I’ve always loved the shoulder muscles. The roundness, width, and power of well developed shoulders fascinates and excites me. Training them is currently my favourite part of my workout.
Learning about the muscles of the body before attempting training is critical for success in bodybuilding, but, if you don’t already know, I’ll spare you the research by laying out the shoulder muscle make-up.
The shoulders in bodybuilding are more commonly known by their scientific name of deltoids. The deltoids are made up of 3 separate ‘heads’ which produce different ranges of movement in the shoulder joint. The 3 heads are the anterior (front), posterior (rear), and the medial/lateral (middle/side). Full shoulder development is only possible by working each of these heads. And shoulder balance and ‘the right look’ is only possible by building each head up to proportion.
To follow, under each deltoid head, is a list of what I’ve found to be the most effective exercises for building them up.
Anterior: Bench press, military press, dumbbell shoulder press, Arnold press
Posterior: Bent over rows, dumbbell rear lateral raises
Medial/Lateral: Upright rows, lateral raises
Training the shoulders should always be done with care to avoid rotator cuff problems, so don’t try to shoehorn any ill-feeling exercise in if it’s causing you pain. Try something else. Rotator cuff problems are a problem you don’t need…