If there’s one thing bodybuilders – amateurs and pro’s alike – is they have to have big, wide shoulders. They could have everything else, but if they look as wide as a pencil they’re going to look ridiculous.
Knowing the anatomy of the shoulder, and how to build it is imperative for full and balanced development. Anything less will screw up the flow of your physique.
Many people don’t even know that the shoulders (deltoids) are more than one muscle – 3 in fact. These deltoid ‘heads’ are: anterior (front), medial (side/middle) and posterior (rear). Each head must be developed for the proper and impressive roundness and width of the shoulders.
Here are my favourite exercises for hitting each of the deltoid heads:
Anterior: Bench press, military press, dumbbell shoulder press
Medial: Lateral raises, upright rows
Posterior: Bent over rows, rear dumbbell lateral raises
Having balanced shoulder development is of deeper importance than mere appearance. Having unbalanced heads (i.e.: one head bigger/more powerful than the others) can create physical problems by way of injury to the rotator cuff due to the weakness in the other head(s), so be sure you don’t slack on any of the heads and develop all of them equally.