Shoulder Workout

Roman workout his shoulders

So, some say that broad shoulders is something that makes a woman feel safe. Yes that statement has a lot to do with the back training really. But hey, this is the text regarding shoulders! And we like broad shoulders, don't we?

If we pretend to be into this whole V-shape as the model for how we would like to look, then shoulders are important. I am not saying we should look like the cartoon character Johnny Bravo.

We might want to have a pair of legs that match the rest of us ;)

In comparison to other parts of your body, your shoulders can be considered fragile. When you hold your arms above your head, you don't want to use heavy weights The shoulders have three major parts that I am trying to hit with different exercises. The picture below shows you the Deltoid and its three parts.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise 

I am very aware of the angles on my elbows during this exercise, making sure I do not extend my arms fully. You can see the exercise by pressing the name of it and that will link you to a video showing you how to perform it. However I would like to add one more tip regarding this exercise. Imagine that you are holding a bottle in each hand and that you are pouring water out of the bottles during the exercise. Slowly pouring the water as you raise your arms. 

Dumbbell Front Raise

This is one of the exercises where I am using really low weights. These muscles are not huge, they are not superstrong but they are important. That means you have to swallow that pride, pick up low weights and get to work! ;)

Lever Seated Reverse Fly

When I do this one in the machine I feel that I can use a little bit more weight without risking injury but I am still watching myself in the mirror to make sure that I still do the exercise properly. Another great exercise for the rear deltoid is the one below as well.

Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise

I don't do this one very often and when I do it I do it with low weights. Due to an old injury I still can't really do this one properly with heavy weights. That is a shame, if you do this one in front of the mirrors you will know why I miss this exercise so much! It can also be done seated which is quite comfortable.

Smith Shoulder Press

This is a safety thing. I use this one to avoid injuries. When I do it in the Smith I will have to move the bench back and fourth until I am satisfied with my positioning and I still won't be fully. But it is worth it because I would not dare use such heavy weights above my head. If the balance would be a little bit off I could suffer some injury which I can prevent by doing the exercise in the Smith. 

There are other exercises as well in the Gym Exercises Section of this blog. I sometimes go with a few other exercises but the ones above is the most frequent ones for me personally.

This applies to ALL training using weights but even more so during your shoulder workout. Start out low! Make sure you are comfortable and have the balance during your exercises! Then you might start to add more weights. Like I said above, swallow that pride. Even the biggest body builders sometimes use lighter weights (our definition of light is not quite the same but if we say percentage of what they COULD lift it really is light).