Shoulder Width

[UncleMurder]

What are the best exercises for shoulder width?

[ThickAsABrick]

shoulder presses, lateral raises, and rear delt work.

+ not having sloped shoulders to start out

[Juggernaut33]

Lateral raises hit the side delts which will make you wide.

[imasavage]

Lateral work (cable laterals being my favorite). Also try upright rows. I usually don't do direct trap work like shrugs because it tends to cause my shoulders to slope.

[Jbert112]

overall delt mass

[eupharies]

Mid delt gives you the wide look nothing else, so focus on lat raises and maybe do the last set using the partial rep system, i find it works well for me.
Focus on post delt to, as you find it doesnt get worked, due to military press hitting primariyl ant / lat delt.
Its all about the lat raises tbh

[jrjoyner]

Heavy Barbell Presses

Heavy Dumbbell Presses

Lateral Raises

[ironwill2008]

While working your shoulders as OP have already described, don't forget that a trim waist will make them appear wider. Bodybuilding is all about perception.

[DiamondDelts]

Wide grip barbell presses
Wide grip upright rows
Lying side presses
Lying laterals
Incline laterals
Seated rear laterals

[nads786]

side laterals 5-10 sets 15-20 reps IMO

[thebm]

Mid delt gives you the wide look nothing else, so focus on lat raises and maybe do the last set using the partial rep system, i find it works well for me.
Focus on post delt to, as you find it doesnt get worked, due to military press hitting primariyl ant / lat delt.
Its all about the lat raises tbh

partial rep system?

[Tommy W.]

The absolute best is lateral raises. But.. instead of stopping at 90 degrees (parallel to floor) take the dumbells all the way over your head until they touch. This part of the exercise totally takes your traps out of the equation.

this will kick your ass!!

tw

[yoj]

wow tommy I don't have the shoulder flexibility to get even CLOSE to that. Sounds cool though.

[Radok]

wow tommy I don't have the shoulder flexibility to get even CLOSE to that. Sounds cool though.

How could you not have enough flexibility to lift your arms over your head?

[Pairunoyd]

How could you not have enough flexibility to lift your arms over your head?

lol

[scrilla]

The absolute best is lateral raises. But.. instead of stopping at 90 degrees (parallel to floor) take the dumbells all the way over your head until they touch. This part of the exercise totally takes your traps out of the equation.

this will kick your ass!!

tw

wouldn't this be considered bad form? Rotator cuff damage? I mean it looks like your trying to fly.

[Dominik]

wow tommy I don't have the shoulder flexibility to get even CLOSE to that. Sounds cool though.

Bad idea if your humerus is rotated internally (palms down). You can perform overhead laterals with the humerus externally rotated, but this is a different exercise.

[DiamondDelts]

The absolute best is lateral raises. But.. instead of stopping at 90 degrees (parallel to floor) take the dumbells all the way over your head until they touch. This part of the exercise totally takes your traps out of the equation.

this will kick your ass!!

tw

Wrong.

[Tommy W.]

wouldn't this be considered bad form? Rotator cuff damage? I mean it looks like your trying to fly.

Actually I've been fighting rotator issues for 10 years and this exercise seems to be the least stressful.

tw

[thebm]

lol maybe it seems that way when you're doing the exercise, but that could be what's causing the issues. I don't know but I have always heard that bringing your arms above parallel is bad for your shoulders. I don't really know why that is but I assume it's probably the rotator cuff

[AHTTG]

Bad idea if your humerus is rotated internally (palms down). You can perform overhead laterals with the humerus externally rotated, but this is a different exercise.

I used to do those when I was just starting out. Can't say how much good or bad it did back then, def. don't see a use for it now. Traps shouldn't be doing much work on laterals anyway.


To answer the OP: if you're naturally "narrow" you can't do anything to change that. Luckily for you, if you're big enough, it won't matter to the general public. Less trap work, more shoulder and back work.

[SquatTilYouDrop]

Bad idea if your humerus is rotated internally (palms down). You can perform overhead laterals with the humerus externally rotated, but this is a different exercise.

With palms down it seems like impingement could easily become a problem very similar to upright rowing with an extremely narrow grip.

With palms up, using a lighter weight may work but I'd still be skeptical.

These are not the type of movements people should be doing with bad shoulders or maybe even good shoulders.

[Primol]

upright rows, various grips for variety. back exercises..

[Tommy W.]

With palms down it seems like impingement could easily become a problem very similar to upright rowing with an extremely narrow grip.

With palms up, using a lighter weight may work but I'd still be skeptical.

These are not the type of movements people should be doing with bad shoulders or maybe even good shoulders.

It's really just a lateral raise transitioned smoothly into a dumbell press and touching the weights together at the top.

tw

[AHTTG]

It's really just a lateral raise transitioned smoothly into a dumbell press and touching the weights together at the top.

tw

except for the whole bending at the elbow part..... ?

There's no reason to be shoulder pressing the weight you use for laterals anyway. Just a bad idea from start to finish.

[SquatTilYouDrop]

It's really just a lateral raise transitioned smoothly into a dumbell press and touching the weights together at the top.

tw

Let me understand this......At the point the dumbbells are parallel you rotate your palms from an internal to an external position and then come to the top like a press.

You are not keep the palms internally rotated from bottom to top? That's where I take issue.

Even if it is like you say. I still think it's not a great idea to combine to very different exercise in a LONG sweeping complicated movement like that.

Laterals are isolation and generally require less weight and more reps to be effective. Form is everything with them.

Presses generally require much more weight and somewhat less reps to be effective.

They are better off being done individually.

[Tommy W.]

Let me understand this......At the point the dumbbells are parallel you rotate your palms from an internal to an external position and then come to the top like a press.

You are not keep the palms internally rotated from bottom to top? That's where I take issue.

Even if it is like you say. I still think it's not a great idea to combine to very different exercise in a LONG sweeping complicated movement like that.

Laterals are isolation and generally require less weight and more reps to be effective. Form is everything with them.

Presses generally require much more weight and somewhat less reps to be effective.

They are better off being done individually.

It doesn't take the place of presses or any other exercise.

It works well for me and
has never bothered my shoulders.
It was originally shown to me by a pro BB friend who had AMAZING delts.
Thought I'd put it out there for you all but I guess everyone wants to do the same stuff year after year.

Have a good day
TW

[imasavage]

A better alternative is the british lateral, basically rotating the wrist as your raise. Problem solved.

[Majestyc]

Read these two articles that talk about how to train your shoulders:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/animalpak36.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/animalpak82.htm

[.devil.]

you cannot increase shoulder width. the clavicle(collar bone) defines width and this like other bones stops growing after a certain age(up for debate) at most you can do is add an 1 - 1.5 in on either side(only muscle growth).