You can have biceps like steel, pecs like rocks, and even a great number. However, good Exercises For the Shoulder, It’s an excellent aesthetic, and it is a muscle that gives the size to the arm, they even make your back look broader and slimmer.
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Many people make the mistake of neglecting shoulder training. It is true that when we train the chest and back, the shoulder is primarily involved. However, the three heads of the shoulder need good training to achieve proper hypertrophy.
Fundamental Aspects of Shoulder Anatomy
The anatomy of the shoulder is more complicated than it really may seem, so we will As we have mentioned before, deltoids are mainly made up of three muscles:
- The anterior deltoid is the muscle that is in front of the torso, at the beginning of the shoulder. It’s generally the most trained part of the shoulder, guess why? Yes, for the famous breastfeeding day. It is the part that we will give less importance to when specifically training the shoulder since we are training it in practically almost all pectoral exercises.
- Lateral or middle deltoids. It is the largest shoulder muscle. It is the part that gives us the rounded shape that everyone likes. Move into the abduction and horizontal extension.
- Posterior deltoid. It is located on the back of the shoulder. Although many confuse it with part of the back, the truth is that the deltoid has a rear face. Although it is a relatively small muscle, it needs to train with the same frequency as the other two previous faces.
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How should you train your shoulders?
Most people are not clear about the range of repetitions with which to train the shoulders. Some affirm that the number of repetitions must be very high, while for others, the important thing is to combine the exercises with the least possible rest. On the other hand, we can also find those that suggest that the shoulder should work with low repetitions and much load.
As in most cases, neither extreme has the absolute truth. The truth is that the optimal range for proper deltoid development is a series of between 5 and 8 repetitions.
Another mistake made is to focus on the weight machines. These can be useful for beginners in this world because once acquires we must start using free weights most of the time of our training. The bars and dumbbells are the ones that will give us proper development.
The Best Exercises to Train the Shoulder
Taking into account all that we have seen previously, we can make a specific selection of key single-joint exercises for the development of the different portions of the shoulder:
1. Military press
It is the shoulder exercise par excellence. It is the best exercise for deltoids for working the three sides of the shoulder and for being a functional exercise since many other muscles intervene in addition to the shoulders. You can do it with both barbells and dumbbells and standing or sitting.
2. Press Arnold
It is a variant of the military press. The great advantage of this exercise is the wide range of motion.
It is a fascinating exercise. It should introduce at least a couple of times a week if we want a bulky shoulder since it stimulates the lateral deltoid very effectively. Here, as we have seen, working with pulleys (this would include elastic bands) makes much more sense, than sitting. So that the movement sway eliminates, and this focuses on the abduction pattern, is interesting mainly from the middle-final phase of the movement (from 85º).
3. Front elevation
This exercise could be said to be the one that most effectively isolates the anterior aspect of the shoulder. Its execution is also effortless.
A job as we have said. Unnecessary in most cases, we tend to over-stimulate the anterior portion of the deltoid, in many cases leading to discomfort and decompensation.
These would be the main complementary exercises to the presses. However, it is essential to add variants of them using different materials such as rods, pulleys, or dumbbells since the variation of the stimulus is a crucial point in hypertrophy.
4. Lateral elevation
This exercise, It is one of the best for shoulder development. Fully work the mid-face of the deltoid. Also, when doing it standing up, it will work the entire core and the lumbar area in an isometric way to maintain the position.
As we increase the weight, we will find it more challenging to maintain our posture. Hence, a good option is to do it unilaterally, with support that allows us to execute the movement isolating the shoulder.
5. Birds with dumbbells
It is one of the best for working the back of the shoulder. As we have seen, they mainly use in the sense of stimulating the posterior part of the deltoid. Focusing on this, its peak of maximum involvement occurs at the beginning of the movement. It is a portion that usually gives proprioception problems, so the work must be particular, localized, and to recruit fibers. Therefore, it recommends moderate-low weight. It is exciting to introduce this work sitting or in any position that allows you to avoid involving other muscles.
6.Face pull
This movement will strengthen both your posterior deltoid and the rotator cuff of the shoulder. It is an excellent exercise to do in all your shoulder workouts.
Rowing to the Chin
Another multi-joint exercise for deltoid work is rowing to the chin. This exercise, unlike the military press, is characterized by being an exercise that activates the lateral deltoid to a greater extent. In the paddle to the chin, it seems that the greater the opening of the arms, the activation of the lateral deltoid is greater.
The wide grip left the biceps out of the equation, causing its activity to decrease as the grip increasing. In any case, rowing the chin can be a dangerous exercise if it performs with excessive internal rotation and the elbows will raise too high, since the risk of suffering tendon injuries increases.
The Most Effective Routine For Your Deltoids
To perform a good workout, as we have seen, we will take into account the three sides of the shoulder, and we will work with medium/high loads.
- The military press should do 3 series of 4 to 6 repetitions at 80% or 85% of your RM.
- Lateral elevation, 3 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions at 75% or 80% of 1RM.
- Dumbbell birds, also have 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps.
- Face pull also has 3 series of 8 to 10 repetitions at 70% or 75% of 1 RM.
Increase weight progressively every one to two weeks, and take 120-second breaks between sets of 6 to 8 repetitions and 60 seconds of rest between sets of 8 to 10 repetitions.
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Conclusion and Practical Advice Exercises For Shoulder
It was found that there is no notable difference between training the deltoid with frequency 2 or greater compared to the work of hypertrophy, and, as a consequence, a frequency one would generally be an under-stimulus.
However, a frequency of 4 or higher will not result in a daily volume that maximizes profit. The frequency will rotate between 2 and 4, taking into account the weight and interference of the other multi-joint exercises already explained.
It is also of great relevance to take into account the study by Salles et al. (2015), where it was found that a work of self-knowledge of movement is fascinating for the activation of the deltoid. The objective of this is that through proprioception, we can locate a muscle that is sometimes difficult to contract.
To achieve an aesthetic body, proper development of the shoulder is necessary. Besides, well-developed deltoids will help us improve in all torso exercises.
