Exercise library · Shoulders
Shoulder exercises
Presses, lateral raises and rear delts, with dumbbells, cables or bands.
Tap an exercise to see how it's done.
Just the 20 you can do at home →
Barbell4
Landmine pressVideo
Starting position
Stand firmly in front of the anchored bar and hold its free end at one shoulder with the same-side hand.
The movement
Press the bar up and forward until your arm is straight, then lower the end with control to your shoulder.
Most common mistake
Don't lean or twist your body, brace your stomach and let your arm drive the bar forward and up.
Overhead press
Videoalso called ohp, military pressPush press
VideoUpright row
Video
Dumbbellsno gym9
Arnold press
VideoDumbbell front raise
Videoalso called front raiseDumbbell lateral raise
Videoalso called sidolyft, lateral raise, side raise, hantellyft åt sidanDumbbell rear delt flyVideo
Starting position
Stand hip-width apart, lean your torso forward and hold the dumbbells below your shoulders with palms facing each other.
The movement
Move your arms out to the sides with slightly bent elbows, stop at shoulder height and lower with control.
Most common mistake
Don't swing the dumbbells or shrug, move your arms with control and keep your shoulders down.
Dumbbell Y raise
VideoLying lateral raise
VideoRear delt fly
Videoalso called reverse flySeated shoulder press
Videoalso called sittande hantelpress, dumbbell shoulder press, axelpress med hantlar, seated dumbbell shoulder pressStanding shoulder press
Videoalso called standing dumbbell press, hantelpress stående, stående hantelpress
Machine3
Cable4
Bodyweightno gym4
Resistance bandno gym6
Other2
How to train your shoulders
The shoulder muscle has three parts: one at the front, one at the side and one at the back. Overhead presses such as the military press and the seated shoulder press work the front and build strength. The front also gets plenty of work from every chest press, so it rarely needs more than that.
The side and the back, on the other hand, get far less work from pressing. The side is trained with lateral raises, such as dumbbell lateral raises or cable lateral raises. The back is trained with movements that pull backwards, like the face pull and the reverse fly. Those two are what give your shoulders width.
Common mistakes
- Lateral raises that are too heavy. The side of the shoulder is a small muscle. With too much weight your traps and momentum take over. Pick a weight you can raise calmly to shoulder height.
- Arching your lower back when pressing. Brace your abs and glutes when you press standing, so the load goes through your shoulders and not your lower back.
- Only pressing. Add at least one exercise for the side and one for the back of the shoulder every week.
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