10 Best ways to build your shoulders

Shoulder Anatomy: 

The Shoulder muscles also known as deltoids, consist of three muscle heads: Clavicular fibres, Acromial fibres, & Spinal fibres. The function of these muscles is to rotate the arms and prevent dislocation of the shoulder joint when carrying heavy loads. Though the Deltoid muscle is used to rotate the arm along its joint, you can still target each muscle head individually as follows,

• Anterior head (Clavicular fibres): Anterior head can be targeted by raising your arms to your front, this helps to contract your anterior deltoid and expand when you bring your arms down.
• Medial head (Acromial fibres): Anterior head can be targeted by raising your arms to your side or by pushing your arms away from your body, this helps to contract your Medial deltoid and expand when you bring your arms down.
• Posterior head (Spinal fibres): Posterior head can be targeted by raising your arms to your side or by pushing your arms backwards, this helps to contract your Posterior deltoid and expand when you bring your arms to the standard position.

10 best workouts to build 3D shoulder muscles:

• Seated alternating dumbbell press: This workout improves the way you balance the weights and stabilizes your arms. To begin with the workout, take a set of dumbbells and sit on a military press bench or a utility bench that has back support. Place the dumbbells upright on the top of your thighs. Raise the dumbbells to your shoulder height by rotating your wrists such that the palms of your hands are facing forward and you are in the starting position of your workout, make sure to use your thighs to propel the dumbbells to achieve this position. Now exhale and raise the dumbbell on one of your hands and hold for a second at the contraction before returning to the starting position and perform the same with your other hand to complete one repetition. 
• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Anterior head, medial head. 

• Arnold press: This is one of the popular workouts to build to your shoulders, this workout targets various muscle groups at a time including shoulders, triceps, chest etc. Take a set of dumbbells, raise them up to your shoulder level such that your palms face in. Keep your shoulders down and raise the dumbbells all the way up by rotating your palms out throw out your upward movement, hold for a second to contract your shoulder muscles then slowly bring down your dumbbells to the starting position to complete one repetition. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Front head, medial head. 

• Cable lateral raises: It is one of the effective workouts to target the medial head of your shoulder. Workouts using cable are very effective because it maintains constant tension to the working muscles throughout the pull and push movements. Starting with the setup, attach a single handle attachment to a cable machine to the lowest of its height, now bend over and grab the handle with your right hand and make sure that you are standing to the side of the weight column to hit your medial head when you raise the cable. Pull the cable such that your palm moves away from your body up to your shoulder level, hold for a second during contraction and return to the starting position to complete one repetition, switch sides and work on your left shoulder with the same procedure. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Medial head. 

• Bent over raises: It is a compound workout that targets various muscles at a time including the rear deltoid of your shoulders, traps, lat muscles etc. Take a set of dumbbells and stand on your feet with shoulder-width apart and maintain a slight bend in your knees and bend over facing the floor. Now raise the dumbbells away from your body squeeze your rear deltoid and traps hold for a second and return to the starting position to complete one repetition. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Posterior head. 

• Dumbbell lateral raises: Lateral raises are one of the well-known workouts when it comes to shoulder training, using cable for lateral raises are more effective than performing with dumbbells. However, dumbbell lateral raises are used widely in gyms and even at home in case if you have a set of dumbbells. Take a set of dumbbells and stand on your feet with shoulder-width apart and raise the dumbbells away from your body up to your shoulder levels hold for a second and return to the starting position to complete one repetition. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Medial head.  

• Alternating dumbbell front raises: This workout improves the way you balance the weights and stabilizes your arms. Take a set of dumbbells and stand on your feet with shoulder-width apart, exhale and raise one of your hands holding the dumbbells up to your shoulder height, hold for a second and return to the starting position. Now exhale and raise the dumbbell on your other hand and hold for a second at the contraction before returning to the starting position to complete one repetition. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Anterior head.

• Face pulls: This workout primarily targets the posterior part of your shoulder and trap muscles. It helps to build the back of your shoulder and neck muscles. Get to a cable machine and attach a double handle rope to the pully, make sure the pully is up to the height of your shoulders. Once you complete the setup, move two steps back by holding the rope with your hands drop your shoulders and pull the rope to your face hold for a second and squeeze the muscles and return to the starting position. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Posterior head.

• Military press: This workout focuses on the anterior and medial deltoid, before starting the exercise, grab the barbell bar make sure that you keep your wrists above the elbow which means that your elbows must be partially close to your body maintaining a 90-degree angle, elbows pointing forward. Keep your shoulders back and lift the barbell rod over your head such that the rod moves in a straight path. Once you reached the maximum height and contracted the muscles bring the bar slowly down to the starting position. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Anterior and Medial head.

• Single-arm upright row: This workout is performed using a dumbbell. Grab a lightweight dumbbell with your right hand. Stand on your feet with shoulder-width apart and make sure that your arm is extended in front of you such that the dumbbell is resting in front of your thigh and the palm of your hand facing your thigh. Now move the dumbbell upwards using your shoulders, make sure that the dumbbell travels in a starting line close to your body, squeeze your shoulder muscles and return to the starting position to complete one repetition. Then change the dumbbell to your left hand and follow the same steps. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Anterior head and Medial head.

• Plate raise: The plate raise is similar to the dumbbell front raises as they both have the same range of motion and direction. To begin with the workout grab a weight plate that matches your strength levels and hold the outer part of the plate with both your hands. Lift the plate away from your body towards the front contract your muscles and return to the starting position to complete one repetition. 

• Workout : 3 sets (8-12 reps) and rest for 30 seconds in between each set.
• Targeted muscles: Anterior head.

Tip: Once you complete your workouts, make sure to stretch each muscle group and take a warm and cold bath to maintain the flexibility of your muscles to avoid injuries.