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It's good to target your biceps, triceps, and shoulders when you work out. But what about your deltoids? Ever thought about that?
If your workout schedule includes a day or two dedicated to your upper body, you probably know that you don't want to skip out on your shoulders. But focusing on deltoid exercises can help you get better results from your upper-body workouts in general, and it's also easy to add these exercises to your routine.
Fortunately, there are plenty of great exercises out there for building your deltoids without any equipment at all. But if you have dumbbells lying around, or access to a gym where you can grab some, you can try these six best exercises to help you maximize your gains!
Before we jump onto the exercises, let's first understand these deltoid muscles:
Anatomy of Deltoid Muscles
When we talk about deltoid exercises, we're referring to the three "heads" of your shoulder muscle: the anterior (frontal), lateral (side), and posterior (rear). To truly build fully-defined shoulders, you want to make sure that you're hitting each of these heads from all angles.
Best shoulder exercises to help you get bigger and stronger deltoid muscles
#1 Jerk Press
It's one of the most efficient functional mass builders for the delt, traps, and upper back, as well as the arms and core. Simply do a regular push press by driving the weight overhead with both your lower and upper bodies at the same time.
How to do the jerk press:
• Start with your feet hip-width apart and hold a pair of dumbbells with your shoulders and palms facing each other.
• Push the weights up and quickly jump one foot forward and one foot back to land on a high lunge.
• Then step back to the starting position, bringing the weights back down.
#2 Callahan Press
In terms of execution, this may be one of the simplest deltoid workouts. Even so, it will properly train those delts, allowing you to achieve excellent results in a short amount of time. Because you get to train each delt group, this is one of those muscle exercises that give you a complete shoulder workout.
How to do the Callahan Press:
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold the weights at shoulder height, your arms straight and elbows bent.
• Raise the weights above your head until they are in line with your ears.
• Lower the weights, then repeat.
#3 Standing Arnold Press
It is a complete shoulder-muscle-building workout. The Arnold engages all three deltoid muscles in your shoulder: the posterior, lateral, and anterior delts.
How to the Arnold Press:
• Start with dumbbells held at your chin, palms facing you.
• You push the weights up as you turn your wrists out so that your palms are facing away from you.
• You pause at the top, then slowly lower the dumbbells back down to your chest as you turn your wrists in until they once again face forward.
#4 Anterior Deltoid Raise
This one targets the front delt muscles, which are located in the front of your shoulder.
• Try to keep your arms straight as you lift the dumbbells up directly in front of you to shoulder height with your palms facing each other.
• Return to the starting place and repeat.
#5 Bent Over Lateral Raise
This is one of the strongest moves to target your back deltoid muscles. If necessary, avoid large weights and maintain perfect form to keep them engaged and your spine safe.
How to do the bent-over lateral raise:
• Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides while you stand with your feet hip-width apart.
• Allow your arms to hang straight down with palms facing each other while you hinge at your hips, maintaining your back flat.
• Raise your arms out to the sides until they are parallel with your back, keeping your elbows slightly bent. Lower the weights gradually and repeat.
#6 Dumbbell Chop
This exercise works the quads, glutes, all 3 parts of your shoulder muscles, and your obliques. It uses many different muscle groups in the upper and lower body, and builds rotational strength in the core.
How to do the dumbbell chop moves:
• To get started, grab a 5-pound dumbbell. Stand with your legs apart and your toes pointing outward.
• Crouch until your thighs are parallel to the floor, keeping your back straight. Hold the weight with both hands, next to the outside of your right thigh.
• As you rise onto your toes, twist your torso and lift the weight to your left shoulder as you face it. Reverse the movement by twisting your body and lowering the weight back down as if chopping wood.
Takeaway
As you can see, there are plenty of different ways to work your deltoids. By incorporating some of these exercises into your workout routine, you can build up those shoulders. So get yourself some dumbbells and start lifting!
