Best Shoulder Exercises: Your Guide to Boulder Shoulders

Why it’s great: The military press is a shoulder workout staple, providing activation in your traps, delts, and triceps. Plus, using one of the best Olympic barbells makes it easier to progress to heavier weights and optimize the muscle-building potential.

How to do it:

1. Unrack a loaded barbell in the front rack position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your elbows pointed forward. 
2. Press the bar overhead until your arms are locked out.
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: The dumbbell overhead press is the same basic movement pattern as the barbell version, but you’ll get a greater range of motion and use more stabilizing muscles. You’ll also activate muscles in your lower back, glutes, and core.

How to do it:

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height using an overhand grip.
2. Press them overhead until your arms are locked out.
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: The standing dumbbell overhead press is a great compound lift, but taking a seat really isolates the shoulder muscles to supercharge your results. Plus, the backpad of the weight bench provides spinal support, reducing your risk of injury.

How to do it:

1. Sit down at the end of a bench or in a sturdy chair.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height using an overhand grip.
3. Press them overhead until your arms are locked out.
4. Slowly return to the starting position.
5. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: If anyone knows how to get boulder shoulders, it’s the famous former bodybuilder Arnie himself. His trademark exercise, the Arnold press, puts a literal spin on your classic dumbbell overhead press to increase the activation in your front delts and upper arms.

How to do it:

1. Stand while holding a dumbbell in each hand. The weights should be curled to the shoulders with your palms facing your body.
2. Press the weights overhead while rotating the dumbbells. You want to finish with the dumbbells overhead, arms fully locked out, and your palms now facing away. 
3. Slowly return to the starting position, rotating as you bring the weights down.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: Shoulder presses provide activation in the shoulders and some other adjacent muscle groups, but raises are more of an isolation exercise, making them more specialized. Lateral raises mostly target the lateral deltoids, but you get some activity in the front delts and upper traps too.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your arms at your sides, elbows slightly bent, and a dumbbell in each hand. 
2. Raise your arms outwards until they are at shoulder height. 
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: Front raises focus the anterior delts, which are notoriously hard to hit save a few other chest and other shoulder exercises. They also hit the pecs, helping you also get gains in the chest during your shoulder workout.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your arms in front of your body, elbows slightly bent, and a dumbbell in each hand. You want your palms facing the body.
2. Raise your arms upwards until they are at shoulder height. 
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: Reverse flyes not only target the often-overlooked rear delts, but the rhomboids and upper back as well, making them an excellent addition to any all-encompassing upper body workout routine.

How to do it:

1. Bring your hips back, keeping the lower back and core braced and tight, and lower your chest towards the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with a slight bend in the elbow. Let your arms fully extend towards the floor. 
2. Pull the dumbbells outward to the side, pinching the shoulder blades at the end.
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: The Z press is funny in that it looks like you fell on your butt but decided you’d just press a barbell overhead while you’re down there. However, this positioning helps enhance strength, stability, posture, as well as reinforcing proper scapula movement.

How to do it:

1. Sit on the floor with your legs straight and torso tall. Have a workout partner hand you a loaded barbell or set the J-hooks of a rack to the appropriate height in advance so you may unrack from this height.
2. Brace your core and press the barbell overhead until the arms are fully locked out.
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: The cable face pull targets the rear deltoids and upper back muscles, improving posture and reducing the risk of shoulder injuries. It also helps to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles, which are important for maintaining shoulder stability.

How to do it:

1. Set the cable machine at shoulder height with a rope attachment.
2. Grip the rope with an overhand grip with your thumbs up and step back until your arms are fully extended. Engage your core and glutes with your shoulders down and chest up. 
3. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull the rope toward your face. 
4. Pause for a second, then slowly return to the starting position.
5. Repeat as needed.

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Why it’s great: The Y Raise is a great exercise because it targets the upper traps and rotator cuff muscles, which are important for maintaining shoulder stability and preventing injuries. It also helps to improve posture by strengthening the muscles of the upper back.

How to do it:

1. Set an incline bench to a 30- to 45-degree incline and lie on your stomach, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your arms straight with only a slight bend in the elbow.
2. Retract your scapulae by pinching your shoulder blades together, then lift your arms up and out at about a 45-degree angle, forming a “Y” shape.
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

Why it’s great: The high pull is an explosive movement that hits various shoulder muscles, namely the rear delts, traps, and upper back muscles. It’s also versatile and can be performed with a dumbbell, kettlebell, single arm, or both.

How to do it:

1. Hold a weight in front of your body.
2. Dip down by pushing your hips back and bending your knees slightly.
3. Pop up using your hips, knees, and ankles while simultaneously pulling the weight up to chest height. Squeeze your shoulder blades and trapezius at the peak position.
4. Control the weight’s descent to return to the starting position.
5. Repeat as needed.

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Why it’s great: The internal/external rotation with dumbbells target those ever-important rotator cuff muscles, helping build shoulder stability and mobility. 

How to do it:

1. Stand with a dumbbell in one hand held in front of your body. Your elbow should be bent at a 90-degree angle.
2. Slowly rotate your arm, bringing the dumbbell out to the side of the body.
3. Slowly return to the starting position.
4. Repeat as needed.

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