What are the Most Impactful Shoulder Workouts?

Widely associated with athleticism, wide shoulders are highly desired by fitness enthusiasts at gyms near you and around the world, and their ability to make your frame look more appealing and proportional by giving your upper body a broadened look is one of the highlighting features of the same. In addition to being beneficial in terms of appearance, strong shoulders also tend to be really helpful with everyday tasks, such as playing sports, lifting heavy items, pulling heavy objects, etc.

So, how can you build shoulder strength? Here are some of the most impactful shoulder workouts that can help you with shoulder muscle growth next time you visit GymNation:

Military Press

Also known as overhead barbell press, the military press is widely considered as an extremely vital workout to build upper body strength, and therefore holds a permanent place in shoulder strengthening routines.

• Place a barbell at chest height on a squat rack. After choosing your weights, grab the barbell with your palms facing forward, also known as the pronated grip. Your grip on the barbell should be shoulder width apart.
• Bend your knees slightly and position the barbell on your collar bone. Slowly lift it up and let it lie on your chest. Your feet should be positioned shoulder width apart from one another.
• Lock your arms and lift the barbell above your head. Hold when it reaches shoulder level, and this will be your starting position.
• Inhale and slowly lower the barbell to reach your collarbone.
• Now, exhale and slowly lift it back to reach the starting position.
• Repeat as necessary.

Arnold Press

In order to prevent your regular workout routine from getting complacent due to the usual dumbbell presses you practice, a fresh and highly effective alternative would be Arnold press. By simply adding a twist (literally) to the regular overhead dumbbell presses, this workout helps with shoulder growth to a great extent.

• Sit on a bench with back support and hold two dumbbells, one in each hand, with your palms facing you, positioned near your upper chest, and your elbows bent.
• Slowly raise the dumbbells rotating your palms until they completely turn to face forward.
• Continue lifting until your arms are completely extended and become straight, and breathe out.
• Pause for a second, and start lowering the dumbbells, again rotating your palms, to reach the original position, with the palms facing your body.
• Repeat as necessary.

Side Laterals to Front Raise

• Stand straight and hold two dumbbells, one in each hand, at your side. This is your starting position.
• Raise the dumbbells by lifting both arms at the side of your body until they reach shoulder height. Make sure your elbows remain slightly bent when doing this.
• Once at top, swing the dumbbells in front of you while keeping your arms extended.
• Slowly bring the dumbbells down.
• Repeat the process in reverse, lifting the dumbbells in front of your body and then moving them to the side.
• Make sure everything is done in controlled motion.

GymNation facilities have 500+ pieces of equipment, perfect for all your shoulder workouts! Find the nearest GymNation location to you and join the best gyms in the UAE today!