In addition, the shoulders, along with the upper back, are largely responsible for the appearance of a wide upper body.  If this is combined with a lean stomach it gives the appearance of what is known as the “V-taper”.

There are a ton of exercises you can use build bigger shoulders, but the key with all of them is to follow a progressive program that allows you to constantly improve.  Only by improving will your shoulders grow.  These improvements can come in the way of added weight, more reps, or decreased rest periods.  As long as you are improving (and eating) the mass will come.

So with that, let’s take a look at some of the best exercises for building bigger shoulders!

Bradford Presses

This movement is named after a 1930’s Olympic lifter named Sam Bradford.

Start with a weight that is about 20-25% lighter than what you can military press.  Take a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip on the bar. You will begin in the traditional military press position with the bar in front you.  From this position you will press the bar until it is just above the top of your head.  Once you get to this height you will bring the bar over your head and lower it down behind your head into the behind the neck press position.  From the position you will again press the bar to a height just over your head and then lower it back down in front you back to the position in which you started.

This is one repetition.  Complete 6-8 reps for 3-4 sets.  

One important technique point is to make sure that you keep looking straight ahead throughout the movements.  Resist the temptation to look down, which will not only make the exercise easier, but can also lead to some pretty severe neck and upper back injuries.  Don’t do it!

This movement will really blast your shoulders and will also greatly improve your serratus anterior strength which will help your starting strength in all pressing movements.  If you are someone who struggles to get the bar off your chest during a bench press, this exercise is for you!

Front Plate Raise

This movement is a simple one.  All you need is a weight plate.  The beginning lifter will start with a 25 pound plate, while advanced lifters can use a 45 pound plate, or even a 100 pound plate.

Grab the plate with your hands at the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions, just like you are holding a steering wheel.  With your elbows straight, raise the weight up in front of you and continue until it is all the way over your head.  Many lifters stop the movement once they get to eye level, but you are losing a lot of the benefit by doing so.  From this position simply lower the plate back to the starting position.

This movement is a great finisher for the front deltoids after a pressing movement like Bradford presses.  Because your hands are in a neutral position (thumbs towards the ceiling) it also puts the shoulder joint in a much healthier position than barbell front raises.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps here.

Lean-away Dumbbell Lateral Raises

Now that your front delts are toasted from the first two exercises, it’s time to move on to finishing off the medial deltoids (outer shoulders).  This is the part of the shoulder muscle that really contributes to your upper body width.

Lateral raises are a great way to target this area.  So, let’s look at how to do this unique lateral raise exercise.

You are going to start with just one dumbbell in your hand.  Your free hand should hold on to something sturdy like a power rack at shoulder height.  You will then shift your feet so that they are directly under your free hand.  At this point you should lean away from your free hand so that you are holding yourself up with the power rack.  From this position you will simply perform a lateral raise.

This variation really targets the top half of the movement, while the bottom half will be very easy.  Make not to use too much momentum in the bottom half of the exercise, or you will short-change the muscle building tension in the top-half.

Complete 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per arm.

So there you go! A great shoulder workout that shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes to complete.  Remember, the key with any workout is consistent progression.  

Eat big, train hard, rest long.  Repeat this process month after month and you will have a muscular body you will proud of!

Dumbbell strength training workouts are simple enough to execute. They are also very effective in keeping a person’s physical fitness at its highest level. If you prefer simple dumbbell routines for your strength training program, the discussion below is for you.

Benefits of dumbbell strength training exercises

Strength training workouts help in building muscles and removing excess body fat. Such exercises also improve the fitness level of a person by helping increase his or her metabolic rate and by raising energy levels. These workouts also do not require expensive exercise equipment (only a pair of dumbbells) and can be done easily at home.

Common dumbbell workouts

To strengthen the arms, the common curl is the most basic and one of the most effective forms of dumbbell exercise. While standing upright, grip a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing the body. Lift the dumbbells with the elbows touching the sides of the body and the shoulder on a fixed position. This can be done with one arm at a time or two arms at a time.

To work out the back, do the dead lift exercise. Stand upright with feet about a yard apart and knees slightly bent. Hold the dumbbells against the thighs and lower them to leg level using lower back strength with the lower back slightly arched inward. Keep the head up throughout the movement and the back flat. Lower the weights as far as it is comfortable. For people with back problems, this is not a recommended exercise.

One of the simplest but most effective dumbbell shoulder workouts is the shoulder press. Sit at the edge of a chair with back straight. Raise the dumbbells above the head and then lower them slowly down to shoulder level. Get the arms to form a 90-degree angle and raise the dumbbells again without locking the elbows. Repeat the action several times.

Additional workouts tips

Before executing these exercises, make sure to spend 10 minutes warming up and 10 minutes cooling down. For beginners, a lighter weight should be used and then gradually move on to heavier weights. It would be best to have a professional trainer to guide one’s movements and to have someone keep tabs if the exercise is being executed correctly.

Dumbbell strength training exercises are easy enough to do and are highly effective in improving one’s physical strength and fitness. These workouts can be done on the gym and at home. Just remember to take it easy at first to avoid potential injuries or accidents.

But the workout routines discussed here are not meant for beginners. You can opt for bodybuilding if you already follow a fitness program and familiar with physical workouts. The workouts meant for bodybuilding is pretty challenging and should work on one muscle group each day. So here is the routine for bodybuilding.

Monday: Workouts for Chest Muscle

The chest can be divided into three parts upper, mid and lower and there are exercises for developing the muscles of each part. But before you begin with the exercises you should warm up your body. Do some pushups and stretches for the warm-up.

Upper Chest- For building the muscles on your upper chest you can go for incline dumbbell press and incline dumbbell flies. You have to perform both the exercises, four sets each with ten reps in each set.

Mid- You can do Bench Press and Bench Press with Chest Flies. If You find chest flies difficult then can do Pec-Dec. You have to both the exercises, four sets each with ten reps in each set.

Lower Chest: You should do lower chest exercises only when you can properly perform the upper and mid chest exercises properly. For building your lower chest you do Declined Bench Press and Declined Bench Flies.

Tuesday: Legs Workouts

Before getting down to work for building your legs you have warm-up by doing squats and stretches. The main leg muscles are quadriceps, hamstrings and calves and for each there are separate workouts.

Quadriceps: For building these muscles you have to do lunges with dumbbells. Then you can do Leg Raises on the machine or Smith Machine Squats. You have to do the two types of workouts, four sets each with ten reps in each set.

Hamstrings: You tone up this muscle by doing Leg Curls on the machine. Again the exercise should be done in four sets of ten reps each.

Calves: Do Calf Raises on a stand in four sets of ten reps each.

Wednesday: Bicep Workouts

For building up your biceps you have to do Bicep Curls, Barbell Curls and Thumbs up Curls. You have to do these exercises in four sets of ten reps each.

Thursday: Cardio and Abs Workouts

Running, jogging, swimming and cycling provides great cardio vascular workouts for the body. And you choose to do any one of them.

For building your abs you have do three set of exercises. Reverse crunches for lower abs, forward crunches for upper abs and side crunches for obliques. You have to do these exercises in four sets with fifteen to twenty reps in each set

Friday: Triceps and Shoulder Workouts

Before you begin the exercises for triceps you have warm first by doing some pushups. For building your triceps you have to do Triceps Dips, Triceps Curls, Lying Triceps Extension and One Arm Triceps Extension. Again these exercises have to be done in four sets of ten reps each.

For your shoulders you can perform lateral raises and shoulder presses with dumbbells or on a machine.

Saturday: Workouts for the Back

Back exercises include chin-ups and pushups which have to be repeated fifteen to twenty times. For building your lat muscles you can do Lat Pull down and One Arm Dumbbell rows. Plus you have to do Machine Rows and Dead Lifts for your mid back. All the exercises have to be done in four sets with ten repetitions in each set.

If have you are unclear about the exercises discussed in the article and have doubts about it then you can always approach a fitness trainer who can demonstrate the workouts to you. Its even better to hire a trainer under whose supervision you practice the exercises.(

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The shoulders are made up of three ‘heads’, or different muscles that allow the shoulder to move as it does.

The Anterior Head
The anterior head is, as the name suggests is at the front of the shoulders.

This anterior head can be trained directly with exercises such as the military press and standing lateral barbell raises.

This head is also trained heavily during the bench press (any version), so compared to the other two heads of the shoulders the anterior needs the least amount of direct work to stimulate growth (as long as you are performing bench presses in your workout regime).

The Medial, or Lateral Head
The medial (middle head) of the delts is responsible for the width in your shoulders and can be trained with lateral raises. To perform a lateral raise, hold a pair of dumbbells by your sides, palms facing inwards. Then raise you arms upwards, until they are parallel to the floor and then back down to your sides, this is one repetition.

The medial head needs to be trained with very strict form as there are many ways to cheat on this exercise for example swinging the weight up with your body. This will not stimulate your medial delt for full development.

Train your medial deltoid muscle with a rep range of 10 – 15 reps. This will enable you to control the movement through all of its stages and really concentrate on fatiguing the muscle. Most people also agree that a higher rep range is best to stimulate growth in this head of the delts.

The Posterior Head
The muscle at the back of the shoulders can be trained with reverse dumbbell flyes. You can sit on a bench, lean over your knees, then raise the dumbbells out, much like a lateral raise. Or, even better, position a bench as if you were going to perform a incline bench press, but lie your chest on the bench instead of your back. This may feel slightly awkward initially, but really stretches the posterior head. Think of this exercise as a ‘reverse flye’ movement.

Now we know the different deltoid heads and what exercises stimulate them, we can discuss different types workout regime.

As the heads of the shoulders are relatively small and you want to isolate them there are intensity techniques you can use to train your shoulders in the least amount of time to produce the biggest growth response.

Most people advocate a ‘superset’ or ‘triset’. Basically this means performing two or three exercises, one after another. An example of this would be

Military press x 5 – 7
Dumbbell side lateral x 10 – 12
Dumbbell rear delt flye x 10 – 12

Perform these one after another with basically no rest between the exercises, beginners may want to start with two instead of three exercises. Take a few minutes rest and repeat.

If you are performing a separate shoulder workout then simple sets of 3 x 10 – 12 will work fine. However most people add them on to a chest routine, or a push movement routine (a workout with only push movements). Therefore moving quickly throughout the exercises will be best for overall growth.