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Everybody wants to strengthen their shoulder muscles – after all, that’s the only way you can fully complete an overhead press with a barbell or dumbbells.
Working on strengthening your shoulders can also make your lifts better. However, there are hundreds of shoulder exercises, and it’s easy to get lost in a sea of information about the best shoulder workout routines for beginners and advanced lifters.
On that note, here's a look at the best shoulder exercises for beginners.
Best Shoulder Exercises for Beginners
Here's a look at six such poses:
1) Push-up
Push-ups are arguably the best exercise for the shoulders and are one of the most important strength-building exercises. They’re a go-to for many people, both for strength and muscle building.
By following these steps, you can do this shoulder exercise without any equipment. There are, however, many variations to try out.
- The standard push-up almost needs no introduction – get down on all fours; extend your legs behind you, and lower your upper body till it's parallel to the floor.
- From this position, push yourself back up so that you're parallel to the floor.
2) Incline Bench Press
The incline bench press, also known as an incline dumbbell press, is a shoulder exercise that’s a cornerstone to any solid shoulder workout and can be used as a substitute for the barbell military press.
How to do it?
- Lie on an incline bench with your hands just outside shoulder width and shoulder blades pinched together. A spotter can help you with the lift off.
- After you settle on the bench, keep your upper back tight while the bar lowers slowly to touch your chest.
- Push the bar back up in a straight line by pressing yourself into the bench and driving your feet against the floor for leg drive.
- Make sure you extend your elbows fully at the top of the movement.
3) Lateral Raise
Lateral raises are a versatile shoulder exercise you can perform with a pair of dumbbells, resistance bands, cable machines or improvised weights, like books or water bottles. They can help you develop your lateral deltoids and improve shoulder mobility.
How to do it?
- To do the dumbbell lateral raise, stand up straight with your arms by your sides.
- Your palms should be facing your body, and the dumbbells should hang slightly off your body. That keeps the tension on the side delts.
- Slowly raise the dumbbells up to shoulder height while keeping your wrists below your elbows. Letting them go above makes it easier on the front delts and not the side delts.
4) Overhead Press
The overhead press, a.k.a. the shoulder press, is one of the best exercises for developing both strength and muscle mass in the shoulders. You can make it even more challenging by using heavier weights or doing it one-handed. It targets the deltoids, pectorals, trapezius, and triceps.
How to do it?
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and lift a barbell or pair of dumbbells till they are at shoulder level.
- Press the weight above your head for a few seconds, and lower it in a controlled manner to shoulder height.
- Remember to stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Form is important here as you slowly lower those dumbbells overhead to shoulder height.
5) Standing Cable Pulley Fly
The standing cable fly is similar to the chest fly and is an exercise used to strengthen the pushing muscles of the body, including the chest, triceps, and shoulders.
You can overload this exercise by using heavier weights or increasing your repetitions.
How to do it?
- Place the pulleys at shoulder height. Select a weight; grasp both handles with a neutral grip, and take a step forward to split your stance.
- Press both handles up till your arms are fully extended.
- Keep a slight bend in your elbows; move entirely at your shoulder joint, and slowly allow your arms to open as the chest muscles stretch.
- With an inhale, return the handles to the starting position by flexing your pecs.
- Slowly lower back to the starting position; repeat for the desired number of reps, and switch sides.
6) Dumbbell Shoulder Press
The dumbbell shoulder push engages the deltoids and trapezius, as well as the glutes, quads, and core. It's easy to learn and is a great place to start if you’re new to weight training.
How to do it?
- Stand with your arms at shoulder level, holding the dumbbells with your palms facing forward and elbows out to the sides.
- Keeping your elbows slightly in front of your body but pointed out to the sides.
- Press the dumbbells up overhead by contracting your shoulder muscles and extending your elbows till they are almost locked.
Takeaway
Shoulder presses can be used effectively as part of workouts or at the end of workouts to work the shoulder muscles.
They can also be used throughout your workout programme to ensure you have toned shoulders. The aforementioned exercises above are some of the best ways to achieve toned, developed, and healthy shoulders.
