Monday, December 8, 2008

Weight Lifting Exercises - Shoulders

By Westy

The shoulders are typically viewed as being the area of the upper body that exhibits the most strength. They are where your workout will be noticed first. Many people are working the chest area more than the shoulders and this is a big mistake by bodybuilders. The shoulders should be worked as well for an even more powerful look to your upper body.

I know, muscle is muscle, and strength is strength. If you're not concerned with a great Greek god like physique, then stop reading now. I'm interested in a proportioned body, not just a massive strong one.

There should be an increase in the exercises that you do for your shoulders to achieve a more proportioned and well muscled look to your physique. The bench press is a good exercise that will increase the size of the chest and the shoulders at the same time. It is mostly used as a chest exercise so you will have to find some exercises that can be primarily used for the shoulders.

Try the Military Press instead. Sometimes called the behind the neck press. It's the best comprehensive shoulder muscle exercise you will find and if you're looking for size, and strength you've got it all right here. It's similar to any other pressing exercise. You can use either dumbbells or a bar. Even the smith machine, but as stated in previous articles, you do not get the whole range of movement available and therefore do not develop the supporting muscles as easily. This can lead to injury so grab the free weights.

How to do a military press.

1. Sit down on the bench

2. Position the dumbbells to each side of your shoulders with your elbows below your wrists. (If you're using a bar, place bar behind your back and rest on the nape of your neck)

3. Push the weight up and away from your shoulders, but use care that you do not lock the elbows.

4. Lower the weight back down to your shoulders and then repeat.

This is a very easy exercise to perform and you can build up the weight to increase your strength. Adding other exercises to your routine will give you a great all over upper body workout. The exercises are simple and will give you tremendous results. Using all encompassing exercises will help you to get muscle gain in all the areas of your upper body.

Use these tips for an even better workout of your shoulders.

You can perform the shoulder press standing up to give yourself some more stability during your workout. Start the workout by lifting the weight off the floor with a clean motion and bring it up to your shoulders. Do your shoulder presses and then bring the weight back to the floor. This is a more intensive version of the exercise and will increase the size of your shoulder muscles quickly. Cycle the exercises in a different way for eight weeks and change the exercises every eight weeks.

You'll find that by the time you get back to shoulder press, you've packed on massive muscle all over your upper body, and you've improved your overall strength for each exercise. - 16928

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