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Simple secrets for strong shoulders
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
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Get rid of your weak points
Alternating between pushing and pulling exercises will help you achieve healthy shoulders. But tight or weak muscles surrounding your shoulder blades can hinder your performance in classic exercises like the military press. You can avoid this problem by doing the following routine twice a week.
Dumbbell Arm Raises
Lying on a bench, hold a dumbbell with a neutral grip. Keep your arm close to your body. Press the dumbbell up toward the ceiling, lifting your shoulder blades off the bench as high as you can. Lower your arm. Perform a set of 12 to 15 reps with each arm, then perform a second set, this time lifting your arm up and back to about a 105-degree angle. (Your biceps should be level with your ears.)
Front Dumbbell Raises
Hold a dumbbell at your side with your palm facing inward. Keeping your shoulder blades down, raise the dumbbell in front of you in an arching motion until it reaches above your head. (Don’t bend forward.) Then rotate your hand so your palm is facing forward and lower it back to the starting position. Complete the set with one arm, then repeat with the other. Do 2 sets of 6-8 reps.
Reverse Shrugs on Bars
Grab the parallel bars and stand up with your arms straight, elbows locked. Without changing your hand position, lower your shoulders down to slightly lift your torso. (In other words, shrug your shoulders down, not up.) Pause, return to the starting position, and repeat. For this exercise, do 2 sets of 10-12 reps.
Your muscles in motion
A. Serratus anterior muscle
By performing the two-angle dumbbell raise, you train the upper and lower portion of this muscle, which is located on the sides of your shoulder blades and upper thighs.
B. Rhomboid muscles
The rhomboid major and minor muscles originate at the spine and attach to the medial border of the scapula. When these muscles are activated, they contract or retract your shoulder blades.
C. Lower trapezius muscle
This mid-back muscle helps stabilize your shoulder blades. Reverse shrugs strengthen both the lower trapezius and the serratus anterior.
