In addition, the shoulders, along with the upper back, are largely responsible for the appearance of a wide upper body.  If this is combined with a lean stomach it gives the appearance of what is known as the “V-taper”.

There are a ton of exercises you can use build bigger shoulders, but the key with all of them is to follow a progressive program that allows you to constantly improve.  Only by improving will your shoulders grow.  These improvements can come in the way of added weight, more reps, or decreased rest periods.  As long as you are improving (and eating) the mass will come.

So with that, let’s take a look at some of the best exercises for building bigger shoulders!

Bradford Presses

This movement is named after a 1930’s Olympic lifter named Sam Bradford.

Start with a weight that is about 20-25% lighter than what you can military press.  Take a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip on the bar. You will begin in the traditional military press position with the bar in front you.  From this position you will press the bar until it is just above the top of your head.  Once you get to this height you will bring the bar over your head and lower it down behind your head into the behind the neck press position.  From the position you will again press the bar to a height just over your head and then lower it back down in front you back to the position in which you started.

This is one repetition.  Complete 6-8 reps for 3-4 sets.  

One important technique point is to make sure that you keep looking straight ahead throughout the movements.  Resist the temptation to look down, which will not only make the exercise easier, but can also lead to some pretty severe neck and upper back injuries.  Don’t do it!

This movement will really blast your shoulders and will also greatly improve your serratus anterior strength which will help your starting strength in all pressing movements.  If you are someone who struggles to get the bar off your chest during a bench press, this exercise is for you!

Front Plate Raise

This movement is a simple one.  All you need is a weight plate.  The beginning lifter will start with a 25 pound plate, while advanced lifters can use a 45 pound plate, or even a 100 pound plate.

Grab the plate with your hands at the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions, just like you are holding a steering wheel.  With your elbows straight, raise the weight up in front of you and continue until it is all the way over your head.  Many lifters stop the movement once they get to eye level, but you are losing a lot of the benefit by doing so.  From this position simply lower the plate back to the starting position.

This movement is a great finisher for the front deltoids after a pressing movement like Bradford presses.  Because your hands are in a neutral position (thumbs towards the ceiling) it also puts the shoulder joint in a much healthier position than barbell front raises.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps here.

Lean-away Dumbbell Lateral Raises

Now that your front delts are toasted from the first two exercises, it’s time to move on to finishing off the medial deltoids (outer shoulders).  This is the part of the shoulder muscle that really contributes to your upper body width.

Lateral raises are a great way to target this area.  So, let’s look at how to do this unique lateral raise exercise.

You are going to start with just one dumbbell in your hand.  Your free hand should hold on to something sturdy like a power rack at shoulder height.  You will then shift your feet so that they are directly under your free hand.  At this point you should lean away from your free hand so that you are holding yourself up with the power rack.  From this position you will simply perform a lateral raise.

This variation really targets the top half of the movement, while the bottom half will be very easy.  Make not to use too much momentum in the bottom half of the exercise, or you will short-change the muscle building tension in the top-half.

Complete 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per arm.

So there you go! A great shoulder workout that shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes to complete.  Remember, the key with any workout is consistent progression.  

Eat big, train hard, rest long.  Repeat this process month after month and you will have a muscular body you will proud of!

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In order to work the triceps you will have to resist the extending of the elbow.  There are multiple exercises that do this, including cable push downs, close grip bench press, and lying triceps extension.  I’ll detail these and a few compound lifts as well, including the shoulder press and dips.

Cable Push Downs: The cable offers resistance throughout the entire range of motion, whereas freeweights have a split second of inactivity when the muscle is in peak contraciton.  Your triceps will not have this luxury when performing cable push downs.  Make sure you keep your back straight and upper arms static when doing this exercise.  This will work the medial and lateral heads of the triceps, which’ll help create the sought after horse-shoe shape.

Close Grip Bench Press: The normal bench press works the triceps extensively, but the close grip really hits them hard.  This is a good lift for building overall mass in your triceps and will also hit the inner pectoral fibers moreso than the normal bench press will.  I like using this exercise in conjunction with lying triceps extensions to get the most stimulation from a single workout.  This is one of the most effective arm and chest mass builders for ectomorphs.

Lying Tricep Extension: This is similar in function to the cable push downs, except you’re lying down and it offers a slightly longer range of motion.  Some people like to use the barbell when doing this exercise, but I definitely prefer a dumbbell.  My wrist tends to hurt if I use the barbell and I have had others complain of the same issue.  Make sure not to go too far down when doing this because you could damage your shoulders since they are stabilizing the weight.

Shoulder Press: The shoulder press is a good compound lift that’ll help build up your triceps.  Although they don’t play a huge role in this exercise, I’ve noticed significant mass gains from it.  The main purpose of this lift, of course, is the strengthening of the deltoids, but it’ll definitely build up your triceps as well.

Dips: Dips can be varied to put additional stress on the triceps.  The best way to do this is to use a bench or to keep your torso straight when doing them.  These are a great exercise that’ll work the medial and lateral heads, creating the horseshoe shape just like the push downs do.  They will also place a significant amount of stress on the pectorals, even when modified for the triceps.

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Without calf muscles that are healthy and strong we would be unable to do even the most basic of activities such as run, jump, walk or even ride a bike. On top of that the muscles in the calves help us to maintain correct posture and stability.

The 2 main muscles in the calves are the gastrocnemius and soleus, also known as the twins. These are the muscles that you need to develop to have not only healthy legs but sexy legs as well. So really you need to really focus on how to quickly develop strong and sexy calves with these top five exercises.

1. Standing Raise/burn out – Stand on the foot block of the machine, if you don’t have a machine you can still do it on stairs or even a book, anything that will allow your after you to obtain full range of motion. Make sure your feet are comfortably apart and your toes are forward. Begin with your heels lowered as far as possible and then slowly raise up to your tiptoes then down again. Do 15 reps with full range of motion then get off machine and while standing flat on the floor do another 50 calf raises.

TIP: Anytime you are doing calf raises you need to keep in mind that you need to complete a full range of motion, stretch your heel all the way at the bottom then go all the way up on your tip toes in order to get the best results.

2. Seated calf Raise – Sit down at a calf raise machine. Put your toes on the platform facing forward with your upper thighs under the leg pad just above your knees. Lift up with your heels so that you are on your tiptoes and make sure to flex your calf muscles while in this position and hold for a count of one. Repeat for 15 reps.

3. Donkey calf raise – Place your toes on the edge of a block or dumbbell and then lean your body forward from the waist at a 90-degree angle and hold onto a table or bench for support. This exercise can be done with either bent knees or straight legs. For added resistance you can allow some one sit on your lower back, hence the name Donkey Calf Raises. Repeat 15 to 20 times.

4. Treadmill calf exercises – Using a treadmill set your incline to 15%. Walk for at least 20 minutes to work the calves out.

TIP: Anytime you are working your calves out make sure that you stretch them out after each set by propping your leg slightly and reaching forward into your toe, pull back on the toe slightly and release.

5. Leg press machine calf raises – Sit at a leg press machine and press the weight up as if you are doing leg presses. Now holding the rack up, place the balls of your feet on the platform and allow you’re your heels hang off. Now slowly push the platform up until your toes are pointed hold for a count of one and then slowly release down back down until your toes are once again in line with your heels. Use control with the exercise and perform each repetition slowing, do not bounce the toe. By adjusting your toes to point in or point out you can focus on the inner or outer calf muscles. Repeat 15 to 20 times

TIP: A word of caution here, make sure that the handles are in the locked position when doing this exercise because if your feet were to slip you could be seriously injured.

You will quickly develop strong and sexy calves with these top five exercises if you have a regularly scheduled routine that you follow and you won’t be one of those running around with the nice body and skinny calves.

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The shoulders are made up of three ‘heads’, or different muscles that allow the shoulder to move as it does.

The Anterior Head
The anterior head is, as the name suggests is at the front of the shoulders.

This anterior head can be trained directly with exercises such as the military press and standing lateral barbell raises.

This head is also trained heavily during the bench press (any version), so compared to the other two heads of the shoulders the anterior needs the least amount of direct work to stimulate growth (as long as you are performing bench presses in your workout regime).

The Medial, or Lateral Head
The medial (middle head) of the delts is responsible for the width in your shoulders and can be trained with lateral raises. To perform a lateral raise, hold a pair of dumbbells by your sides, palms facing inwards. Then raise you arms upwards, until they are parallel to the floor and then back down to your sides, this is one repetition.

The medial head needs to be trained with very strict form as there are many ways to cheat on this exercise for example swinging the weight up with your body. This will not stimulate your medial delt for full development.

Train your medial deltoid muscle with a rep range of 10 – 15 reps. This will enable you to control the movement through all of its stages and really concentrate on fatiguing the muscle. Most people also agree that a higher rep range is best to stimulate growth in this head of the delts.

The Posterior Head
The muscle at the back of the shoulders can be trained with reverse dumbbell flyes. You can sit on a bench, lean over your knees, then raise the dumbbells out, much like a lateral raise. Or, even better, position a bench as if you were going to perform a incline bench press, but lie your chest on the bench instead of your back. This may feel slightly awkward initially, but really stretches the posterior head. Think of this exercise as a ‘reverse flye’ movement.

Now we know the different deltoid heads and what exercises stimulate them, we can discuss different types workout regime.

As the heads of the shoulders are relatively small and you want to isolate them there are intensity techniques you can use to train your shoulders in the least amount of time to produce the biggest growth response.

Most people advocate a ‘superset’ or ‘triset’. Basically this means performing two or three exercises, one after another. An example of this would be

Military press x 5 – 7
Dumbbell side lateral x 10 – 12
Dumbbell rear delt flye x 10 – 12

Perform these one after another with basically no rest between the exercises, beginners may want to start with two instead of three exercises. Take a few minutes rest and repeat.

If you are performing a separate shoulder workout then simple sets of 3 x 10 – 12 will work fine. However most people add them on to a chest routine, or a push movement routine (a workout with only push movements). Therefore moving quickly throughout the exercises will be best for overall growth.

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Assuming you fully appreciate the importance of rugged delts for a manly body, it’s time to start planning how to go about constructing your own pair. Though the deltoids are a complex muscle group with many different functions, luckily they are not so complicated to train. Further, they are a fairly responsive area for most trainers, especially when worked though their complete ranges of motion with proper form. With just three basic exercises that have stood the test of time for millions of weight trainers and athletes, you can be well on your way to shocking your shoulders into expansive growth.

Shoulder Form and Function

Before delving into a training prescription for the shoulders, it would serve us well to quickly look at what the individual parts of the muscle do in the human body. The deltoids derive their name from the Greek delta, or triangle, as the muscle resembles a triangle in shape. It is a muscle with three distinct ‘heads’ or segments. The anterior, or front head, flexes and inwardly rotates the arm. The front delts play a major assisting role in chest training, and even receive some degree of stimulation from biceps and triceps exercises like barbell curls and dips. Because of all the ancillary work they receive, front delts are often an overdeveloped item on many physiques. Over time, this can even lead to posture problems, as the person tends to adopt a ’slumped forward’ stance. The medial, or side head, abducts the arm, meaning that it brings the arms out and away from the midline of the body. The side heads are only activated to a significant level when trained using specific isolation movements. Finally, the posterior, or rear head, extends the arm and produces external rotation. The rear delts are very much involved in back training movements such as chins and rows. Now that we have a better understanding of what our shoulders do, let’s get into how to train them right!

Dumbell Side Raise

The most critical component to creating broader shoulders is increasing their width. To accomplish this, we selectively target the medial deltoid head. The larger the cross-sectional area of the side deltoids, the wider and rounder your shoulders will appear. Of course, clavicle width plays the most important role in how wide your shoulder ultimately can become. In the recent Sydney Games, you may have noticed that nearly all swimmers possessed clavicles on the upper end on the genetic spectrum for width. Few of the swimmers had massive deltoid development by physique magazine standards, but having such a wide skeletal framework made what size they did have seem that much more impressive. You may have wide clavicles, narrow, or something in between. Regardless of the foundation you were dealt, anyone can increase their width to a meaningful extent by building up the mass of the side delts. There is only one exercise we know of that isolates the medial heads, and that is the side raise, also known as the side lateral raise.

Side raises can be performed with a cable attachment or specialized machines, but the most widely-practiced version of this exercise is with a plain old pair of iron dumbells. As outdated and obsolete as some high-tech snobs may consider free weights, they are still with us despite all the advanced machine designs proliferating our gyms and health clubs. Simply put, barbells and dumbells aren’t going anywhere because they work. The additional effort and coordination it takes to balance free weights not only make them more difficult to master, but also forces the muscles to work harder. This struggle translates into a forced adaptation of the muscle fibers. In other words, they have no choice but to become larger and stronger in the face of the stress.

Begin with your feet planted firmly at shoulder width. Hold the dumbells in front of you with your thumbs pointing forward. With a slight bend in the elbows, raise the ‘bells up to just above your shoulder joints. You may either complete the movement with your palms parallel to the floor, or instead choose to tip the thumbs downward in what is frequently described as a ‘pouring water out of two pitchers’ motion. Many trainers feel a more pronounced contraction in the side delts when this extra motion is added. Slowly lower the dumbells back into the start position under strict control. The negative, or lowering, portion of the rep is just as important as the actual lifting. Never merely drop the weight back down.

Barbell Upright Row

Upright rows are often included in training programs for the back. This is because when a wide grip is utilized, the majority of the stress is directed to the muscle fibers of the trapezius. With a narrow grip, upright rows become an excellent movement that targets all three heads of the deltoids.

Place your hands no more than six inches apart on the bar. Pull the bar to just underneath your chin, allowing the elbows to flare out as wide as possible. You may see some people pulling higher, for example to the eyes, but this is a greater range of motion than is necessary.

Standing Military Press

Shown seated.

This exercise is so named due to its regular inclusion in physical conditioning programs for several branches of the Armed Forces. No movement is more basic for the shoulders. The military press is to the shoulders as the bench press is to the chest, and the squat is to the thighs. It allows for the maximum amount of resistance to be lifted, which translates into optimal results. All three heads of the deltoids work hard in the press. Such a marker of upper body strength is the military press that for decades it and not the bench press were what other trainers meant when they asked, “How much can you press?”

There are numerous machines with which to press, and you will often see trainers performing their presses seated with a back support, using either a barbell or dumbells. The standing press is far more difficult to perform, and thusly superior in terms of producing results. Unless you are already addicted to wearing a lifting belt, going beltless on this will even help you build a stronger lumbar spine musculature as the lower back muscles have to struggle to stabilize the upper body.

Either take the bar from a squat rack, or clean it to your shoulders. Your grip should be such that your forearms are perpendicular to the ground at the halfway point. For most of you, this will have your hands placed about two inches on each side wider than your shoulders. Press up smoothly to lockout, taking care not to use any hip thrust or anything but pure shoulder power to press the barbell. Feel the shoulders working every inch of the rep.

That’s the time-proven trio of shoulder shockers that will be your ticket to bigger and broader shoulders. If you’re about to buy any suits or jackets, you might just want to hold off for a while. Those delts of yours will soon be entering a growth phase, and there’s no telling how big they just might get!

Shoulder Workout Routines!

Beginner Routine Side raises 3 x 8-12
Standing military press 3 x 8-12

Intermediate Routine Side raises 3 x 8-12
Barbell upright row 3 x 8-12
Standing military press 3 x 8-12

Advanced Routine Side raises 4 x 8-12
Barbell upright row 4 x 8-12
Standing military press 4 x 8-12

Pre-exhaust Routine
Superset Side raise to Standing military press 3 x 8-12
Barbell upright row 4 x 8-12

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Strengthening your lower abs is also a very important part of building a strong core that will safeguard your body. Remember, it’s important to work your entire core, and not just focus on a single part.

To get a great lower ab workout, you should focus on ab exercises that mostly concentrate on moving your legs. Here are three lower ab exercises that you can incorporate into your workouts immediately to give you some variety.

1. Hanging Leg (or knee) raises – This ab exercise is one of the best that will help you gain strength in your lower abs relatively quickly because of the weight you will be moving (your legs weigh a lot!).

To do this exercise, hang from a pull up bar and lift your legs all the way up to a vertical position. If you can’t do this quite yet, start by tucking your legs and lifting your knees as high as you can.

2. Decline bench leg thrusts – Lay on a decline bench with your head higher than your legs. Hold onto the bench with your hands and bring your legs up vertical, then push them into the air straight up. Bring them back down and lower them back to the starting position for one rep.

3. Stability ball knee tucks – This exercise is one of my favorites and will give you a killer lower ab workout. Start with your shins on a workout ball and and your hands on the ground (push up position). Bring your legs toward your body and stick your butt in the air. Then go back down for one rep.

When doing all three of these exercises, be sure to focus on your form. You never want to arch your lower back or use momentum. Always use a controlled movement so you don’t hurt yourself!

If you really want your lower abs to show, the best way to do that is to burn the last bit of fat off your body. To do this most effectively, focus full body workouts and eating a bit healthier. If you need more ideas, and want a step-by-step action plan to burn fat and get great abs, grab my 7-day Six Pack Abs mini-course.

Every day you’ll get a new piece of information to act on immediately and start toward your goals to get slim and tone up your body as fast as possible. After a week you’ll be fully equipped to lose your fat and get in great shape.

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Before you start exercising you should first understand what each muscle does and how it works. Exercise routines are designed to strain the muscle so that it has to repair itself and by doing so makes itself stronger. This is how exercising works.

The biceps is two muscles that operate together side by side and are in the upper arm. They control the movement of the arm. The biceps twist the arms from side to side and move them up and down from the side of the body to the shoulder. Movements known as flexing and supination. For the best bicep workout it is best to exercise the muscle along these movements.

Directly below the biceps is a muscle known as the Brachialis. It is a very small muscle when compared with the biceps but it is vitally important that this muscle is exercised as well as the biceps for the best biceps workout. It is not directly attached to the biceps or the triceps but they are just as important as an untrained brachialis can add unsightly mass to your arm.

These two routines which we will be talking about should be used by either alternating every 4 to 6 weeks or by alternating each week. You should also continually add a small amount of weight to the dumbbells or bar, so that you are continually strengthening you muscles. It is a common fallacy that lots of repetitions of light weights tones the muscle. It doesn’t. It is also important to change the routine often. Many bodybuilders keep with a routine even when it has stopped having any real noticeable effect. It has been found that you should spend no more then 6 weeks on a routine before changing it. Otherwise your exercising will begin to stagnate and you won’t be getting the best biceps workout.

Straight Bar (EZ Bar) Curls

This is a fairly easy routine where you hold the bar in hands, keeping your hands a shoulder width apart and raise the bar to your chest. Then you slowly lower it down to its original position and repeat.

When doing this routine it is best to stand against a wall and keep your back as straight as possible. This is to prevent your other muscles from helping you to lift the weights. The wrong position will mean that your back and chest muscles may be helping you to lift the weight and your biceps will not be doing as much work as they could be doing. The biceps should be responsible for doing all the work and should receive most of the benefit from the exercising.

Incline Dumbbell Curls
For this routine you must stand in much the same position as when exercising with the straight bar. You hold the dumbbells in your hands with your palms facing towards your legs and raise them to your shoulders. Twist your hands as you raise them upwards by turning your thumbs away from your body. Repeat until you are satisfied.

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*Butt-Ups

Assume a push-up position, with your forearms flat on the ground and your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle.

Arching your back slightly out, lift your glutes up, squeezing your abs tightly as you go for a high bridge position.

Keeping your back arched, slowly lower back down to your starting position.

Repeat.

*Hanging Knee Raise

Grab a bar and hang from it with your legs straight down.

Taking care not to swing, slowly raise your legs using your abs as you flex your hips and knees. Continue this movement by flexing your waist until your knees are on a level with your shoulders.
Lower your knees down to starting position.
Repeat.
*Exercise Ball Pull-In

Assume a push-up position, with your lower shins on top of the exercise ball.
Roll the ball towards your chest by pulling in your knees, all the while keeping your back straight.

Finally, roll the ball back to starting position by straightening your legs, squeezing your abs in the process.
As a beginner, whether you’re looking for exercises to lose weight or simply looking to make fitness workouts a part of your lifestyle, you can very easily feel like you’re swimming in a sea of information on workout exercises and routines. Here’s my two-cents’ worth: No matter what kind of workout routine you finally choose or create, in the end, it’s your ability to stick to your fitness goals that will make all the difference. Seeing results gained from informed, well-planned ab workouts is the biggest motivation, but while you’re not yet there, workout buddies and printable weight loss charts chronicling your progress (or lack thereof) are great sources of motivation to keep sweating it out so you can get your dream abs, fast.

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