Best Shoulder Exercises: Seated Front Military Press<\/h2>\n
Your shoulders consist mainly of 2 muscle groups, the trapezius and the deltoids. The trapezius or “traps” are the two large triangular-shaped muscles that run across each shoulder from the back of your neck. Your deltoids or “delts” are the thick, triangular-shaped muscles that cover your\u00a0shoulder joints\u00a0at the top of each arm. The deltoids consist of 3 sections known as the anterior, medial and posterior heads. For balanced deltoid development, you must train each section equally.<\/p>\n
The front military press is a great starter exercise for building the anterior or front section of your delts. You can perform this exercise from a standing or seated position. For beginners, I recommend the seated position, preferably in a chair that has low back support to prevent arching or hyperextension of your spine. With proper technique, this basic military press will add thickness and power to the front of your shoulders. As you advance in your training, you should eventually graduate from this exercise to the dumbbell shoulder press.<\/p>\n
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Best Shoulder Exercises: Barbell Front Raises<\/h2>\n
This exercise is great for building shape and endurance in your anterior delts. Since barbell front raises put tremendous resistance on the front of your shoulders, you should not attempt to do this exercise with heavy weight. Moderate poundage with strict technique (i.e., no bouncing or jerking the weight with your body) is sufficient to add strength and shape to your anterior delts. For variety, you can also do this exercise with a straight bar attachment to a low cable apparatus.<\/p>\n
Whether you use a barbell or low cable machine, you must stand with your arms straight as you raise the bar forward from the front of your thighs to a position parallel to the floor at about shoulder height. To put secondary resistance on your rear delts and traps, raise the bar slightly above shoulder height. It won’t take long to feel the burn from this exercise, but the payoff in deltoid development is well worth it.<\/p>\n
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Best Shoulder Exercises: Seated Reverse Dumbbell Press<\/h2>\n
The reverse dumbbell press, aka the “Arnold Press” is another terrific shoulder builder for your anterior delts. When done properly, this exercise also puts concentrated resistance on the upper portion of your traps. You can do the reverse dumbbell press with both arms pressing the weights simultaneously or by alternating each arm. In either event, I suggest that you do this exercise in a seated position with good back support to avoid\u00a0injury.<\/p>\n
To do this exercise, hold 2 dumbbells at shoulder height with your palms facing you. Keep your back straight and don’t bounce or jerk your body as you slowly press the dumbbells overhead. As you press the weight upward, rotate your wrists so that your hands face forward at the top of each lift. Return the dumbbells to the starting position as you lower them after each rep. If you’ve never done this exercise before, start with weight that you can easily balance and control and progress to heavier poundage when you’ve mastered your training technique. Take my word, the results will be awesome!<\/p>\n
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Best Shoulder Exercises: Dumbbell Front Raises<\/h2>\n
Like barbell front raises, the dumbbell version of this exercise puts extreme resistance on the front of your shoulders. In addition to building the anterior deltoids, front dumbbell raises put secondary but significant stress on the medial deltoid head. The mechanics of this exercise are basically the same as with barbell front raises. You must stand with your arms straight as you raise the dumbbells forward from the front of your thighs to a position parallel to the floor at about shoulder height. Again, due to the extreme level of training resistance that front raises produce, you should not attempt to do this exercise with heavy weight. Moderate poundage with strict\u00a0form will\u00a0give you great results.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The “behind-the-neck” or rear military press is a solid mass builder for the medial deltoid or middle shoulder area. Like the front military press, you can perform this exercise from a standing or seated position. Again, I recommend that you do your military presses in a chair with lower back support to avoid arching or hyperextension of your spine. The seated position also helps to stabilize your torso so you won’t jerk the weight upward and cheat on technique. As with all overhead lifting, go slow, master your training technique and the rear military press will add mass, power and symmetry to the middle portion of your shoulders.<\/p>\n