How To Get Bigger Shoulders - Tips and Shoulder Workout for Mass

One of the most important things for a great V-taper is big shoulders and the main mistake that lifters make is doing the same workout over and over and many of them are neglecting one or two shoulders heads.

You need to focus on all three heads, front, medial and rear shoulders because if one head of the muscle is lagging you won't build proportional good-looking shoulders.

The best way to force your shoulders to grow is to mix your workouts from time to time. Don't let your muscles to adapt to the same exercises and weights over and over. Make some changes from time to time, shock your muscles. 

How to get bigger shoulders:

1. A lot of heavy shoulder presses using a barbell or dumbbells (80 - 85% of 1 RM) in the first place. Don't forget to lift with a good form.

2. Do more side laterals - it is a great exercise for building up your shoulder muscles. 

3. Perform upright rows with a wide grip which allows you to work the muscles on the outer edges of your shoulders which will help you build wider shoulders.

4. Hit rear shoulders with bent-over lateral raises which is very similar to side lateral raises, but you perform them while bent over.

5. Perform more wide-grip pull ups on your back day which will also work your shoulders along with biceps and back muscles. 

6. Focus on the medium number of reps (8-12) instead of a higher reps number.

One very common mistake that lifters make when training their shoulders is that they are using too much weight and perform the exercise with very poor form. Try to improve your form, use a full range of motion. 



When performing lateral raises don't just swing dumbells at your side, slower the eccentric phase and try to focus on hitting your muscle with lighter weights. Leave your ego at home, you are in the gym to build muscle, not ego.



 Check out this great tutorial:

Mass-Building Shoulder Workout:

1. Standing Military Press - 3 sets x 6-8 reps

2. Side Lateral Raise - 3 sets of 10-12 reps

3. Upright Barbell Row - 3 sets of 8-10 reps

4. Bent Over Lateral Raise - 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Mass-Building Shoulder Workout - Exercises for Bigger Shoulders

When it comes to building muscular and good-looking physique then one of the most important things is to build big and broad shoulders. Main elements of V-taper are boulder shoulders, wide lats, and a small waist. That means that you can build a well-balanced figure without developing your shoulders.

Workout for Muscle Growth - Build Muscle Mass Fast

How to build a big set of shoulders? Choose the right workout and also consume enough healthy calories to make them grow. Also, try to avoid the mistake that many lifters make and don't only focus on the middle head of deltoid. The shoulder is three-headed muscle and it consists of anterior, middle, and rear heads of the muscle. Every head is important, don't neglect any of them.

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FORCE YOUR SHOULDERS TO GROW:

It is very important to follow the progressive overload, so don't just lift the same weight on every shoulders day, you need to force your shoulder muscles to grow so add more weight, or add more reps. But don't go over 12 reps, that won't help you in building muscle mass. Stay between 8 - 12 reps, which is the best rep range for muscle hypertrophy.

Another way to force your shoulders to grow is to mix your workouts every time. Don't let your muscles to adapt to the same exercises and weights over and over. Make some changes from time to time, shock your muscles. Make your shoulders don't know what is coming.

Best Exercises to Build Muscle Mass Fast

BEST EXERCISES TO BUILD BIGGER SHOULDERS:

1. Barbell Military Press

Seated Military Press

You can perform barbell military presses by standing or seating on a bench. This is the best exercise for building big shoulders. It targets all three heads of shoulders.

How to perform it: Grab a barbell and push it upwards then slowly bring the barbell down while inhaling. Keep your back straight through the process.

2. Side Lateral Raise

Standing Side Lateral Raise

One of the best exercises for widening your shoulders. Try not to use momentum and swing the weights, focus on a good form while performing lateral raises.

How to perform it: Hold dumbbells in each hand at the side of your body and lift them up while slightly arching your back. Return dumbbells to the starting position and that is the first rep. 

3. Arnold Dumbbell Press

The king of the bodybuilding Arnold Schwarzenegger himself invented and popularized this exercise. You can guess how good is it by looking at his shoulders

How to perform it: Similar to classic dumbbell press but with one difference. You are starting the exercise with dumbbells in each hand and your palms facing your head and then lift dumbbells up while rotating palms of your hands until they are facing forward. Repeat the process for as many reps you want.

4. EZ Barbell Upright Row

One of the exercises that work more than one muscle joint. Great for targeting the middle delts. Upright rows are mostly performed with EZ barbell, but you can perform them with straight barbell or dumbbells too. 

How to perform it: Hold a barbell with an overhand grip that is slightly less than shoulder width and hold your back straight. Exhale and use the sides of your shoulders to lift the bar up, raising your elbows up and to the side. Pause for a second and return the barbell to a starting position. 

5. Rear Lateral Raises

Let's not forget about rear shoulders which are very important for a well-developed physique. Rear Lateral Raises are probably the best exercise for rear shoulders development. 

How to perform it: Similar to side lateral raises but this time starting in a bent over position.

Try not to neglect any of the three shoulder heads, especially the rear shoulders which are very important for muscle balance. Neglecting rear delts can get you muscles imbalance and shoulders instability. 

Best Exercises for Big Shoulders

Building a big, round shoulders won't be an easy task, and you have to focus on all three heads of shoulder muscle. Anterior deltoid is engaged in almost all chest exercises and it is front head of shoulder muscle that is mostly overtrained. Lifters often don't pay attention to their medial and posterior deltoid, that is very bad for muscles balance and proportion. Training only with exercises that build a front head of shoulder will lead to bad body posture and shoulder injuries. 

Medial deltoid is very important for building shoulder width and Posterior deltoid is important for body posture and building it is greatly improving your body look from the back. That means, to look bigger and broader you have to train every side of shoulder muscle equally.  

To build big shoulders you have to use compound and heavy exercises with some additional isolation exercises. So train with heavy weights (about 80% of 1RM) and with rep range from 8 - 12 which is best for muscle gains.

Which exercises to choose for building big shoulders?

• Standing Military Press (Shoulder Barbell Press)
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press (Standing or Seated)
• Arnold Press (Variation of Dumbbell Press)
• Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise 
• Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise
• Face Pull (Great for improving posture)

ABOUT THESE EXERCISES

Standing Military Press:

The Standing Military Press is a great workout which targets all the muscle groups in your shoulder. Arching your back too much while performing this workout will hurt your back, so pick a weight that is not too heavy. 

How to perform Military Press: Grab a barbell and push it upwards then slowly bring the barbell down while inhaling. Keep your back straight through this process. 

Seated or standing dumbbell press and Arnold press can be considered as variations of this exercise.

Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise:

This exercise target you medial shoulders. Try not to swing the weights while performing it.

How to perform it: Hold dumbbells at the side of your body and lift the dumbbells up while slightly arching your back, then slowly return dumbbells to the starting position.

Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise is performing similarly like Side Lateral Raise. 

Face Pull is an exercise that is performing on a machine by attaching the rope to a pulley station and set it at chest level and then pull the rope towards your face. Keep your arms parallel to the ground (when you pull the rope, stand in a biceps showing posture and then slowly return the rope). 

Those exercises are sufficient for your shoulders workout day and they are great for building muscle mass and bigger shoulders. 

Try it, check out the results and leave a comment.