Shoulder Workouts

Who doesn’t want boulders for shoulders? Big, wide shoulders tapering to a skinny waist is Herculean. Luckily, building huge deltoids doesn’t require you having to plan separate shoulder workouts from your other body parts.

Since the shoulder are directly involved in every pulling and pushing upper body workout you do, adding an extra day to your workout schedule just to train shoulders is overkill. Just add in the shoulder work at the end of your main chest or back workout, and you’ll be fine.

And considering the fact that the best way to add pounds of meat onto your delts is by sticking with the shoulders press and its variants, you won’t have to worry about isolation movements like lateral raises or upright rows.

As an added benefit, shoulder presses also work your rotator cuff, which can often be the site of many problems due to regular bench pressing. So by adding shoulder presses to your routine, you’ll also be insuring that you’ll be able to continue building a big, strong chest for years to come. Nice.

Barbell Clean & Press – This is a “show” exercise! It definitely gets attention in the gym, and when you start racking up the weight, it looks pretty darn impressive. The “show” comes at a price, though. Relative to most exercises, this one’s definitely complicated, so in addition to reading and understanding this description, seek expert advice to demonstrate correct form on this exercise before attempting to do it yourself.

The clean and press can start with either the loaded barbell on the floor or from your straight arms while you’re standing. The rest of the instructions assume you’re starting from the standing position, with the barbell already in your hands. Grip should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart, palms down or facing behind you.

Lower the bar to just above knee level by bending the knees while keeping the lower back naturally arched. Rounding your back at this point is WRONG and DANGEROUS. Keep the back safe. Now, from this position, explosively straighten your body while moving the barbell up to slightly above shoulder height. Keep your elbows in line with your torso as you lift the bar up, then jerk the elbows down below the bar once the bar reaches slightly higher than your shoulders. You should now be in military press position.

Now that the weighted barbell is resting on your shoulders with your arms under it, you’re ready for the pressing movement. Just like a seated shoulder or military press, extend your arms over your head toward the ceiling.

From there, lower it back down to your shoulders in one motion. In a separate motion, lower it from your shoulders to just below your knees into starting position.

To continue reading the second part of this article on the best shoulder exercises to include in your shoulder workouts, click here: Best Shoulder Exercises.