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America is known to be “arm happy” and I’d have to agree. It’s kinda funny watching a large majority of the guys in the gym hit arms and chest every day. Next time you lift, look around and I bet you’ll notice all of the benches and preacher curl machines occupied. This habit of training your arms over everything else gives you an unbalanced look. The usual obvious sign of somebody who is “arm happy” is the notorious chicken legs, but what I’ve really been noticing lately is narrow shoulders. Having narrow shoulders will make you appear to be weak and puny. If you have massive biceps and triceps and no shoulders, you will look extremely awkward and will likely strike out if you’re competing for strange at the lake.
There is a lot more to developing awesome shoulder muscles than simply doing dumbbell side raises or shoulder presses on machines. The compound exercises that involve your whole body will be most effective at building big & strong shoulders.
Functions of the Shoulder Muscles
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Anterior Deltoid
- The front head of the shoulder that allows you to rotate your arm inward. This shoulder muscle plays a role in bench pressing, and tricep workouts. This is commonly one of the most overdeveloped muscles for weight lifters, which can cause a muscular imbalance, leading to injury and posture problems.
Medial Deltoid
- The medial deltoid brings your arm out to the side. This shoulder muscle is activated more by isolated shoulder movements, such as dumbbell side raises.
Posterior Deltoid
- The posterior deltoid brings your arm back and helps to rotate it out. Back training exercises such as rows and pull ups involve the rear delts more than most other exercises. Reverse flyes are also a good an isolation exercise for the rear delts.
5 Awesome Shoulder Muscle Exercises That Must Be In Your Routine
1. Overhead Push Presses: This shoulder workout will shred your delts and make you stronger overall, especially in your core. You’re basically throwing weight up over your head forcing you to balance and not swing back and forth. This is a powerhouse compound exercise.
2. Arnold Presses: Terminator knew what he was doing! Try to keep strict form on this one and really feel the burn. Get a good rotation throughout the movement and try to touch the weights at the top and bottom of every rep.
3. Bus Drivers: Kind of a funny name, but it works! Hold the plate straight in front of yourself and twist it back and forth like a steering wheel. You’re going to feel a mean burn in your shoulders and forearms while you’re going through the movement.
4. Front Raises: This is a solid movement. Try not to swing too much and bring the weight up to shoulder level on every rep. You must stay in control, and not allow the weight to fall down too fast.
5. Shrugs: Try to do this shoulder muscle exercise in the beginning of your workout, or there’s a good chance that you won’t get the most out of them. Do not put 6 plates on each side and moves your arms up and down half an inch. Get a good range of motion and squeeze your traps at the top for a second. Do them right and you will look like a freak in no time. By “freak” I mean a stacked individual – which is out of the norm in today’s fat society.
Well, that’s it for this one. Remember, wide shoulders will make you look taller, broader and more masculine. Give these workouts a shot during your next training session and don’t forget to let me know what you think in the comments section below.
Peace,
