Shoulder Workouts: What Every Guy Ought to Know

Every man knows how attractive and feminine an hourglass shape looks on a woman’s figure. But on a guy, the body shape that women love the most is a V-shaped torso, with broad shoulders tapering down to a thin waist.

Now, the internet is overflowing with information on how to slim down your midsection and get six pack abs (the bottom of the “V”), but not as many people are focusing their energy on building strong, masculine shoulders (the top of the “V”).

So let’s separate the wheat from the chaff and let you in on the best shoulder workouts.

Shoulder Exercises to Avoid

A quick note on what DIDN’T make the list. Specifically, lateral raises. Here at LMVM, we’re all about efficiency, and these exercises are anything but. Any movement that only focuses on one muscle group is best left to bodybuilders. For those of us that can’t spend hours a day at the gym, compound exercises are the way to go.

The King of All Shoulder Workouts: The Overhead Press

The best shoulder exercise you’ll find and, quite honestly, the only one you need is the overhead or shoulder press. This basic lift can be easily performed with a barbell and a rack, and can be expanded upon as you get more experienced with it. Remember to start with light weights until your form is perfected in order to avoid hurting yourself.

The overhead press is done as follows:

1. Take an overhand grip on the barbell, hands slightly wider than shoulder width, standing with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Start with the barbell in front at your shoulders.
3. Push the barbell directly overhead in one controlled movement.
4. Lower the barbell back to the starting position.

Prevent Boredom, Add Some Variety

Once you have perfected your form on the overhead press, you might want to add these variations in from time to time in order to also build your power, speed, coordination, agility, and balance:

• The Push Press: Similar to the overhead press, but begin the movement with a slight squat. Then extend your legs before extending your arms in one smooth movement.
• The Push Jerk: Similar to the push press, but when you are driving the bar upwards, do another partial squat and catch the bar overhead. Then extend your legs to finish the upward movement.

Check out this video for a great tutorial on how to do these exercises:

The Best of the Rest

The overhead press and its variants may be the best way to build muscle on your shoulders, but there are several other exercises that will help as well. As a general rule, any movement that involves extending your upper arm away from your body will utilize your shoulder strength.

The most well-known of these are the bench press and the push up. Although primarily targeting the chest and triceps, your shoulders will still be working to push either the barbell or the floor away from you.

Kettlebells are becoming the trendy exercise equipment of the moment, but not without good reason. The Turkish get up is a great upper-body exercise that really works your shoulders. Kettlebells can be great to have at home due to their small size.

If you’ve got a lot of room to work with and are looking for a bit of fun, you can also try medicine ball tosses, a similar movement to the push press, but launching off the medicine ball at full extension. (Just watch out for low-flying airplanes!)

If you are a true rock star, you can do some handstand pushups to hit your shoulders as well. These are great for when you don’t have any equipment, but you may need to start with them by balancing against a wall.

Build the Top of Your V-Shaped Torso

Since most people don’t categorize their shoulders along with the other “glamour muscles” of chest, abs, and biceps, these muscles tend to not get as much attention. But if you focus on doing these shoulder workouts, you will be well on your way to building a strong, functional, and attractive upper body.

Let everyone know if you know any other functional movements that work your shoulders!

Tagged as: bench presses, confusion, kettlebells, medicine ball, overhead presses, pareto principle, push ups, turkish get up, weightlifting