Shoulder Strengthening Exercises - The Most Effective Ways to Increase Shoulder Strength!
Looking to incorporate some great shoulder strengthening exercises into your workout routine? Of course you are! I mean, what guy doesn't want a set of strong, well developed shoulders? Well, there's a few exercises that are great for shoulder development. Here they are...
Shoulder Strengthening Exercises
Overhead Press: The overhead press exercise can be performed with either dumbbells, a barbell or even a smith machine - although I recommend the dumbbell version. What makes the dumbbell version more effective than the others is the fact that there's an increased need for stabilization.
Now, in terms of pure shoulder strength, you'll be able to lift a heavier load while you're seated on an upright bench with some back support. That being said, I actually prefer performing the movement while standing since there's an increase need for core stability and thus, the movement is actually more functional.
If you insist on performing the barbell version, just avoid lowering the bar behind your head. I know that you see a lot of people performing it that way but doing so actually puts your shoulder joint in a vulnerable position and the last thing you want is to sustain an injury - especially an injury that's so preventable.
Chest Presses & Rows: There's really no need to perform isolation exercises for the front and rear deltoids for a couple reasons. The first being the fact that isolation exercises aren't the best choices for overall strengthening since compound (multi-joint) movements are a better option and the second reason is because they're recruited and strengthened indirectly with chest and back exercises.
With any chest press motion, you're recruiting and strengthening the front of the shoulders (anterior deltoid) and with any rowing motion for the upper back, you're recruiting and strengthening the back of the shoulders (posterior deltoid).
Isolation Exercises: There's plenty of isolation exercises that can be done for the shoulders such as front, lateral and bent over dumbbell raises but if your goal is to develop overall strength, then you're best bet - in order to optimize your time and efforts - is to focus on the compound (multi-joint) exercises profiled above.
Source
