There is nothing that can really make a build take off like a good pair of shoulders. Many people aspire to posses the v-taper, which cannot be accomplished first and foremost without a strong, wide set of delts. Some people are gifted with shoulders like this, while others have to work hard to get them.
Shoulder training should always be intense, but safe. Making sure you are performing exercises that isolate the muscles without compromising the joints and ligaments are important. Many times people focus on lifting “heavy” as opposed to focusing on simply isolating the delts, which leads to safe and faster growth. The following movements are maybe the 5 best exercises to perform for big delts:
- Seated or Standing Military Press
Barbell and dumbbell pressing is the most effective way to build your shoulders because although it focuses on the anterior head of the deltoid, it also involves the other two, and it allows you to push heavy weight without risking injury.
- Arnold Press
This form of a dumbbell press is a variation of other forms that really tap into the range of motion aspect. The Arnold Press also provides a isometric, or static training effect by putting and keeping one the delt heads under constant tension.
- Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise
The dumbbell side lateral raise is the most effective exercise for building the lateral deltoid, which needs targeted work to keep up with the anterior head. You cannot focus on pressing alone, because that can take away from rounding out and sculpting the delt into perfection.
- Dumbbell Front Raise
With the same significance as the side raises, the front raises focus on the anterior, or front head of the shoulder.
- Bent Over Reverse Dumbbell Raises
This movement once again isolates the rear delt head but also put indirect tension on the lateral heads as well. The benefit to this movement in comparison to the barbell delt row is it is a unilateral movement, which means each arms works alone, which will contribute to more muscular balance.
