The best exercise for strong shoulders: free- weight side raises, chin-ups, or front raises. These are three excellent exercises that will make your appearance more impressive. Add them to your training plan now. Remember: wide shoulders support the V- shape.
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Do I need a
backrest?
Lots of guys perform shoulder presses seated, pressing the back into a support. The reason for this is that more stability allows you to lift more weight. But be careful: heavier weights mean more stress on the shoulder joints in a risky position. That’s the point in the movement where the elbows are at a right angle. The likelihood of an injury is higher. The best way to protect yourself? Skip the support and only attempt to lift what you can.
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What is
dislocation?
A dislocated arm can derail in your shoulder training. Dislocation occurs with varying severity and often the joint capsule is damaged. The symptoms include a sudden, sharp pain and a severe shortening of your range of movement. The joint can appear bulged or the shoulder deformed. To prevent this from happening only lift as much as you can control. If you want to push your limit, find a training partner who can help you.
Strength. Place your toes on a training bench and get into a push-up position. Place your hands close in front to the bench so that your core is horizontal and arms are vertical. Bend your arms and slowly lower your upper body until your head almost touches the floor.
Cardio. Extend your arms horizontally out to the side and tense. Circle your arms in about football- size circles. Every circle should take about one second. How many can you do? Important: Keep your arms horizontal and tensed.
Flexibility. Bend forward to about 45 degrees with a straight upper body, folding your hands behind your back. Extend your arms and push upwards. Move your upper body and neck to horizontal. How far can you get your extended arms? Check in a mirror.
Up to 7 reps: must improve. First aid: perform a circuit of exercises 21, 25, 23 and 22. Do three sets without a break, twice a week.
8-14 reps: Still work to be done. Do exercises 21, 25, and 24 with a decreasing weight load until failure.
More than 14 reps. Congrats. You’re getting strong. For further fine- tuning: try exercises 24, 30, and 29 in three or four clean sets. Up to 60 reps. Our advice: perform all the exercises every other workout with four sets of 20 reps with less weight.
61 to 150 reps. Well done. Do exercises 21-26 as supersets (without break) over three rounds.
More than 150. Excellent. Lift every second workout in slow motion, with a full 30 seconds per rep.
About 60 degrees. Not so great. Try the test on training free days as a stretch. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat two or three times. Don’t wobble. 60-90 degrees. Not bad! Here’s how to get better:do exercises 27, 22, 24 and 29 with easy stretching after each workout.
More than 90 degrees. Great work: keep your flexibility by contracting in the end position of every exercise (about three seconds).
Test yourself again after 6 weeks and record how many you can
do now. Total number of reps after 6 weeks. Test again after six weeks and record your maximum angle. Record the number of reps. How many push-ups can you do in 45 seconds? Record you maximum angle.
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HOW STrONG arE YOu?
The shoulders have a wide range of movement. Even a small shortening of the musculature can lead to injuries. Perform our checks and train accordingly. See next page for exercises.4
A. Grasp a barbell with both hands, feet about shoulder-width apart. Hold the bar at neck height in front of your body, bend slightly at the knees, and keep your back straight.
B. Stretch your knees and press the bar vertically up until your arms are completely extended. Return to the start.
Do 12-14 reps.
21
BarBell shoulder presses.Provide stability for the shoulders.
Which exercises
target the
shoulders?
Shoulder presses and side raises. There are innumerable variations of these exercises – we’ve shown you the classic versions. The good news: every one of these exercises also trains your arms so it’s doubly worth it to work your delts and their companions.
A. Stand with a weight hanging at your side in your left hand beside a door or bar. Hold on with your right hand, and lean to the left, until the right arm is extended.
A. Sit on a bench and grasp a weight in each hand. Move them to the side at head height. Remember to keep your back straight throughout. B. Lift the weights vertically until the arms are fully extended. Lower with control. Do 15-20 reps.
A. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Grasp two free weights with bent arms at shoulder height in front of the body. B. Extend your arms and press the weights over the head. Turn your wrists so the thumbs face inwards at the end position. Return to start with the same movement. Do 12-14 reps.
22
side raises, leaning.Strengthen the sides of the shoulder
23
seated free-weight shoulder presses.Provide power for the deltoids et al.
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shoulder presses with wrist rotation.
Protect the shoulder muscles.
B. Lift the weight to the side until both your upper arms and forearms are horizontal at the same height, and then slowly lower in the direction of your hip. Do 10-12 reps per arm.
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C
B
PRIMARY A Deltoids B Obliques C Rectus abdominustrain liKe a pro shoulder muscle eXercises
A. Stand with your left side to a cable machine. Grasp the grip (attached at the bottom) and hold in front of the left thigh. B. Pull the grip upwards to the left without changing the angle at your elbow. In the end position the grip is at shoulder height. Return to the start and change sides after a set. Do 10-12 reps per side.
A. Stand with feet more than shoulder-width apart. Lift a barbell to your chest and hold with both hands at shoulder-width. Elbows are bent, backs of the hands on your shoulders. Squat with control. B. Stretch your legs and stand up. At the same time extend your arms and lift the weight over your head. Slowly return to the start. Do 10-12 reps.
A. Grasp two dumbbells with an overhand grip. With your feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart, keep your back straight and let your arms hang. Pull the weights toward your core. Pull your elbows back. Slowly return to the start until the arms are fully extended. Do 12-14 reps.
A. Sit on a bench holding a barbell with both hands in an overhand grip. Move the bar to shoulder height in front of your body and keep a straight back.
B. Extend your arms and press the weight up. Slowly return to the start with control.
Do 15-20 reps.
A. Hold a barbell with an overhand grip at about shoulder-width. Hold the bar in front of your body at shoulder-height, back straight. B. Lift the weight vertically up until your arms are fully extended. Return to the start with control. Do 12-14 reps.
A. Lie on a bench with your feet flat on the floor. Grasp a barbell with a narrow grip and lower to your chest. B. Push the bar up until the arms are fully extended. Return the bar to above your chest.
Do 15-20 reps.
25
Side raiSeS on a cable machine.Work the shoulder muscles.
27
barbell SquatS with Shoulder preSSeS.Train the thighs.
29
dumbbell rowS.Also work the back muscles.
26
Seated Shoulder preSSeS.Strengthen your shoulder muscles.
28
Shoulder preSSeS (narrow grip).Work the triceps simultaneously.
30
narrow grip bench preSSeS.Works the chest.