Precision Fitness –  Bentonville, Rogers, Bella Vista, Springdale, Centerton

Building stronger shoulders is a must not only to help round out your lower body development, but also to ensure that injuries don’t start to occur.

Shoulder injuries are all too common and if you aren’t taking steps to avoid this, they can definitely happen to you.

That said, if the only shoulder exercise you currently have in place in your program plan is the shoulder press, you have some adjustments to make. Adding good variety to your shoulder workout will ensure your shoulders stay challenged and you see optimal results.

Let’s go over what you should know.

Isometric Lateral Raise

The first good shoulder builder is an isolation movement so you will want to include it towards the end of the workout session. The lateral raise is great for hitting the lateral head of the deltoid and by adding the isometric hold in there, you really increase the total tension on the muscle tissues.

If you want to gain great muscle endurance, this is the way to do it.

T-Raises

T-raises are another exercise variation to consider. This one is great since it’s going to work both the lateral as well as the front shoulder muscles, giving you that nice capped appearance many people are going for.

To perform it, simply lift the weight upwards into the front position and then from there, move directly to the side making sure you don’t let the weights drop.

From there, lower back down and then proceed to complete the next rep, only this time starting at the side and moving front.

You’ll really feel the shoulders burning during this exercise as it is very intense, so use a lighter weight at first as your body adjusts.

Upright Rows

Finally, don’t overlook upright rows. This is another good exercise that can be performed to isolate the shoulders and does allow you to typically lift heavier weight as well.

This one is good for those who can’t do shoulder presses due to an elbow injury but who do still want to see great strength gains.

Make sure when performing it that you maintain a flat back position to avoid excess lower back pain.

So keep these shoulder building moves in place and integrate them into your upper body workout session. You should still get the shoulder press in if you aren’t limited by injury but all of these will make great additions to that strength-building compound movement.