How to build big, round shoulders.

[SexyBack1]

Now that we covered the back training during the last article, lets talk about another important body part.

The Shoulders

During my years of working out I've heard people say "my legs are too big", "my back is too big", "my arms are too big" but I've never heard some one say "my shoulders are too big". There are two reasons for that. First, the deltoids are such stubborn muscles to grow. 2nd, there is no such thing as too big shoulders. Matter of fact I wish I had two basket-balls as shoulders .

As I mentioned in the previous article a novice shouldn't complicate his workout at all. All you need as a novice or even at the beginning of the intermediate stage is to stick to the basic movements, progress and profit!

But for an intermediate trainee or someone who is making the jump to a more serious training regimen you need to understand that the deltoids are composed of three different heads: the front(anterior), the middle(medial) and the rear(posterior). Hitting those heads while performing a combination of compound and isolation exercises is necessary to achieve full development.

-Compound Movements

Dumbbell Seated Shoulder press : My favorite Shoulder movement of all time the absence of Bar allows full ROM while Arms are inline with shoulders thus creating no moment-arm this movement will target your front(anterior) and middle(medial) heads respectively.

Behind The Neck Shoulder Press: Such an excellent movement only issue about it is some people find it uncomfortable to perform if you have shoulder/rotators cuff problems stay away from this movement but if you can perform it without any trouble u might find it VERY beneficial. This movement will target your middle(medial) head mainly and to be honest I credit most of my shoulder gains to this movement among with Seated DB Shoulder Press.

Push press: Same as a regular standing overhead press but you start with a slight leg drive. Could be used as a great movement to burst through plateaus on a regular overhead press or performing couple extra reps without having to cheat using your pecs(by bending your torso) which forms huge pressure on the lower back.

Up-Right Row: This movement targets middle(medial) head of the deltoids with minor assistance from the anterior head, biceps, and traps. Using a closer grip puts more emphasis on the traps, while wide grips will hit the lateral heads more. Just like BTN Press this movement isn't for everyone some people will find rotator cuff/shoulders issues while performing it, if you are one of them then don't do it. I only perform this exercise using a wide grip and stop when you reach the middle of your pecs, feels pretty comfortable that way. You can go up to your chins if you can/want tho. You can use DB or BB to perform this exercise, another great variation of this exercise is doing it using a rope on a low cable pulley.

Face Pull: This movement targets your rear(posterior) head of the deltoids, traps and your back's typically weak scapular muscles, which stabilize your shoulder joints. Important note to keep in mind while performing this exercise is to use moderate weight. Never go heavy, other wise you will end up doing cable rows instead of face pull.


-Isolation movements

Front Raises: This exercise is an isolation movement for your front(anterior) deltoids. If you're training your chest and shoulders as you should be, there's probably no need for the Front Raises. You should only do this movement if you feel that your front(anterior) deltoids is lagging.

Rear Deltoids: When it comes to deltoids many lifters are imbalanced front to back. We spend time developing the pecs and anterior delts nowhere near the same amount of time spent on the backside. for this particular reason I highly recommend performing a rear-delt isolation movement. Such as lying/seated rear-delt raises, reverse pec-dec or Incline bench supported rear-delt raises.

Lateral Raises: This is a great isolation movement for the middle(medial) head of the deltoids.
when performing this exercise keep in mind:
Stop when your body forms a T any higher than that and you are bringing in the traps.
Don't just jerk the weight up otherwise the pressure will transfer to the traps.
Don't lock your elbows, but maintain a slight bent during the exercise.

Shrugs: Traps are such an important muscles they aren't just what you see between your shoulders and neck these are known as the upper traps. Your traps go down to your back therefor hitting them directly is necessary for a full back development, Shrugs are the movement to for it. There are many variations of shrugs. behind the back, front and DB shrugs. when it comes to shrugs when your hands are forward you add emphasis to the back of the trap, when your hands are behind put more to top of your trap for this particular reason a shrug movement performed on an incline bench will hit your rhomboid. Grip width is another element to take into account. Using a wide grip will put more pressure on the outer traps while a closer grip will put more pressure on the inner trap(where your traps meet your neck). Most important note to keep in mind while performing a heavy shrug is Don't roll your shoulders. Use a straight-line ROM rolling your shoulder will risk causing injury specially under such a heavy weight.

The Workout
As mentioned earlier hitting the 3 heads of the deltoids is necessary to archive full development
my shoulders day usually look like this:
- Pressing movement using a BB or DB.or both.
- Face pull.
- Lateral raises/upright Rows.
- Rear Delt Raises.
- Shrugs.

The Grips
You will find a lot of thoughts on this but IMO Use the grip that feels more natural and comfortable to you. When it comes to shoulders safety comes first. If you injured your shoulders you are unlikely to perform most upper body movements, which is the last thing you want.

Last but not least
You need to understand that there is no one size fits all. Everyone's body mechanics are slightly different therefore the body response to each exercise will vary. You need to keep experimenting to find out what works best for you.

[Vygotsky]

Now that we covered the back training during the last article, lets talk about another important body-part.

The Shoulders

During my years of working out I've heard people say "my legs are too big", "my back is too big", "my arms are too big" but I've never heard some one say "my shoulders are too big". There are two reasons for that. First, the deltoids are such stubborn muscles to grow. 2nd, there is no such thing as too big shoulders. Matter of fact I wish I had two basket-balls as shoulders .

As I mentioned in the previous article a novice shouldn't complicate his workout at all. All you need as a novice or even at the beginning of the intermediate stage is to stick to the basic movements, progress and profit!

But for an intermediate trainee or someone who is making the jump to a more serious training regimen you need to understand that the deltoids are composed of three different heads: the front(anterior), the middle(medial) and the rear(posterior). Hitting those heads while performing a combination of compound and isolation exercises is necessary to achieve full development.

-Compound Movements

Dumbbell Seated Shoulder press : My favorite Shoulder movement of all time the absence of Bar allows full ROM while Arms are inline with shoulders thus creating no moment-arm this movement will target your front(anterior) and middle(medial) heads respectively.

Behind The Neck Shoulder Press: Such an excellent movement only issue about it is some people find it uncomfortable to perform if you have shoulder/rotators cuff problems stay away from this movement but if you can perform it without any trouble u might find it VERY beneficial. This movement will target your middle(medial) head mainly and to be honest I credit most of my shoulder gains to this movement among with Seated DB Shoulder Press.

Push press: Same as a regular standing overhead press but you start with a slight leg drive. Could be used as a great movement to burst through plateaus on a regular overhead press or performing couple extra reps without having to cheat using your pecs(by bending your torso) which forms huge pressure on the lower back.

Up-Right Row: This movement targets middle(medial) head of the deltoids with minor assistance from the anterior head, biceps, and traps. Using a closer grip puts more emphasis on the traps, while a wide grips will hit the lateral heads more. Just like BTN Press this movement isn't for everyone some people will find Rotators cuff/shoulders issues while performing it, if you are one of them then don't do it. I only perform this exercise using a wide grip and stop when you reach the middle of your pecs, feels pretty comfortable that way. You can go up to your chins if you can/want tho. You can use DB or BB to perform this exercise, another great variation of this exercise is doing it using a rope on a low cable pulley.

Face Pull: This movement targets your rear(posterior) head of the deltoids, traps and your back's typically weak scapular muscles, which stabilize your shoulder joints. Important note to keep in mind while performing this exercise is to use moderate weight. Never go heavy, other wise you will end up doing cable rows instead of face pull.


-Isolation movements

Front Raises: This exercise is an isolation movement for your front(anterior) deltoids. If you're training your chest and shoulders as you should be, there's probably no need for the Front Raises. You should only do this movement if you feel that your front(anterior) deltoids is lagging.

Rear Deltoids: When it comes to deltoids many lifters are imbalanced front to back. We spend time developing the pecs and anterior delts nowhere near the same amount of time spent on the backside. for this particular reason I highly recommend performing a rear-delt isolation movement. Such as lying/seated rear-delt raises, reverse pec-dec or Incline bench supported rear-delt raises.

Lateral Raises: This is a great isolation movement for the middle(medial) head of the deltoids.
when performing this exercise keep in mind:
Stop when your body forms a T any higher than that and you are bringing in the traps.
Don't just jerk the weight up otherwise the pressure will transfer to the traps.
Don't lock your elbows, but maintain a slight bent during the exercise.

Shrugs: Traps are such an important muscles they aren't just what you see between your shoulders and neck these are known as the upper traps. Your traps goes down to your back therefor hitting them directly is necessary for a full back development, Shrugs are the movement to for it. There are many variations of shrugs. behind the back, front and DB shrugs. when it comes to shrugs when your hands are forward you add emphasis to the back of the trap, when your hands are behind put more to top of your trap for this particular reason a shrug movement performed on an incline bench will hit your rhomboids. Grip width is another element to take into account. Using a wide grip will put more pressure on the outer traps while a closer grip will put more pressure on the inner trap(where your traps meet your neck). Most important note to keep in mind while performing a heavy shrug is Don't roll your shoulders. Use a straight-line ROM rolling your shoulder will risk causing injury specially under such a heavy weight.

The Workout
As mentioned earlier hitting the 3 heads of the deltoids is necessary to archive full development
my shoulders day usually look like this:
- Pressing movement using a BB or DB.or both.
- Face pull.
- Lateral raises/upright Rows.
- Rear Delt Raises.
- Shrugs.

The Grips
You will find a lot of thoughts on this but IMO Use the grip that feels more natural and comfortable to you. When it comes to shoulders safety comes first. If you injured your shoulders you are unlikely to perform most upper body movements, which is the last thing you want.

Last but not least
You need to understand that there is no one size fits all. Everyone's body mechanics are slightly different therefore the body response to each exercise will vary. You need to keep experimenting to find out what works best for you.

Cool post.
For shrugs I find it better to move in a diagonal line (up to the ears and trying to squeeze the shoulder blades together).

[Opeth09]

Another really good article man! Once again, we do pretty much the same thing. I do my shrugs very heavy, always going straight up and down. I like jerking a little bit too, helps me do some extra weight and crank out a couple extra reps. Anyways, good stuff man!

[Rpkc]

Looks good, great article man.

[Alex54321]

good joob but would not recommend any one doing Behind The Neck Shoulder Press or Up-Right Rows.this exercise is very bad for shoulders and offen cause rotater cuff problems.
and if your shoulder and delts are smal and your weak bodypart, i would stay away from Shrugs. having big traps will only make your shoulders and delts looks smaler.

[SexyBack1]

good joob but would not recommend any one doing Behind The Neck Shoulder Press or Up-Right Rows.this exercise is very bad for shoulders and offen cause rotater cuff problems.
and if your shoulder and delts are smal and your weak bodypart, i would stay away from Shrugs. having big traps will only make your shoulders and delts looks smaler.

If the shoulders are small(beginner) a basic movement such as Over-head Press will do it.

About the BTN Press and Upright Row I already mentioned in the article for each exercise particularly and I couldn't stress it enough if you find it uncomfortable to perform any of these exercises you shouldn't do it

[zmcdole]

I get the best work in my delts rear and side when I go lighter with the weight. Too heavy and I jerk causing the traps to take over like OP said.

[JeannetteEmigh]

Good article. I struggle with building my shoulders. I do have big traps for a girl, but I know my delts are lacking.

[SexyBack1]

I get the best work in my delts rear and side when I go lighter with the weight. Too heavy and I jerk causing the traps to take over like OP said.

Yeah definitely, Thanks for your input man!

Good article. I struggle with building my shoulders. [b]I do have big traps for a girl[b], but I know my delts are lacking.

Thanks, maybe this have something to do with it, as i mentioned earlier going heavy on rear and side delt movement will end up as trap work instead of the target deltoid head.

[JeannetteEmigh]

Yeah definitely, Thanks for your input man!

Thanks, maybe this have something to do with it, as i mentioned earlier going heavy on rear and side delt movement will end up as trap work instead of the target deltoid head.

I bet you're right about that one.

[BrandG]

I like this article a lot. Just a little side-note: most people don't need to complicate shrugs. All I've ever done is I'll grab a pair of 85 lbs dumbbells and do 4-5 sets of 12-20 reps with little rest between and that's IT. Once a week. As long as you have perfect form, that's all you'll ever need.

[FB31T]

I like this article a lot. Just a little side-note: most people don't need to complicate shrugs. All I've ever done is I'll grab a pair of 85 lbs dumbbells and do 4-5 sets of 12-20 reps with little rest between and that's IT. Once a week. As long as you have perfect form, that's all you'll ever need.

I agree, but I have noticed I have gotten more development by using a variation of grips. I noticed my traps have gotten larger leading into my neck by using a closer grip on heavy barbell shrugs...But you're definitely right in regards to using perfect form in order to promote growth. I got decent trap growth by using 45's for months and doing 15-20 reps per set with a half second squeeze at the top of the movement.

[BradMak]

[JeannetteEmigh]

Does someone really have to quote your stats?

[SexyBack1]

Does someone really have to quote your stats?

or his avi >_<, but oh well.

[B1RD33]

Best advice for shoulders, get weights and do presses..it's a shame you listen to what people say, why not lift to feel good. If you want bigger shoulders get off the internet right now and go do any variation of presses with weights. MP, DB Press, Push ups.. dumb subject. A lot of short people with no wife I guess..

[EuropeanHammer]

Not a bad write-up, when I had 2 dumbbells at age 12 or so all I did was lateral raises and bicep curls and my traps/shoulders got pretty big from just that exercise.

[SexyBack1]

Not a bad write-up, when I had 2 dumbbells at age 12 or so all I did was lateral raises and bicep curls and my traps/shoulders got pretty big from just that exercise.

I wish i started lifting at 12 too man

[5TR0NGMAN]

This is my shoulder and traps workout, I do this once per week. Is it too much volume?

Seated DB press 4x10
Front lateral raise 3x10
Side lateral raise 3x10
Lying rear delt raise 3x10

Traps
Barbell shrugs 4x12

I can't use cables or machines due to only working out at home. So it's either DB or BB.

[Virucyde]

Question, what's the difference between rear delt exercises and rhomboid exercises? I mean, obviously the deltoids focus on pulling the weight up while the rhomboids focus on pulling it back, but it seems like most exercises kind of mix the two.

Also, how about the lower traps? Shrugs hit the upper traps, but virtually no one does reverse shrugs(reverse meaning pulling the shoulders down, not reversing the hands) for the lower ones.

[jmccauley1229]

I think straight line ROM for shrugs is the wrong way to go. it should be like the deadlift; back and up. at the bottom of the movement, I like to round my shoulders so I get maximum ROM through my scaps. pull those back first, then the weight goes up.

this does not mean "rolling" your shoulders, just releasing the tension of your scapulas every rep to get more work from more of your traps.

[Sh00my]

Awesome post man, really helped. I found that I also get some rear delt stimulation in doing back presses (Behind The Neck Shoulder Press), one of the most under utilised exercises in my opinion.

Thanks.

[SolidLink22]

Is it ok if I train front and middle delts when on push days and train rear delts when I pull?

[Engineer_Guy]

Chest supported wide grip rows are my new favorite for rear delt work.

[-Lucifer]

Yet another good article, OP.

Chest supported wide grip rows are my new favorite for rear delt work.

Face pulls and the reverse pec deck for me. Hate doing bentover flyes (current gym sucks).

[Opeth09]

Is it ok if I train front and middle delts when on push days and train rear delts when I pull?

I don't see why not man. I know a few people who do this. Back when I did each bodypart per week, I would do my front/middle delts on my "shoulder" day and my rear delts on "back" day.

[SexyBack1]

Question, what's the difference between rear delt exercises and rhomboid exercises? I mean, obviously the deltoids focus on pulling the weight up while the rhomboids focus on pulling it back, but it seems like most exercises kind of mix the two.

the different is your arm position.

Also, how about the lower traps? Shrugs hit the upper traps, but virtually no one does reverse shrugs(reverse meaning pulling the shoulders down, not reversing the hands) for the lower ones.

Dip bar shrug? those are got for my levator scapulae, pec minor, and serratus anterior activation.

[SexyBack1]

Awesome post man, really helped. I found that I also get some rear delt stimulation in doing back presses (Behind The Neck Shoulder Press), one of the most under utilised exercises in my opinion.

Thanks.

It is true they hir your lateral delts mostly but your rear delts get a share as well

Is it ok if I train front and middle delts when on push days and train rear delts when I pull?

Why not!

Chest supported wide grip rows are my new favorite for rear delt work.

Pretty good movement it does hit your rear delts but not directly I believe most people will need more rear-delt work to balance the amount of benching and pressing done for the front delt

Yet another good article, OP.

[tokelift]

Thanks for this information, very helpful. Just had 1 question.

I currently don't have the equipment to do face pulls, any suggestions? I feel my rear delts being hit during rows, pull ups/chins and I also isolate them with incline rear delt flyes twice a week.
I am bulking right now so I don't want to mess up my proportions/posture by neglecting my rear delts (I assume this was the main reason you suggested face pulls?), any suggestions?
I have heavy DBs, an olympic barbell, an adjustable bench/rack.

[Yodums]

Thanks for this information, very helpful. Just had 1 question.

I currently don't have the equipment to do face pulls, any suggestions? I feel my rear delts being hit during rows, pull ups/chins and I also isolate them with incline rear delt flyes twice a week.
I am bulking right now so I don't want to mess up my proportions/posture by neglecting my rear delts (I assume this was the main reason you suggested face pulls?), any suggestions?
I have heavy DBs, an olympic barbell, an adjustable bench/rack.

It's fine if you don't have the equipment to do facepulls. As long as you are hitting your rear delts through some other means, then they won't be neglected.