Shoulder exercises are an essential part of any exercise routine because they help to support your neck and arm muscles. Without strong shoulders, you’ll find it harder to get results from the rest of your upper body workouts, and you may also experience issues with your neck as well. A lot of people have trouble building muscle and strengthening their shoulders, but there are specific exercises that you can do to help. These are some of the best exercises for strengthening your shoulder muscles.
Arm Circles With Weights
Arm circles are one of the simplest ways to strengthen shoulder muscles, and you can increase the resistance and get better results if you add some weights. You can use some kettlebells or even just a couple of water bottles if you like. If you get a multi-weight kettlebell, you can quickly increase the weight as your shoulder muscles get stronger, without having to buy multiple sets. It’s a simple exercise to do, and you can do it at home easily. All you need to do is stand with your feet hip-width apart and let your arm hang by your side with the weights. Then slowly raise them, doing small circles as you go, until they are parallel. Then hold them in position before dropping them back down and repeating. Do a total of 3 sets per side and alternate between forward and backward circles.
Barbell Shrug
The barbell shrug is one of the most effective ways to strengthen shoulder muscles. It involves taking a barbell, lifting with your legs, and then bringing your shoulders upwards in a shrugging motion. It’s vital that you do it safely, so make sure to read this overhead barbell shrug guide before you attempt it so that you can avoid injury. If you want to build muscle, you should aim for around 15 reps per set, but if you’re going to tone up, you need to increase the reps to about 25 if you can.
Internal And External Rotations
Internal and external rotations are another simple exercise that you can do at home, you’ll need a good resistance band. Resistance bands are a great thing to have anyway because there are so many simple exercises that you can do with them. For the shoulder strengthening exercise, you need to attach the band to a door handle and stand side on to it, with your arm at a 90-degree angle to the door. Then you simply rotate your arm toward your body, against the resistance of the band, and then back again. Do ten to twelve reps on each arm for three sets.
Stabilizers
The stabilizer is such a simple exercise, but the results are excellent. You can do it with weight, but it’s equally as effective if you do it with a water bottle. All you need to do is take whatever weight you’re using in one hand and then stretch your arm out in front of you. Then see how long you can hold it steady for.
These are all simple exercises that you can add to your routine to strengthen your shoulders. If you improve your shoulder strength, you should see better results from all of your upper body workouts.
