5 Best Shoulders Exercises for Massive Delts

Shoulders are one of the most neglected body parts in exercises because unlike chest or abs muscles these are not considered glamorous. People believe that they do not contribute much to your outlook as a bodybuilder. I find quite the opposite to be true. Nothing adds to your size like well built shoulders.


 They add to your definitive shape and give you the personality you've been looking for. Many beginners find shoulder training the most difficult exercise of their routine because they do not follow the proper routine and make textbook mistakes.

So before we look at the best way to train delts, lets take a quick look at their anatomy. The shoulder is comprised of three main muscles:

1. Anterior Deltoid (in blue)
2. Medial Deltoid (in green)
3. Posteroir Deltoid (in red)

Goes without saying, you shoulder training should be evenly balanced as to work on all three muscle groups. Otherwise the uneven growth would be too obvious.

Things to remember:

Firstly, your focus while training shoulders should be on compound training exercises. Isolated exercises don't produce results as good as compound exercises do. Secondly, when exercising to gain mass always go for low reps and high weights. When doing the following exercises, you should use any kind of weight that gets you exhausted in 6-8 reps, nothing more.

Side Lateral Dumbbell Raise:

Stand ,while grasping dumbbells in front of thighs, as a starting position. Your arms should be bent a little (10 - 20 degrees). Raise your arms to sides slowly until they are parallel to your shoulders. Lower and repeat.

Take note that your arm should not be bent to the extend that your hands goes above your elbows in standing position. In this case, front deltoids become the exercised muscles instead of lateral deltoids.

Seated Barbell Military Press:

Sit on a bench with a barbell behind your head. Your palms should be facing forward 

 If you are new to this exercise, it is recommended to have a spotter with you. Grip the barbell such that your forearms make an angle of 90 degrees with your upper arm. 

Now lift the bar over your head. Exhale as your bring the bar down to your chest. Repeat.

Arnold Dumbbell Press:

Grasp dumbbells and bring them up to your chest level (grip facing toward your chest). Now slowly raise your arms over your head, all the while slowly rotating your forearms such that when your arms are fully extended, your grip should be facing forward. After a pause start lowering the dumbbells, slowly rotate your arms so that at the starting position, they are facing you again.

Rear Dumbbell Raise:

Bend over until your back is horizontal and grasp dumbbells on both sides as starting position. Raise arms until they are at shoulder height. After a slight pause, slowly return them to the starting position. Throughout the exercise your arms should have a small curve,( 10-20 degrees).

Lateral Raise:

Stand up straight and grasp dumbbels with your a small bend in your arms. Raise arms to side, slightly to front until shoulder height or slightly higher. Lower and repeat. Continue with opposite arm.

Training shoulders isn't a walk in the park, but following these exercises it can be achieved with consistency. Try them out and let us know in the comment section below!