Here’s a couple of my favourite shoulders workout exercises. Bear in mind I got bored with standard bodybuilding fare a long time ago, so I do these uncommon varations largely to challenge and amuse myself .
Shoulders Workout Exercises: Standing Dumbell presses
Tried Seated Dumbell presses? Hopefully you aren’t one of the dudes who makes a big deal of swinging the 110’s into position and cranking out 4-inch ROM reps while grunting loud enough for the whole gym to hear. Well, even if you are, I don’t mind. You might be in for a shock with standing dumbbell presses though.
Even moreso than a barbell, standing shoulder dumbell presses really test your ability to stay balanced and… err, standing up, as you lift the weight. You’ll find you can lift drastically less than your seated presses – perhaps something like 60% of your seated dumbbell press.
I really like these though, because it feels like I’m actually doing something useful rather than just pounding heavy weights for the sake of it. And even though DB presses are thought to be relatively safe, I’m sure my shoulders will thank me for it in later life.
Shoulders Workout Exercises: Lying Lateral Raises
Shoulder growth doesn’t come all that easily for me, but when I hammer my delts on a bulking program, they really show up. IMO one of the top 3 most important aspects of any “powerful” physique is shoulder width. Now, 3 sets of side laterals once a week probably isn’t going to cut it. Firstly, standing side laterals just don’t really stress the side delts that much – you’re only really lifting the weight when your arms are parallel to the floor, at the top of the lift.
That’s why I love lying laterals. Your arms start just below parallel, and you move them through parallel and beyond. If you haven’t done them before, you’re in for a treat – you’ve probably not felt this depth of “burn” in your side laterals before. Again, this is an ego-check exercise, where you can expect to lift 40% or less of the weight you use for standing side laterals.
Do 3 sets this 2-3 times a week, with perfect form, for 8-12 reps per set, and I reckon your delts will explode with width… mine did!
