Shoulder Exercises for Shoulder Muscles

Do you want to know what exercises can you do for great shoulder muscles and what muscles do you have in your shoulders? Check out this great information.

It is also valuable to know how the shoulder muscles work to perform the shoulder exercises correctly and to have nice shoulders. 🙂

What shoulder muscles do you have?

So what muscles does your shoulder consist of? 

The main and largest shoulder muscle is the deltoid. It is shown in the picture below. 

It consists of three parts: anterior deltoid, medial deltoid, posterior deltoid.

The anterior deltoid covers the shoulder on the front side. The medial deltoid covers the joint on the side. The posterior deltoid covers the shoulder joint on the backside.

Each of these parts is responsible for a different movement in the shoulder. 

The anterior deltoid flexes the arm forward and turns inward (internal rotation). The medial deltoid moves the arm horizontally (horizontal adduction and abduction). On the other hand, the posterior deltoid moves the arm to the back and turns outward (external rotation). 

There are also other muscles that work together to make similar movements, but the deltoid is the main. 

What are great shoulder exercises?

Some interesting shoulder exercises are presented below. 

You can do the shoulder exercises with weights or with bodyweight, however, with the weight they are more intense. If you are a beginner you can start exercising without weight and later add weight when your body adjusts through the time to the training. If you prefer to exercise with weight but you do not have any then you can train with water bottles.

Shoulder exercise 1

The first exercise works mainly for shoulder muscles and partly for chest and arms muscles.

Stand straight, feet hip-width apart. Hold weights in our hands. Raise the weights to the front and to the side. 

Remember to contract your abdominal muscles to stabilize your spine, so your back won’t lean. 

Shoulder exercise 2

This exercise work mainly for the posterior deltoid, the latissimus dorsi (back muscle), the triceps – long head (arm muscle).

Stand straight, feet hip-width apart. You can hold weights in your hands. Lift the weights on the back. 

Another version of shoulder exercise 2

Similar exercise as above with only one hand exercising at the time is shown below. 

Put one foot before you and bend your knee and place another leg behind you and straighten its knee. You can rest one hand on your thigh.

Exercise one arm, and then change arm and exercise another one.

It is good to do a warm-up at the beginning of the training and stretching at the end.

I hope you enjoyed the shoulder exercise and the information about the shoulder muscles. Check other great exercises and get a free e-book below.

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Source: “Functional anatomy in the field of physical education and physiotherapy studies” – Bogusław Marecki