To have a good muscular image, you have to work out not only on your back, arms, abs and calves. You need to focus on increasing the size of your shoulders. Strong shoulders represent your power and strength. And if they are not developed enough, you will seem weak.
To build bigger shoulders, you need to focus on the right types of exercising and ensure that you take enough calories to grow muscles. It’s not just direct shoulder exercises; it’s a complex of full-body workouts.
These 5 exercises are:
1) Hang clean
That’s the best exercise for your shoulders. It’s really hard, but not THAT hard.
From the starting position, you should lower the weight down to just above your knees, bending at both the knees and the waist. To perform the hang clean, you must extend your ankles, flex your knees and traps, and perform a ¾ upright row to bring the bar up in a straight line in front of your body until it reaches your shoulders. From here, rotate your elbows and arms under the weight, catching it in front of your shoulders with upward facing palms. Bending slightly at the knees can assist with the catch. Then lower the bar back down to your shoulders and then down the thighs to complete the rep.
2) Dumbbell shoulder press
This exercise should be a part of every lifter’s training program.
To begin the circuit, perform dumbbell shoulder presses to engage the entire shoulder complex with slightly more focus on the front deltoids. Select a weight in which you will fail between 12-15 repetitions.
3) Military press
This exercise allows for the maximum amount of resistance to be lifted, so that you will see the result.
Starting with the weight resting on your upper chest press the bar upwards, directly in front of your face to the point just before your elbows lock. While maintaining control, bring the weight back down to the chest. Do not use your legs at all during this exercise, or it will be a push press, which is still effective for building overall strength, but is a different exercise and utilizes leg drive as well.
4) Upright barbell rows
They are often included in training programs for the back, but it will also work with your shoulder muscles.
Place your hands no more than six inches apart on the bar. Pull the bar to just underneath your chin, allowing the elbows to flare out as wide as possible. You may see some people pulling higher, for example to the eyes, but this is a greater range of motion than is necessary.
5) Shrugs
Stand with your feet slightly greater than shoulder-width apart and arms at your sides. Hold the dumbbells or barbell at thigh level and shrug the shoulders straight up. Don’t roll your shoulders, just shrug them straight up and down.