8 Best Bodyweight Workouts for Shredded Shoulders
If you’re missing the gym because of physical distancing measures, try doing bodyweight exercises to tone your shoulders.
Bodyweight exercises are suitable for shoulders because they don’t require a lot of weight to get tired or make gains.
Your shoulder muscles (the anterior, medial, and posterior deltoid muscles) are used in most popular bodyweight exercises, like planks and pushups.
Bodyweight shoulder workouts are good for your strength and appearance and can also help improve your posture if you have to work from home.
Here are eight bodyweight exercises from the pros that will help you improve the look of your shoulders.
8 Bodyweight Workouts for Shredded Shoulders
1. Warm Up — Band Shoulder Press
Before working out, it is essential to do a warm-up. You will attach the band to a power rack pole for these overhead band presses instead of standing on it. This changes the resistance from the ground to the front so that all shoulder muscles are activated, including the rear deltoid and rotator cuff. This is a good starting exercise because it gets you warm and prepares all the muscles you will be using.
Execution
- Attach your resistance bands to your power rack at around chest height. Please make sure they are secure.
- Keep your core engaged and your torso slightly tilted back to ensure you’re not moving your arms behind your head.
- Hold the band shoulder high and slightly wider than shoulder-width.
- Push straight up until your arms are fully extended. You should feel muscle engagement at both the front and the back.
- Hold at the top for three seconds, repeating for two sets of 15 reps.
Sets: 2
Reps: 15, with a 3-second hold on each
2. Seated Overhead Barbell Press
Seated overhead barbell presses are a great way to work your shoulders. They help build muscle and can be done with a lot of weight. You will feel this exercise in your front deltoids and triceps.
Execution
- Sit with your torso straight and feet flat on the floor. Engage your core and glutes.
- Start with the bar at the top of your chest, and push the bar straight up, fully extending your arms.
- Bring the bar back down with control.
- Repeat for four sets, decreasing from 10 to eight to six. Use increased weight on each set as they get shorter.
- Reintroduce the band you used in the warm-up for the final set, performing this set with both the barbells and a band. This will reinforce muscle engagement.
- If you don’t have barbells at home, you can do a handstand pushup as an alternative. Add a weighted vest if you’re an absolute beast and your body weight isn’t enough.
Sets: 4
Reps: 10/8/6/6 — adding weight to each set
3. Cable Rear Deltoid Raise
Next, do three sets of exercises targeting the three different heads of the deltoid. The movements are very similar, but you will change the position of your body. Please include a full contraction and extension of the muscle in each set to work it through its full range of motion. Perform the sets in this order: rear, middle, and front. This sequence will help you avoid fatigue.
Execution
- Stand with a split stance. You’ll want the cable pulling across the front of your body from the opposite side to the one you’re working on.
- Tilt your torso forward at the hips, keeping your back straight and core engaged.
- Holding the cable, you’ll want your arm mostly straight across the front of your body.
- Pull the cable back across your body. As you hit the top of the move, your elbow should be bent, and your arm pulled back as far as your body allows. You should feel a full contraction in your rear deltoid.
- Release the cable back across your body with control. At the bottom of this move, your arm should be extended across your torso, and you should feel a stretch along the back of your deltoid.
Sets: 3 on each arm
Reps: 7
4. Incline pushup
According to personal trainer Sal Kassam, starting in the plank position with your body straight rather than getting too close to the box is essential. Getting too close to the box can overextend the spine and cause pain in the lower back.
According to Kassam, you can target your triceps, chest, and shoulders by doing incline, flat, and decline pushups. To make your workout more effective, rotate between all three and gradually make it more challenging. For example, you can make it more difficult by setting your hands closer together or using a low platform with your knees on the ground.
Execution
•Keeping your body in a nice, straight line from your head to your heels, engage your glutes and abs as you lower your chest to the floor. •Once your chest reaches the floor, pause and press back up to the starting position. •Do 8-12 reps. •Try to do three sets. Start by placing your hands shoulder-width apart on a box or bench. Lower your chest to the floor from there while keeping your body in a straight line and engaged glutes and abs. Once your chest reaches the floor, pause before pressing back up to the starting position. Complete 8-12 reps for three sets.
Lie down on your back with a weight in each hand and your feet flat on the floor. Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor. Pause, then use your chest and triceps to push your body back up to the starting position.
Incline pushups require more effort from the lower fibers of your chest muscles than traditional pushups on a flat surface.
Sets: 3 sets
Reps: 10–12
Muscles targeted: Pectorals, deltoids, triceps
5. Push-back pushup
Darren Tomasso, performance coach at The Session NYC. “First, it’s a great exercise to build pushing strength. Next, it challenges core control as you transition from the push-back to the pushup position. Finally, it is great for overhead shoulder stability and mobility.”
Sets: 3 sets
Reps: 12–15 reps
Execution
Start in a pushup position with your feet a bit wider than shoulder width.
Originals: •Tense your core and lower your body toward the floor, leading with your chest. Instead of pushing straight up from the floor as you would in a regular pushup, push your upper body back toward your heels.
As you lean back, bend your legs and let your hips rise to meet your upper body.
From your final position, which will resemble an elevated Child’s Pose, return to the starting position by pushing through your legs and keeping your spine long.
Muscles targeted: Abdominals, pectorals, triceps, deltoids
6. Elevated pike pushup
“To target the shoulders, keep your hands wider than shoulder distance,” says Ryan Gleason, co-creator of
Ryan and Alex Duo Life. “To target the triceps, place your hands shoulder-distance apart. As with any pushup variation, always maintain a slight bend in your elbows since locking your elbows puts a significant load on the joint.”
Sets/Reps: 2 sets of 10 reps
Muscles targeted: Shoulders and triceps
7. Cheat Lateral Dumbbell Raise
This compound movement will also work your deltoids, traps, and upper back. Before beginning this exercise, it is essential to warm up your muscles by doing some light cardio and stretching. The following two exercises work together to help build muscle. It is necessary to isolate specific areas when working out and get everything to work together. One way to do this is by doing a lateral cheat raise followed by a dumbbell push press. This will work your deltoids, traps, and upper back. It is essential to warm up your muscles before beginning this exercise by doing some light cardio and stretching.
Execution
- Position yourself into an athletic stance. Your feet will be wider than hip-width apart, knees bent but shins vertical, hips moved back, torso tilted forward, and your chest up.
- Start with the weight in your hand, arm in front of your body, elbow slightly bent.
- Accelerate the weight up and out to the side quickly but with control. Unlike a regular lateral dumbbell raise, you can allow your traps to assist in this exercise.
- At the top of the move, your arm should be out to the side of your body, at shoulder height, elbow still slightly bent. Freeze the movement here for a moment.
- Lower the weight, with control, back to the starting position. If you can’t control the descent, you’ll need to swap to a lighter weight.
- While you can allow your traps to help, don’t get into too much of a swinging motion when you’re raising the weight. You want your muscles to be doing the work, not the movement.
- Once you’ve completed the set, move to the dumbbell push press before returning for the next set.
Sets: 3 on each arm
Reps: To failure
8. Cable Face Pulls
Add some pushing and pulling exercises to your shoulder workout routine to get the most out of it. Cable face pulls at the end of each session (not just shoulder days) are a great way to finish strong. They help build muscle and improve posture while also correcting any muscle imbalances. Since this is the last exercise, it can be tough to stay focused. Do your best to stay present and concentrate on the quality of each pull instead of rushing to finish.
Execution
- Stand facing the cable machine with the cable set up high. Your feet should be just a bit wider than your hips, your torso straight, and as always, your core engaged.
- Hold the cables in an overhand grip, and pull them back towards your face. Keep your elbows down next to your body rather than up around your head.
- As you pull, you want to rotate your hands slightly so that your thumbs are pointing back. This will fully work the rotator cuff, incorporating it with your rear deltoid. You should feel the contraction between your shoulder blades.
- Allow the cables to return, with control, to the front, and your arms extended.
Sets: 3
Reps: 15
Building your workout plan
Your shoulders play a role in many different exercises, even when you’re not trying to work them out specifically. This means that you should be moderate in your approach when creating a workout plan that focuses on your shoulders, even if the only equipment you’re using is your own body weight.
Performing pushups too frequently can actually have negative consequences for your shoulder health. It’s better to space them out and only do them a few times a week as part of a fitness routine.
If you mix up your routine by choosing a variety of exercises that work out your front, middle, and rear deltoid muscles, you will be less likely to get bored with your workout.
For the best benefits to your health, focus on exercises involving lots of muscles rather than only targeting one muscle group.
It’s more than just your shoulders.
In other words, the shoulder is not just one joint but part of a larger system that includes the neck, ribs, and scapula.
The shoulder complex includes the humerus (upper arm bone), the clavicle (collarbone), the thoracic region of your spine (upper back), the rib cage, and, perhaps most importantly, the scapula (shoulder blade).
All this complexity gives us a vast range of motion in our upper body, which is great for doing things like Wheel Pose and throwing curveballs. However, this also means that the area is less stable than our hips, which are supported by a “ball-and-socket” joint.
You will have limited motion and stiffness if you use your shoulder muscles too much. All four shoulder joints need to be working correctly to have pain-free movement.
The most effective way to combat stiffness is to keep moving throughout the day – forwards, backward, and side to side. However, if you find yourself feeling stiff by the end of the day, the 16 easy stretches below should help.