A complete shoulder workout for huge shoulders - hitting all three deltoid heads

When people train their shoulders for muscle mass they often don’t pick a variety of exercises that targets all three areas of the shoulder. This workout is one I use that brings all round shoulder development by giving each head its fair share of work.

What are the three deltoid heads?
So we know what we are working out it is important to know where the muscles are, how they work and what the best way to target them is.

The anterior deltoid is the front part of the shoulder muscle. It is smaller by comparison and is involved in lifting motions like the front raise.

The lateral deltoid head is the outer most part of the shoulder and is used in motions like the lateral side raise. It is quite strong and dense.

The posterior deltoid head is the rear most part of the shoulder and ties into the upper back muscles. As such it is used in many back exercises.

The best shoulder exercises to hit all three heads

When you want to train the shoulders so that all three heads get worked nicely you need a mixture of compound and isolation exercises.

A compound exercise is one that used lots of muscle groups to do one motion. An example would be the bench press which uses the shoulders, pectorals and triceps.

An isolation exercise is, as the name suggests, an exercise that uses one muscle only or at least puts most of the weight on one muscle while others are used only as support. An example would be the bicep concentration curl which only works the biceps.

Compound shoulder exercises
Firstly, start your shoulder workout with some heavy sets of your chosen compound exercise. This means that all three heads will get worked hard at the beginning when you are fresh and have lots of energy. The best compound exercises for the shoulders are:

1. The military press
This is an exercise done with a bar bell where you simply take a medium wide grip and push it above your head. It is the most basic and easy to learn of the shoulder exercises and is excellent for building some heavy mass.

2. Arnold presses
This is an exercise attributed to Govenor Arnie. It is best done sitting down and with two medium heavy dumb bells. Start with the dumbells resting on your chest with your palms facing towards you. Press the weights up in the air at the same time and as you do rotate your arms so that when the weights are at their highest point your palms are now facing outward as in the military press. On the decline rotate them again so that at the decline your palms are facing back in. This is one of the better dumb bell exercise for the shoulders.

Isolation shoulder exercises
Once you have done some compound exercises move along to the isolation exercises. Pick one or two for each head and hit it hard and with perfect technique.

Anterior (Front) deltoid
Here are the some of the best exercises for developing this muscle.

1. The front raise
Keeping a slight bend in your elbow and with your palms facing down lift a dumb bell up using the tension in your shoulder until your arm is parallel with the floor. Slowly lower it back down and repeat with the opposite arm.

2. Bench press
Many people think that the bench press only works the chest. However, the flat bench press is actually more of a shoulder exercise. If you want to develop the font deltoid then heavy bench presses are the way to go. NOTE: If you want the bench press to target your chest more try switching to an incline bench with some heavy dumb bells.

Lateral (Side) deltoid

1. Lateral side raise
The lateral side raise is all you need for the side deltoids. It is very efficient in its motion and allows you to focus almost completely on this one head of the shoulder.

When you perform it you should lean slightly forward and keep a small bench in your elbows. Your little finger should be the highest finger on the hand when your arms reach their top position. And remember, the decline motion is the most important part of the exercise - do it slow.

Posterior (Rear) deltoid

1. The lying rear delt row
You know the bent over row that you do for your lats? Well, with some slight modifications that can turn into a really powerful rear delt workout.

The best way to do this is to lay on a flat narrow bench and place a medium bar bell underneath. Reach down the side of the bench and grab the bar bell and, keeping the arms perpendicular to the upper body, lift the weight up to where your upper chest is resting on the bench. Don’t stop lifting until the weight hits the bottom of the bench.

Conclusion
If you work out with these exercises using sound technique then you will make progress in no time. Over the years I have found these few exercises to provide the best all round shoulder workout.

A few of these exercises can be done on the cables which adds a different dimension to your training. The weight always pulls due to gravity and this keeps the tension on your muscles for the entire duration of the set. Try mixing it up with a few cables each workout.

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