And to really develop that classic V-taper and imposing upper body there’s one muscle you have to train… shoulders.
That’s because an impressive set of deltoid muscles really sets off a great physique. Neglect them though and you’ll look narrow and weak.
While some of you might not relish shoulder day, it’s a muscle to have fun with. You can hit it from a variety of angles, and the mixed muscle fiber ratio means you can lift heavy on some days and chase an excruciating pump on others.
Earn your boulder shoulders here with these deltoid punishing exercises.
For this exercise it helps if you’ve got a squat rack to save you having to lift the bar into the right position and wasting energy.
Approach the bar with grip that is just outside shoulder-width apart and un-rack it from the squat stands. Rest the bar across your upper chest.
Stand with your feet slightly narrower than hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Your elbows should be pointing down towards the floor.
As you drive the bar upwards, try and allow your head to move backwards slightly. When you reach the overhead position, allow you head to come forwards naturally.
This keeps the bar-path in line with the body’s center of gravity. As the bar comes back down, slightly move the head back to let it touch the upper chest, then repeat the exercise.
You can either do this one standing or seated dependent on your preference.
If you’re going for the standing option then make sure your feet are at hip width apart and knees slightly bent to reduce back strain.
If you’re using a bench for the seated variation you need to adjust it so that it’s completely upright or leaning slightly back to reduce lower back compression.
Don’t go too low with the seat though or it’ll become an incline press and hit your chest instead.
To start, you need to place the dumbbells in line with the bottom of your jaw. Your elbows should be pointing to the floor, and your knuckles facing the ceiling. Your palms should be facing away from your body too.
Begin the movement by pushing the dumbbells up past your head. The idea is to ‘converge’ the weights by pushing them both upward and inward towards each other once they are overhead.
This way you’ll maximize shoulder muscle recruitment and keep your shoulder joint safe.
Lower the dumbbells under control back to the start position and repeat for the designated number of reps.
Set a dual action cable pulley on its lowest setting and attach a stirrup handle to each cable. Grab hold of each handle and place yourself into a standing shoulder press start position.
Your elbows should be pointing out and the pulley attachments in line with the bottom of your jaw. You can either have the cables in front of the forearms or behind depending on your own preference.
It doesn’t make that much difference.
Begin the movement by pushing the weight up past your head. The idea is to ‘converge’ the weights by pushing them both upward and in towards each other once they are overhead.
The added resistance from the cables will really test your shoulder muscles and maintain a constant tension. This will help maximize shoulder muscle recruitment.
Lower the weight under control back to the start position and repeat for the designated number of reps.
Keep your back straight throughout.
Grab a pair of dumbbells and start with them at the side of your body.
Bend your knees slightly and lean forwards just enough to position your shoulders in front of your hips. This will reduce the involvement of the very dominant front head of the shoulders.
With a very slight bend in your elbows, raise the dumbbells out to your sides until your wrist is in line with your shoulder. Don’t go any higher as the muscles will begin to switch off and other muscles such as the trapezius kick in.
Don’t go all out bro with the weight – keep it light enough to be able to push the dumbbells out wide. If you have to bend your arms too much you’re going too heavy.
You can do this one either both arms at the same time or one at a time depending on your preference.
Set either one or two cable columns on the bottom setting and attach a stirrup handle to the attachments.
If you’re going for one arm at a time, face away from the machine and grab the left side handle with your right hand and turn your body so that the cable itself crosses in front of your body.
You should have your arm fully extended and both your hand and the handle in front of your thighs. Keep just a slight bend in your elbows.
Extend your arm outward to your right until it is just lower than parallel with the floor. Any higher and your delts will want to switch off and let your trapezius take over so let’s aim for constant tension here.
Return to the start position under control and complete the desired number of repetitions.
For this one you’ll need to stand with your feet hip-width apart. Start with the dumbbells by the side of your body. Hip hinge forward with a slight bend in your knees and lean forward until you reach a 45 degrees angle with your back.
At this point you might feel your hamstrings tighten slightly; but don’t go too far or you’ll risk injury. Bend your knees a touch more if you need to.
Keep a small bend in your elbows and arc them outwards in a behind you until your wrists are the same height as your.
Aim to move the weight to the ceiling and lead with your elbows and pinch your shoulder blades at the top of the movement.
Maintain the same back angle throughout and keep looking at the floor to maintain neutral spine.
If you start to swing from your hips, the weight is too heavy.
For this one you’ll need the pec deck machine set up for reverse flyes.
Set the machine so that you can grip the handles at shoulder height with your arms extended and with your chest resting against the support pad.
Your elbows should be slightly bent but extended out to your sides.
Initiating the movement from your shoulder blades, begin to arc the handles around until your elbows are behind your upper body.
You should be keeping tall and not let your chest move away from the support pad at any point.
Your head should remain upright, with your eyes looking forward. Your elbows should remain only slightly bent throughout the whole movement.
Slowly return to the start position keeping your elbows in line with your shoulders.
Start in a relaxed position with an overhand, shoulder width grip of the bar. The bar should be at around hip height with your arms straight.
Begin by hinging forward at the hip slightly, then inclining your torso slightly forward. Keep the bar close to your body and your arms straight so that the bar starts to slide down your thighs.
As soon as your chest moves in front of the bar, the bar reaches just above your knees, or you feel tension through your hamstrings, aggressively extending through the hips, knees and ankles. Focus on driving the weight upward.
Once you’ve done this and the bar reaches hip height, shrug your shoulders towards your ears with your arms straight.
As full extension is achieved and you begin to jump from the ground slightly, bend your arms to allow the bar to travel upwards. Relax your grip of the bar slightly to let this happen. At the peak of extension, pull yourself down and under the bar.
If you pull yourself deep enough down, you should receive the bar in a ‘catch’ or front squat position, with the depth of the catch being dependent on how high you pulled the bar and how low you caught it.
Your elbows should be high and the bar should rest on the front shoulders.This is called the rack position.
Finish the movement by immediately driving through the heels, keeping the torso upright and elbows up. Continue until you have squatted the bar into a standing position.
Once you have the bar in the rack position and you’re stood up tall you need to initiate the press by bending the knees slightly to build up some momentum with the bar.
You then need to use this momentum to quickly straighten the knees and follow through with the press. Exhale as you press. You’ll need to tilt your head back slightly at first just so the bar can clear your chin, but once it moves overhead you can pull it back in line with the shoulders.
Finish with the bar in line with the ears and your elbows fully extended. Your shoulders, elbows and wrists should all be stacked in line.
Stand to full height, holding the bar in the clean position. Without moving your feet, press the bar overhead as you exhale and then lower the bar under control.
This exercise is a full-body assault but we’ve included it because it absolutely torches the delts.
Start with a pair of dumbbells in a standing shoulder press position – palms facing away from you and the dumbbells at around the same height as your jaw.
Adjust your stance to around shoulder-width apart and squat down as near to parallel as you can, whilst keeping the dumbbells at jaw level.
Pause briefly at the bottom and then drive upwards by pushing into the floor with your heels. As you reach full extension of your knees, begin to press the weight upwards, above your head as you would with a standard shoulder press.
You can use some momentum by coming up onto the balls of your feet if you want to, but at the end of the movement you should have your feet flat and your knees slightly bent. Your arms should be fully extended and the dumbbells above your head.
You should then lower the dumbbells to the jawline again before performing the next squat.
This one isn’t a deltoid exercise as such, but because it targets muscles of the shoulder girdle it’s a great one to add in for overall development.
Grab a pair of dumbbell and position each one at the side of your upper leg. Your arms should be fully extended, your shoulders pinned back slightly and your palms facing towards each other.
Keep your head facing forward and slowly elevate your shoulders, aiming to bring them up towards your ears. At no point should you either roll your shoulders or drop your head down. It’s only a small movement,; but get it right and you’ll know about it.
Slowly lower the dumbbells to the start position and complete the desired number of repetitions.
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