing it back to the starting position.
These work especially well if you superset them with regular lateral raises. Try going for 10 to 12 reps of the partial raises before grabbing a lighter pair of dumbbells and then gassing out your muscles with a set of full raises. This is sure to make you feel the burn.
When it comes to specific workout goalsโwhether hypertrophy or strength trainingโfree weights tend to be the direction that most people go in. They require more stability to balance, but they also lead to greater gains. However, that doesnโt mean machines should be written offโfar from it, in fact.
The lateral raise machine is one of the best ways to train your shoulders, especially the side delts.
Most of the benefits from using the lateral raise machine are machine-specific benefits.
Youโre effectively tied down to one motion throughout the entire exercise using the machine. That not only means really good form thatโs easily achieved from beginner to expert, but it also means that you donโt have to waste any energy on stabilizing the weight. Most of the time this energy isnโt โwastedโ per se, since stabilizers are still important, but by removing that out of the equation you can place a greater focus on the delts.
And what does this greater focus end up doing? It gives you greater delt gains.
Start by adjusting the amount of weight youโll be wanting to use and also adjusting the height of the seat. You should sit down facing the machine with feet firmly grounded on the floor, about shoulder-width apart
Grip the handles of the machine and ensure that your arms are secured. Look straight ahead and keep a slight bend in your elbows
Moving only at the shoulders, start by pushing the weight upward. Keep going until your forearms are slightly above parallel to the floor.ย At the top of the movement, contract your shoulders and pause for a moment before reversing the motion in a controlled manner
The machine is particularly good at doing drop sets
Drop sets are when you perform an exercise until you reach muscle failure, and then you continue using a lower weight, so on and so forth. Itโs an excellent strategy for more hypertrophy and the machine is really well geared for it. Instead of taking up a bunch of dumbbells or other free weights, using the machine will allow you to quickly switch between lighter and heavier weights.
The military press is very similar to the overhead press, and just like the overhead press, itโs sure to impart big gains on your shoulder muscles.
Along with your shoulders, youโll also be engaging your chest, upper back, triceps, and the core.
The core especially plays an important role in the military press because of the way the military press is performed. The military press is extremely closely related to the overhead press, but itโs usually done with stricter form and with feet closer together.
The strict form is obviously a great thing for getting the most out of the movement in terms of gains, but the foot positioning will emphasize your core stability in keeping up the free weight. And by free weight, we mean either dumbbells or barbellsโeither one will do. Keep in mind that dumbbells will require even more stabilizers and each hand will have to move separately, meaning that your max weight will be lower when compared to using the barbell.
However, if youโd rather take some emphasis away from the core muscles and strictly focus on the delts, then feel free to adopt a wider stance during the lift. This should allow you to lift slightly more which will lead to greater gains.
Begin with the barbell in a squat rack so you donโt have to take it up from the floorโaround chest height is good.
Grasp the bar with a grip thatโs slightly wider than shoulder-width apart using an overhand grip. Come up to the bar and slightly bend your knees, driving up through your legs to take the bar off the rack. Ensure that your glutes and core are braced.
Set your feet close together if youโre opting for the stricter form of the military press. Otherwise, you can adopt a wider stance.
Keep the bar level with your chin and ensure that your elbows are both pointing forward rather than to the sides. Furthermore, your elbows should always be slightly higher than the hands when compared to the side laterals. Maintain the elbow direction throughout the entire lift and itโll help you place a greater focus on the side delts.
Breathe in and engage your core before pushing up explosivelyโbreathing out as you do. As you reach the top of the movement, move your head slightly forward so the bar is right above you. This should help to prevent your back from arching.
Reverse the movement in a controlled manner, making sure to avoid hitting your head on the way down.
Named after the legend himself, the Arnold press is a fantastic addition to your other deltoid exercises since it works all three heads of the muscle.
While weโre focusing on the lateral delt here, ensuring that youโve got a set of well-developed shoulders means taking care of all three heads equally.
The Arnold press wonโt allow you to use as much weight as with a standard overhead press, but it does keep your muscles under tension for a longer period of timeโand time under tension is what weโre looking for when it comes to muscle growth.
Begin with a dumbbell in each hand. Start lighter than youโre used to, especially if this is your first time performing an Arnold press.
Your arm should be bent with palms facing you, similarly to how it looks at the top of a bicep curl. To begin, spread your arms to the sides of your body, keeping the same bend in your elbow.
Then, press the dumbbells upward while twisting your hands so as to make your palms face forward as you reach the top of the movement. Maintain constant tension in your core in order to maintain stability.
Ensure that your elbows lockout at the top and your head comes forward in order to get the full range of motion. Reverse the movement in a controlled manner and repeat for the desired amount of reps.
These five exercises will put you well on your way to having a set of broad shoulders and side deltoids that work as impressively as they look. However, there are a few key tips to keep in mind to maximize gains.
The first is variation. The delts are a complex muscle and you should always try to switch things up a little to hit them from every angle to get all the muscle fibers. The stuff above is a good start, but there are dozens of other great delt movements to try out thatโll build muscle.
But between all of this working out, you also want to make sure that youโre giving yourself enough fuel in the form ofย whole, healthy foods. Putting a good routine together with a good shoulder workout will ensure that youโve got the upper body of a chiseled Roman statue.
