Shoulder Workouts | Deltoid Workouts | Build Bigger Shoulders

Shoulder Workouts

Weight Training Advice

The shoulder, or deltoid, muscles assist to some degree in just about every upper body weight training exercise. The front deltoid muscles assist on most chest exercises and the rear deltoids assist on most upper back exercises. When you do biceps and triceps exercises you may be working your shoulders a little bit, and even an exercise like the deadlift will involve them. Pretty much any exercise that has you holding a weight in your hands is going to depend on your shoulder muscles to at least help stabilize it and in most cases assist in lifting it. Because of this building deltoid strength through shoulder workouts is a must for anybody following a weight training routine.

Shoulder weight training can be a double edged sword. While you need to perform shoulder workouts to build stronger deltoids, you may end up overtraining them if you do too many sets for them. When you do your shoulder routine you may want to focus mostly on training the side heads of the deltoids since they don't assist on exercises for other muscle groups as much as the front and rear deltoids do. Training the side deltoids will also help you build a wider upper body.

This sample shoulder workout follows a light, medium, and heavy day routine and focuses mostly on the side heads of the deltoids.

Light shoulder workout (15-20 reps per set)

1-2 sets of military presses

1-2 sets of dumbbell presses (standing or seated)

1-2 sets of side lateral raises (dumbbell, machine, or cable)

1-2 sets of different side lateral exercise

1-2 sets of rear lateral raises (dumbbell, machine, or cable)

1-2 sets of shrugs

1-2 drop sets of shoulder exercise of your choice.

Medium shoulder workout (10-15 reps per set, 12-15 for laterals)

1-2 sets of military presses

2-3 sets of dumbbell presses

2-3 sets of side lateral raises

1-2 sets of different side lateral raise exercise

1-3 sets of rear lateral raises

2-3 sets of shrugs

1-2 drop sets

Heavy shoulder workout (5-10 reps per set, 8-12 for laterals)

2-3 sets of military presses

2-3 sets of dumbbell presses

4-5 total sets of various side lateral exercises

2-3 sets of rear lateral raises

2-3 sets of shrugs

2-3 drop sets

As you may note, these shoulder workouts don't include any front lateral raises. This is because the front delts can become overtrained or overdeveloped as compared to the side and rear deltoid heads because they assist so much on chest exercises. If you feel you need to work your front deltoid muscles add some sets of front lateral raise to your shoulder routine.

Some popular shoulder exercises like behind the neck shoulder presses and upright rows aren't included because they can put your more at risk of a shoulder injury.

Do your shoulder workouts after you do your chest workout and before you do your triceps workout if you follow a push-pull style weight training routine. After doing chest your shoulders should be warmed up nicely. If you do arms on their day in your routine start with your shoulder workout before doing your biceps and triceps workouts.