Workout 25: Shoulders

Shoulder Exercises

1. Seated Dumbbell Press

1. Sit on a military press bench, or any utility bench that has a back support, and hold two dumbbells upright on the top of your thighs.
2. With your palms facing each other, lift the dumbbells up (one at a time) to shoulder-level.
3. Then, rotate your wrists so that your palms are facing upward toward the ceiling.
4. Press your dumbbells up and toward each other, without jerking your back. 
5. Slowly lower them until they return to the starting position.

2. Lateral Dumbbell Raise

1. Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and dumbbells aligned with your feet at arm's length. Make sure your palms are facing inward towards your sides.
2. Keep your torso stationary and raise the dumbbells to your side with a slight bend at your elbow. Lift your arms until they are slightly parallel to the ground, or around shoulder-level, and pause for a second at the top.
3. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

3. Front Dumbbell Raise

1. Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart. Grasp one dumbbell with each hand so that your palms are facing inward and hands are against your thighs.
2. While keeping your torso stationary, lift the dumbbells in front of you with a straight arm or slightly bent elbow. Continue to raise the dumbbell until your arm is slightly above parallel to the ground or around shoulder-level. 
3. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

4. Reverse Fly

1. On the reverse fly machine (which sometimes doubles as a chest fly machine), adjust the handles so that they are fully facing the rear (closest together). Adjust the seat height to make the handles at your shoulder-level. Sit on the seat with your chest against the pad and grasp the handles with your palms facing inwards. 
2. Pull your hands out to your sides and back as far as possible. This should make a semicircular motion where you should feel a stretch in your shoulders. 
3. Pause at the back of the movement, and slowly return the weight to the starting position.

5. Face Pull

1. Stand in front of a medium-height rotating pulley and grab each side of the rope attachment. 
2. Step back away from the machine until your arms are fully extended in front of you. 
3. Your feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart and with a soft bend in your knees.
4. Brace core and drive elbows past back, while pulling the rope handles slightly outside of your ears. 
5. Hold and contract shoulder blades together.

6. Wide Grip Smith Machine Upright Row

1. Set the bar on the smith machine to a height that is around the middle of your thighs. Grab the bar with both hands, wider than shoulder-width apart. 
2. Lift the barbell up and fully extend your arms so that your arms are straight but you’re holding the weighted bar. 
3. Use your side shoulders to lift the bar.. The bar should be close to the body as you move it up. Continue to lift it until it nearly touches your chin. Drive your elbows up towards the ceiling to ensure you’re using your shoulder. 
4. Slowly lower the bar back down slowly to the starting position.  
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.