Shoulder Workout

It is well known that the ball and socket joint of the shoulder allows for the biggest range of motion of all the joints in the body. For this reason, you can try a large number of great shoulder workouts to build shoulder size and strength. The main muscles involved are the deltoids (which form the rounded part of the shoulder) and the trapezius muscles (between the neck and shoulder, and running down the back).
While some trainers say that you don’t need to work on your shoulders directly, many people get a lot of benefit from shoulder workouts, and can see a lot of development particularly in their deltoid muscles very quickly.
So, what shoulder workouts are good to start with?
The Arnold dumbbell press – sit and hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of you at shoulder level, elbows bent and with your palms towards you. Raise the dumbbells above your head, twisting them as you lift so that your palms face outward at the straight arm position. Lower the dumbbells again to the original position. Repeat.
The front raise – you stand with a dumbbell in each hand, with your palms toward you. Lift one hand straight forward in an arc until it is above shoulder height. Lower the dumbbell, and at the same time raise the other hand (both hands are moving at once). The key point here is smooth movement with no swinging of the arms.
The lateral raise, or shoulder fly – you stand with dumbbells in each hand, arms at your sides. Palms are inwards. Raise the dumbbells upwards and outwards to head height, hold, then lower your arms back to the original position. Again, avoid swinging your arms. The bent-over raise, or inverted fly is a seated variation in which you sit facing downwards (torso bent) and raise the dumbbells so that your arms are parallel to the ground, then move them down again.
The shoulder shrug – you stand with barbells in each hand. With your arms straight and at your sides, raise the shoulders as high as you can go, then lower them again. This exercises the trapezius muscle.
The upright row – this can be done with dumbbells or a barbell, and also develops the trapezius. (Don’t do this if you have shoulder problems or pain.) Hold a barbell overhand with a shoulder-wide grip or narrower. Pull the bar up to the neck, leading with your elbows, then lower again. Repeat. For the dumbbell version, hold the dumbbells with your hands facing inwards, then pull the dumbbells up simultaneously to shoulder height. Repeat. At the gym, you can also use a cable machine.