Shoulder Exercises to Shape Your Shoulders into Sexy
Suns out, guns out, but if your shoulders aren’t cut, you might want to tuck those guns back in their holsters.
We all want sexy shoulders, right? Something that makes a tank top say “THANK YOU” when we put it on? Well, you can have them.
First, let’s go over shoulder anatomy and then we’ll get onto 8 shoulder exercises that will shape some sexy shoulders for the summer.
Anterior Deltoid (Delt): This bad boy comes from the collar bone and connects with the humerus. You use it to do front raises and to complete presses.
Lateral Delt: (Lat) Coming from the collarbone and connecting to the humerus, it raises the arms up from the side.
Posterior Delt: This muscle comes from the scapula and connects to the humerus, You use this muscle in pulls and rows when you’re pulling your arms backward from the bod. Imagine diving into a pool…when you pull your arms back before you dive in like Michael Phelps, that’s the posterior delt.
Trapezius: Awww TRAP. This muscle is shaped like it’s name—a trapezoid. It sits on the upper part of your back and runs from the bottom of your skull to the middle of your back. You use these when you shrug and do rows.
Sets and Reps: For the first 3 sets, use a moderate weight. 15-20 reps. On the last set, increase your weight and drop the reps to 10-15. Total of 4 sets—always.
Barbell Front Raise
Old faithful in the list of shoulder exercises. Front raises can be a pain to accomplish but boy oh boy do they give results. Grab a barbell with weights, starting at your thighs, bring the bar to shoulder level. KEEP ARMS STRAIGHT. Return and repeat. Oooh, getting down with the delts.
Shoulder Press
Tried and true, sit on a bench, grab your weights and with arms close to sides press weights upward and return slowly. Nice form!
Single Arm Shoulder Press
With a more controlled approach, single arm shoulder press slowly upward then return. Spice things up with an Arnold shoulder press for variety in your shoulder exercises.
Barbell Upright Row
Get those traps tight with the barbell upright row. Feet shoulder width apart, and barbell in neutral position, lift upward until your elbows are just above your ears. Lower and repeat.
Single Arm Front Raises
Seriously, raises are gonna get your shoulders sexy, so do them again, but this time, with one arm. Because you love to punish yourself.
Shoulder Smith Machine Upright Row
Targeting the same as the upright row, the use of the smith machine may help you with form. Do it. Then do it again.
Smith Machine Rear Delt Row
Targeting the delt, bend slight at the knees, keep your back straight while bent and pull upward. Keep arms close to sides for maximum effect.
Lateral Dumbbell Raise
These burn like front raises, but not quite as bad. Feet shoulder width apart and weights hanging to your sides, lift up slowly until you make a t-shape and lower. Control movements, and repeat.
For some extra masochism, throw in a 10 second hold when you get to your end rep count. Oooooh, yeahhh.
So, there you go. Shoulder exercises to get you sexy shoulders in no time. Speed up your results with muscle-building fat burning supplements so the guns can be released even sooner. Boom