In some people`s opinion, the shoulders are the easiest muscle group to train due to its ease of training. However, any experienced bodybuilder will tell you that you are simply doing the wrong exercises or not using enough intensity if you feel shoulder exercises are easy. If you want to develop great shoulders, you need to learn the basics of the shoulders and how to train them properly. You are going to learn the different sections of the shoulders, what the shoulders are, best time to train them, and the best exercises to turn your shoulders into boulders.

The shoulders are defined as the joint connecting the arm with the torso or part of the human body between the neck and upper arm. The deltoid is the three headed muscle that caps the shoulder. All three heads of the deltoid are named the lateral, posterior, and anterior. All three parts of the deltoid attach to the humerus. The lateral and anterior heads are located near the collar bone, while the posterior head is located on the scapula. The function of the deltoid musle is to move the arm away from the body. Another section of the shoulders mucles is the rotator cuff and it causes lateral rotation, medial rotation, and abduction.

Your shoulders are involved with just about everything you are involved with, so exercising them will help you in almost everything you do in your daily routine. You also need to realize that the shoulders are a small muscle group compared to that of the chest so don`t expect yourself to be pumping out reps of over one-hundred pounds. Like all muscles in your body, the shoulders should only be trained once a week unless you have god-like genetics and can recover quick enough to train them twice in a week. If you`re lifting heavy weights, you`ll need at least four days of rest before you can perform the same exercises again. If your goal is to get more toned, stick to one to three sets, of thirteen to seventeen reps, and at least four days of rest before you perform the exercises. Always consider the fact that you will be using your shoulders when performing back and chest exercises, and you should separate the days that you train each group with at least one day of rest.

When choosing your shoulder exercises, you should pick the exercises that you don`t want to do, or exercises that will shock your body because it is not accustomed to what you are doing to them. The following exercises will give you a general idea of which exercises you can include to your own training split:

CABLE:

• Shoulder Press
• Front Raise
• Rear Lateral Raise
• Shoulder Press
• Upright row
• Lateral Raise
• Rear Lateral Raise
• Seated Rear Lateral Raise
• Rear Delt Row

BARBELL:

• Front Raise
• Behind Neck Press
• Shoulder Press
• Military Press
• Rear Delt Row
• Upright Row
• Lying Rear Delt Row
• Rear Delt Row

SMITH MACHINE

• Behind Neck Press
• Upright Row
• Shoulder Press
• Rear Delt Row

DUMBBELL

• Front Lateral Raise
• Lying Rear Delt Row
• Lying Rear Lateral Raise
• Rear Lateral Raise
• Rear Delt Row
• Seated Rear Lateral Raise
• Lateral Raise
• Lying Lateral Raise
• Front Raise
• Arnold Press
• One Arm New
• Shoulder Press
• Upright Row

LEVER:

• Lying Rear Lateral Raise
• Rear Delt Row
• Seated Rear Lateral Raise
• Behind Neck Press
• Shoulder Press
• Parallel Grip New
• Lateral Raise

Experiment with different training styles, alter the rep/set sequence, and make sure that you never do the same workout twice. This is very important if your are looking for continual growth in the shoulders region. Don`t forget to take a day off when you feel that your body needs it. A general rule is to take a rest week once every six to eight weeks. This will allow you to come back stronger the next week. Until next time, later.

Zach Bashore
April 26, 2006