15 Best Shoulder Exercises To Grow 3D-Shoulders

Table of Contents

Best Shoulder Exercises To Grow Capped Shoulders

Do you want to grow your shoulders bigger? Are you looking for the best shoulder exercises which will help you to develop 3D-shoulders? Then you have come to the right blog, here you will get “15 BEST SHOULDER EXERCISES TO GROW 3D-SHOULDERS”. So, firstly let’s understand the anatomy of the shoulders.

[NOTE:- There is no such thing called “BEST SHOULDER EXERCISE” because what is best for one may not be best for another due to various reasons like injury history, flexibility, experience, etc. The only thing is that these exercises are shown in studies and EMG activities to activate the shoulder muscles comparatively better, provided if you are doing the exercise with proper form.

So keep in mind, the exercises which are not counted here do not make them bad. The only thing is that they are a bit less effective. But at the end of the day, it is your way of performing an exercise which decides its effectiveness.]

Shoulder Anatomy (Parts of Shoulder Muscle)

The shoulder muscle is basically divided into 3 main parts which are known as the ‘Deltoids/Delts’ of the shoulders. These 3 deltoids are:

Front Deltoid/Delt
Middle Deltoid/Delt
Rear Deltoid/Delt

Best Shoulder Exercises For Different Parts

A) Best Shoulder Exercises For Front Delt

(1) Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press

This exercise is one of the best shoulder exercises which will help you amazingly to grow your front delts. All you have to do is:

STEP-1:- Lift the dumbbells and sit on a bench with your back supported, chest wide and open and spine neutral.

STEP-2:- Keep the dumbbells near your chest and place them a bit wider than shoulder-width distance such that your elbows are bent and keep your legs fixed on the ground.

STEP-3:- Now push the dumbbells overhead and once your hands get straight, bring them down slowly.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) The seated set-up reduces the body’s momentum.

(2) Easy to progressively overload.

(3) Beginner Friendly.

(4) Not much mobility is required.

(5) Minimal risk of injury.

(2) Z-Press

Z-press is another incredible front delt shoulder exercise which you can perform. Following are the steps you need to follow:

STEP-1:- Sit on the ground with your legs in front of you while maintaining a slight arched/neutral spine. You can keep your legs straight, wide-apart or slight bend, whatever feels comfortable to you.

STEP-2:- Grab the barbell from the barbell stand with your hands a bit wider than shoulder-width distance.

STEP-3:- Now push the weights overhead and bring them down once your hands get straight.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Seated position reduces the body’s momentum.

(2) Barbell stand makes it a safer exercise.

(3) Easy to progressively overload.

(4) Great for increasing overhead pushing strength.

(3) Barbell Overhead Press/Military Press

This is one of the shoulder exercises which will really help you to increase your overall shoulder strength and muscle mass. All you have to do is:

STEP-1:- Grab a barbell and stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart. Keep the barbell near your chest with elbows bent and hands placed a bit wider than shoulder-width distance.

STEP-2:- Keep your glutes squeezed, spine neutral and push the weights up with as little momentum as possible. And bring down the weights slowly once your hands reach fully overhead.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Provides massive eccentric overload.

(3) Increases overall shoulder strength.

(4) Front Dumbbell Raises

This is one of the great shoulder exercises which beginners can use to target their front delts as it does not need that much coordination to perform. Here’s what you need to do:

STEP-1:- Grab the dumbbells and stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart. Keep your arms just beside your body and hands in a neutral position.

STEP-2:- Raise one of your arms straight and in front of your body while keeping a slight bend in your elbow. And slowly bring it down once your arm reaches parallel to the ground level.

STEP-3:- Now lift the other dumbbell also in the same way and keep doing the reps in the same alternating way.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Beginner Friendly.

(3) Minimal risk of injury.

(4) Restricted mobility is not an issue.

(5) Handstand Push-ups Against The Wall

This is a great bodyweight exercise for those who don’t have equipment to train. All you have to do is:

STEP-1:- Get in a handstand position while your chest is facing the wall and toes touching the wall.

STEP-2:- Now lower your body down while shifting your body a bit forward gradually.

STEP-3:- Push back once you reach down to the lowest position possible.

OTHER BODYWEIGHT OPTIONS FOR SHOULDERS:- Different Types of Push-ups for Different Muscles

[NOTE- You can opt for different progressions to alter difficulty like pike push-ups if you are a beginner or deep handstand push-ups if you are an extremely advanced athlete.]

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) You do not need any equipment.

(2) Provides great overload.

(3) Wall provides support which removes the balance factor involved in handstand.

B) Best Shoulder Exercises For Middle Delt

(1) Dumbbell/Cable Lean Away Lateral Raises

This is undoubtedly the best exercise for the middle delt you will ever come across. This exercise will put your middle deltoids on fire after you perform it. Here are the steps you need to follow:

STEP-1:- Grab a rod or anything with which you can take support. Now lean your body a bit towards the ground.

STEP-2:- Grab the D-handle of the cable machine or a dumbbell and raise it with slightly bent elbows and neutral wrist position so that the dumbbell comes to the shoulder level height and slowly bring it down.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Puts immense emphasis on the middle delt.

(2) Reduces the body’s momentum.

(3) Minimal risk of injury.

(4) Easy to progressively overload.

(5) Limited mobility is not a limitation.

(6) Greater Range Of Motion (ROM).

(2) Dumbbell Cheat Lateral Raises

It is a great exercise to provide eccentric overload on your shoulders. Here’s what you need to do:

STEP-1:- Grab a heavy dumbbell (Heavier than what you normally lift for side lateral raises) and stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart and bend your body a bit forward.

STEP-2:- Now lift the dumbbell sideways to your body with a slight bend in your elbows and neutral wrist so that the dumbbell gets shoulder level high and slowly bring it down.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Provides massive eccentric overload.

(3) Seated Lateral Raises

This is also a great variation of side lateral raises which you can do to grow your middle deltoids. Following are its steps:

STEP-1:- Grab the dumbbells and sit on a bench with your body bend a bit forward.

STEP-2:- Now raise both the dumbbells sideways to your body with your elbows slightly bent and arms in a neutral position and slowly bring them down once the weights reach shoulder level height.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Minimal body’s momentum.

(3) Minimal risk of injury.

(4) Beginner Friendly.

(5) Mobility is not required to perform this.

(4) Cable Lateral Raises

This shoulder exercise provides literally a full ROM (Range Of Motion) to your shoulders. Here’s how to do this exercise:

STEP-1:- Stand 1-2 feet away and beside a cable machine and grab the D-handle of the machine and keep your hand in front of your body.

STEP-2:- Bend your body forward a bit and stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart.

STEP-3:- Now pull the weights sideways and upwards and slowly release the weights once your hand reaches shoulder level height.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Reduces the body’s momentum.

(3) Minimal risk of injury.

(4) Provides greater Range Of Motion (ROM).

(5) Restricted mobility is not a limitation.

(5) Chest Supported Lateral Raises

This variation of side lateral raises is immensely helpful to overload your middle deltoids. All you have to do is:

STEP-1:- Grab the dumbbells and lay your chest on an inclined bench.

STEP-2:- Pull the weights upwards and sideways to your body and slowly bring them down once they reach shoulder level high.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Minimal body’s momentum.

(2) Reduced risk of injury.

(3) Easy to progressively overload.

(4) The emphasis is strictly focused on the middle delts.

(5) Mobility is not a pre-requisite.

C) Best Shoulder Exercises For Rear Delt

(1) Hip Huggers

It is an excellent exercise which anyone can perform very easily to grow the rear delts. Following are the steps you need to follow:

STEP-1:- Grab the dumbbells and stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart.

STEP-2:- Keep the dumbbell sideways to your body and pull the weights up to your navel or a bit above it such that your elbows extend behind the body keeping the dumbbells close to the body.

STEP-3:- Once the weights reach the navel or a bit above that, slowly release back down.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Easy to perform.

(3) Minimal risk of injury.

(4) Reduced body’s momentum.

(2) Reverse Pec Deck Fly

This is the easiest yet one of the most effective shoulder exercises which you can do for your rear delts. All you have to do is:

STEP-1:- Sit on a pec deck fly machine with a neutral spine, depresses shoulders and your chest supported on the incline set up.

STEP-2:- Grab both the handles of the machine and pull them backwards with a slight bend in the elbows.

STEP-3:- Slowly release the weights once you get full contraction.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Beginners can also perform it easily.

(3) Limited mobility is not problematic.

(4) No body momentum.

(5) Minimal risk of injury.

(3) Seated Dumbbell Reverse Fly

This exercise is extremely effective to grow the rear deltoids and it mimics the movement pattern of reverse pec deck fly, so people who do not have access to machines but to dumbbells can easily perform this. Here’s what you need to do:

STEP-1:- Grab 2 dumbbells, sit on a bench and bend your body forward parallel to the ground.

STEP-2:- Now keep your arms in front of your body and pull the weights upwards and sideways to your body so that both your arms come parallel to the ground. Keep a pronated grip and slightly bend elbows.

STEP-3:- Slowly release the weights once your hands reach parallel to the ground.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Seated variation reduces the body’s momentum.

(2) Minimal risk of injury.

(3) Easy to progressively overload.

(4) Wide-Grip Seated Cable Rows

STEP-1:- Sit on a cable row machine with a D-handle attachment ideally. If not, you can use a straight-bar and go for a wider grip than usual.

STEP-2:- Grab the handle with both your hands and pull towards yourself so that your elbows are extended behind your body, while keeping the elbows flared out (Roughly at 60°).

STEP-3:- Release the weights slowly after having full contraction.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) Also hits the back muscle.

(3) Limited mobility is not an issue.

(5) Face Pulls

STEP-1:- Set the cable machine at your head level height or a bit higher than that and attach a rope in it.

STEP-2:- Grab the two ends of the rope so that your arms are in front of your body and take a step away from the machine and stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart.

STEP-3:- Now pull the rope towards yourself so that your hands and elbows are perpendicular to each other. And your hands reach earlier than your elbows and slowly release the weights.

Why is it one of the best shoulder exercises?

(1) Easy to progressively overload.

(2) May improve posture.

(3) Also increases the back thickness.

(4) Limited mobility is not an issue.

Takeaway

Incorporating these above mentioned “BEST 15 SHOULDER EXERCISES” will help you to gain hypertrophy and strength in your shoulders. These shoulder exercises are high stimulus, specific targeting and easily overloading. You should definitely try these!