Have you ever wanted to see your shirts tightly fit to your body’s muscle contours? Having broader shoulders can give you a better body frame, one that looks more proportional by widening the appearance of your upper body. Wider shoulders are associated with athleticism as they create an inverted triangle shape to the upper body, one that is wider at the top and narrower at the waist.
Although it is debatable what muscles should be included in the shoulder exercise category, for our aesthetic purposes we will focus on the muscles that comprise the bulk of the shoulder region, particularly the deltoid muscles and the trapezius muscle.
Activating these two muscles will give your shoulder a more defined shape and tone, one that would give the appearance of a broader shoulder. Combining this muscle development with a better posture that lets you stand up straight, opens your chest wider, and draws your shoulders back down, can really help you improve your posture. This physical posturing also signals well internally with your brain, leading you to feel more confident, and elevating your mood.
Sadly, while we cannot alter our genes to have a more defined bone structure, we can still increase the muscle mass of our shoulder muscles to create a wider and more aesthetically pleasing look.
1. Lateral Raise
This exercise primarily isolates your lateral or middle deltoid muscle. Although this exercise seems simple enough, it is hard to accomplish a full set of, even with a very light weight.
How to do it:
Step 1: Stand or sit with a dumbbell in each hand on the sides, in a neutral position. Keep your back straight and brace your core.
Step 2: Slightly bend your knees and elbows. Do this to avoid impact on your joints.
Step 3: Lift the weights out to the sides until your arms are parallel to the floor, hold for 1-2 seconds. You should be feeling the tension in your deltoid muscle and not in your elbow joints.
Step 4: Slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. Do not let gravity do the work for you.
What to watch out for:
Beware of the compensatory movement of your neck, do not move your neck forward to overcome the weight. Keep your core engaged and hold your elbow slightly bent throughout the movement to avoid unnecessary impacts around the joint.
2. Front Raise
This is a clever variation on the lateral raise, you can place your hands in a neutral position to activate the anterior fibers of the deltoid muscles, or use an overhand grip to target the middle deltoid more directly.
How to do it:
Step 1: Place your arms down in front of your body while holding the weights. Keep your back straight and brace your core.
Step 2: Slightly bend your elbows to avoid impact on your joints.
Step 3: Lift the weights up in front of you until your arms are parallel to the floor and then hold for 1to 2 seconds. You should feel the tension on your deltoid muscle and not in your elbow joints.
Step 4: Slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. Do not let gravity do the work for you.
What to watch out for:
Beware of the compensatory movement of your neck, do not move your neck forward to overcome the weight. Keep your core engaged and your elbow slightly bent throughout the movement, avoiding unnecessary impacts around the joint.
3. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
This shoulder workout targets the entirety of fibers in the deltoid muscles, particularly the middle deltoid. Lifting two separate dumbbells as opposed to a machine will help prevent you from applying unequal effort on the two sides of your body while lifting the weights.
How to do it:
Step 1: Sit on a low back bench, hold a dumbbell on each side at the shoulder level using an overhand grip (palms facing forward).
Step 2: Keep your head and spine perfectly straight, lift the dumbbells overhead and towards one another. Stop just as they almost touch each other at the top and then hold for 1-2 seconds.
Step 3: Slowly go back to the starting position. Do not let gravity do the work for you.
What to watch out for:
Check if you are completing the movement and reaching the end range at the top. Keep your back straight, and ensure a firm grip to prevent your wrist from bending.
4. Standing Barbell Shrugs
Never underestimate the benefit of a nice shrug workout, unless that is you really want to have a peanut looking neck popping out of your nice V-torso.
This exercise primarily targets your trapezius muscles, which gives a more defined shape to your neck and shoulder region. A wide shoulder will not be proportioned without a defined trapezius muscle.
How to do it:
Step 1: Stand your feet at shoulder width apart, bend your knees and pick up the barbell with both hands.
Step 2: Lift your shoulders up and back, feel the nice squeeze in your neck muscle for about 2 to 5 seconds before releasing the tension.
Step 3: Slowly lower the weight down to your waist level, and then repeat the process.
What to watch out for:
This movement should isolate your shoulder muscles and trapezius, your arms should be loose and your shoulder and neck muscles should be doing the work.
5. Face Pulls
This exercise targets your posterior deltoids, which is something often neglected in shoulder exercises. Activating and strengthening your posterior deltoid will provide you with overall balance in the shoulder region and achieve a better posture.
It also targets your back muscles as well as some fibers of your trapezius muscle.
How to do it:
Step 1: Reach up and grip the handles with both hands, place your palms facing in (overhand grip).
Step back until your arms are fully extended. Engage your core muscles and slightly lean back.
Step 2: Pull the rope towards you just enough to start lifting the weight, then engage your shoulders, and roll them back to create a good posture. This is the starting position.
Step 3: Pull the handles straight towards your forehead. Keeping your palms facing in as your elbows flare outward and towards the sides. Feel the contraction of the back portion of your shoulders.
Step 4: Reverse the movement and slowly get back to the starting position.
What to watch out for:
You should feel the exercise in your shoulders and back muscles of the shoulder blades. Keep your palm facing in and your elbows flaring outward towards the side as you reach the end rage of the movement.
Practice first with light weights until you perfect your form.
