5 of the Best Dumbbell Exercises to Shape Your Shoulders

If you dream about building a sexy, toned upper body that you’re excited to flaunt in a strapless dress, here’s a tip: focus on your shoulders. These are five of my favorite exercises to shape your shoulders.

The shoulders aren’t as trendy to work on as say, the glutes. But if you’re not working shoulder exercises in to your weekly routine, you’re missing out on some serious benefits.

The shoulder muscles, aka the deltoids, are made up of three primary muscles: the anterior, posterior and medial (or lateral) deltoids. You use your anterior delts often in everyday life, picking things up, moving things around…But it takes some more focused work to build and shape the shoulder as a whole.

The Physiological and Aesthetic Benefits of Stronger Shoulders

Why is it important to focus strength training time on your shoulders?

You use your shoulder muscles in almost every upper body movement you make in everyday life. Any time you push, pull, or lift something over your head, shoulder muscles are in play. Building stronger, more mobile shoulders will improve general strength and functionality.

Here’s what’s sexy about building stronger shoulders: shoulders give your upper body that lean, tapered aesthetic that makes strapless dresses and tank tops look so good on the Michelle Obamas and Jessica Biels of the world. Shapely shoulders make you look strong and confident. Moreover, broader shoulders make your waist look smaller in comparison. #sold

To continue the discussion about sexy things…let’s talk about posture. Most people spend a lot of time hunched over a desk, a laptop, a cell phone, or a steering wheel. That position draws your shoulders inward, towards your chest. That’s not great for posture and it’s not a great look. Doing exercises to shape your shoulders helps to draw your shoulders back and improves your posture in general.

Finally, think about the exercises that you regularly perform in a strength training workout, even the ones that don’t directly focus on the deltoids. Push ups, mountain climbers, chest presses, dips, bird dogs, medicine ball slams…these exercises become easier and stronger as you develop shoulder strength and mobility.

Trainer Tips for a Great Shoulder Workout

Mobilization

Prepare for your workout by warming up and mobilizing the shoulder joints. Start with 5-10 minutes of light cardio, preferably light cardio that activates your upper body: jumping jacks, row machine, the elliptical. Next, before you even pick up weight, spend another 5-10 minutes moving your shoulders through a full range of motion to activate the rotator cuff and deltoid muscles. Finally, warm up with 1-2 sets of presses and raises with very light weight.

Full Range of Motion

Expanding your range of motion is important. It increases the movement and strength potential of a joint which results in better muscle balance, stability, movement quality and activation. Shoulder dislocates, downward dog and cable rotator cuff extensions are great exercises to increase mobility and range of motion.

Volume

When it comes to building toned, sexy shoulders while avoiding injury, keep overall volume in mind. Your deltoids are involved in most upper body exercises that you do (as mentioned above), so even though you might not be doing “shoulder day” frequently, you’re working them.

Stick with one day a week for focused shoulder training. You’ll work them when you do chest and back so the reps will come. Try to keep one day of shoulder recovery in between workouts, which means watching when you schedule all other upper body days as well.

5 OF THE BEST DUMBBELL EXERCISES TO SHAPE YOUR SHOULDERS

There’s a wide array of shoulder exercises out there and this list by no means exhausts the good ones. But it’s a good place to get started!

Alternating Shoulder Presses

How to do it:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms bent at a 90 degree angle, hands holding a pair of dumbbells with palms facing forward. Starting on the right side, press the dumbbell up over your head and straighten your elbow. Pause, and return right arm to the start position. Immediately shift movement to the left arm, repeating the motion to complete 1 full rep.

Arnold Presses

How to do it:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells with arms bent and palms facing towards you, dumbbells at chin height (very similar stance to the top of a bicep curl). Open elbows wide to form a “T” with your torso, rotating palms so they are facing forward. Push dumbbells up over your head, straightening your arms and pausing at the top. Return to the start position.

Side Lateral Raises

How to do it:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms by your sides, hands holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, palms facing your legs. Brace your core and smoothly raise your arms out to the sides until they are parallel to the floor. Pause, and return to the start position.

L-Raises

How to do it:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms by your sides, hands holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, palms facing your legs. Brace your core. At the same time, raise your right arm to the side and left arm to the front until both are parallel to the floor. Pause and return to the start position.

Rear Delt Flyes

How to do it:

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, back flat and torso hinged forward at the hips. Hold a pair of dumbbells in each hand with arms extended towards the floor, elbows bent softly and palms facing each other. Without moving your torso, raise both arms up and out to the sides by squeezing your shoulder blades back. Pause and return to the start position.

If you’re looking for more upper body workouts and exercises, check out these posts!