The United States is known to be “happy with the arms” and I would agree. It’s kind of funny watching the vast majority of guys in the gym hitting their arms and chest every day. Next time you lift up, look around and I bet you’ll notice all the benches and preacher curl machines are busy. This habit of training your arms above everything else gives you an unbalanced appearance. The usual obvious sign of someone who is “happy with the arms” is the notorious chicken feet, but what I’ve really noticed lately are narrow shoulders. Having narrow shoulders will make you appear weak and weak. If you have huge biceps and triceps and no shoulders, you will look extremely uncomfortable and will probably bump yourself up if you are competing strangely on the lake.
Building incredible shoulder muscles involves much more than just doing dumbbell side raises or machine shoulder presses. Compound exercises that involve your whole body will be most effective in developing large, strong shoulders.
Functions of the shoulder muscles
Anterior deltoids
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The front head of the shoulder that allows you to rotate the arm inward. This shoulder muscle plays a role in the bench press and triceps workouts. This is commonly one of the most developed muscles for weightlifters, which can cause muscle imbalance, leading to injury and posture problems.
Medial deltoids
- The medial deltoid brings your arm to the side. This shoulder muscle is activated more by isolated movements of the shoulder, such as lateral dumbbell raises.
Rear delts
- The rear deltoid brings the arm back and helps to rotate it. Back training exercises, such as rowing and chin-ups, engage the rear delts more than most other exercises. Reverse flies are also a good isolation exercise for the rear delts.
5 incredible exercises for the shoulder muscles that should be in your routine
1. Overhead push presses: This shoulder workout will destroy your delts and make you stronger overall, especially your core. Basically, you are throwing weight on your head, forcing you to keep your balance and not rock back and forth. This is a high-powered compound exercise.
2. Arnold presses: The Terminator knew what he was doing! Try to keep a strict form on this one and really feel the burn. Get a good rotation throughout the movement and try to touch the weights at the top and bottom of each rep.
3. Bus drivers: It’s a fun name, but it works! Hold the plate in front of you and roll it back and forth like a steering wheel. You will feel a burn on your shoulders and forearms as you perform the movement.
4. Front raises: This is a solid move. Try not to sway too much and bring the weight to shoulder level with each rep. You must stay in control and not allow the weight to drop too quickly.
5. Shrugs: Try doing this exercise for your shoulder muscles at the beginning of your workout, or you will most likely not get the most out of them. Don’t put 6 plates on each side and swing your arms up and down half an inch. Get a good range of motion and squeeze the traps at the top for a second. Get them right and you’ll look like a freak in no time. By “freak” I mean a stacked individual, which is out of the ordinary in today’s fat society.
Well that’s it for this one. Remember, broad shoulders will make you look taller, wider, and more masculine. Give these workouts a try during your next training session and don’t forget to let me know what you think in the comment section below.
Peace,
-David McCready
