Best Shoulder and Arm Exercises for Bigger, More Muscular Arms
Have you ever wished you had a muscular physique with thicker arms and broader shoulders?
Well, you can take consolation in the fact that you are not alone on this. But the secret to making your favorite T-shirts highlight your build doesn’t hinge on the amount of time you spend performing curls with heavy dumbbells in your local gym.
The secret lies in you making the right decision when selecting the shoulder and arm exercises to include in your upper body training program. The secret is also in you executing these exercises with perfect form and technique while periodically challenging the muscles of your shoulders and arms with progressive overload over an extensive period of arm hypertrophy training.
The appearance of your upper body can be significantly enhanced by well developed arms and shoulders. What’s more, you will not require a complex bigger arms workout and shoulder workout for muscle growth routine to achieve expected gains.
What you will need is a well-structured upper body training program that would be diligently executed with good technique and sufficient recovery time that promotes hypertrophy.
In this post, we reveal those shoulder and arm exercises that you can adopt today to build both thicker arms and broader shoulders.
Four Dumbbell Shoulder Exercises for You to Try Out
Build Fuller and Stronger Shoulders with the Dumbbell Shoulder Press Workout
If you want to develop your shoulders, you can try this compound exercise. The dumbbell shoulder press workout will recruit your triceps to target your anterior deltoids in particular.
To begin this exercise, you can either sit down on a back supported bench or you can stand up and firmly plant your feet on the ground to give you balance and support. Next, you may need to hold on to a pair of dumbbells raised to the height of your shoulders. Be sure to brace your core as you press the dumbbells overhead.
As you lower the dumbbells, make sure you do so in a controlled fashion with each rep. Do not excessively arch your lower back or make use of momentum when raising the dumbbells overhead.
You should try out 3 to 4 sets of dumbbell shoulder exercises with anywhere from 6 to 12 reps, but make sure you use dumbbells that are not too heavy, as you need to maintain control during your lifts while always doing so with proper technique.
Remember that your goal is not to just lift dumbbells that are heavy, but rather to give your muscles a proper challenge by ensuring that the repetition of your lifts are controlled.
Develop Broader Shoulders with Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Where having well-rounded shoulders is your preferred goal, then dumbbell lateral raises is one exercise that you really should consider adding to your program of shoulder and arm exercises.
With this workout you target your lateral deltoid muscles which can significantly contribute to the broadening of the width of your shoulders.
You begin this exercise standing on your feet with the dumbbells to either side of your body. Make sure that your elbows are slightly bent and then raise both your arms in an outward motion up until both your upper arms reach shoulder height and then lower the dumbbells slowly to challenge your lateral deltoids.
Avoid trying to lift heavier weights and this mistake can lead to you swinging your torso in order to produce momentum. If you make this mistake, you will soon discover that the dumbbell lateral raises exercise would be much harder for you to control while at the same time offering little challenge to your targeted muscles.
Achieving reps that are consistent should be your goal and to do that you need to use dumbbell weights you can control. Perform between 3 and 4 sets of this shoulder and arm exercise and for 10 to 12 reps.
Perform Dumbbell Biceps Curls A Thicker, Bigger Arms Workout
Your biceps aid in the flexing of your elbows and generally improves your upper arms overall appearance and dumbbell curls is one sure-fire way to get your biceps pumped.
To perform dumbbell curls you need to stand upright with your elbows tucked closely to each side of your body as you perform the curl. Make sure that as the dumbbells are being curled your torso is steady and not rocking backwards.
As you lower the dumbbells make sure that you are in complete control. Don’t leave the curl at the mercy of gravity.
You should attempt 3 sets of dumbbell curl exercise with between 8 and 15 reps per set.
If you want to spice up your workout, you can switch from hammer curls to supinated curls with the former training your brachioradialis and brachialis muscles which contribute to the thickness of both your forearm and upper arm.
The trick is to avoid making your reps a full-body motion and to ensure you maintain consistent tension as you curl.
Overhead Triceps Extensions – One of the Best Biceps and Triceps Exercises to Try Out
The triceps is probably one muscle that an awful lot of lifters tend to overlook. But your triceps make up a greater part of the muscle mass of your upper arm.
So, if thicker arms is what you want, then you will do yourself a whole lot of good by varying your shoulder and arm exercises to not only train your biceps, but also your triceps.
With the overhead triceps extensions, you get to train your triceps and at the same time lengthen the long head at your shoulders.
To perform this workout, you need to securely hold on to a dumbbell with both your hands and then raise the dumbbell overhead bending your elbows in order to lower the dumbbell right behind your head.
To return to your starting position, you simply extend your elbows while your upper arms are kept as stable as possible even as you maintain a range of motion that is reasonably comfortable.
Try doing 3 sets of overhead triceps extensions with between 10 to 15 reps per set. Note that if the overhead position leads to discomfort, you should select a variation of triceps workout that is a bit more tolerable like the cable pushdowns.
Develop Balanced Shoulders with Face Pulls
To build yourself an impressive pair of shoulders, you don’t only need lateral raises and presses, you also need shoulder and arm exercises designed to train your upper-back and rear deltoids muscles. This is where face pulls come in handy.
To perform this workout, you pull a rope handle attached to a cable towards your face doing so with your elbows extending outwards while your shoulders remain stable and controlled.
Don’t use heavy loads to avoid turning the workout into a row. You need to maintain a relatively smooth range of motion throughout.
Perform 3 sets of face pulls with between 12 to 20 reps per set. The beauty of face pulls is that they help to complement pressing workouts and they promote the development of your rotator cuff, rhomboids, trapezius, and posterior deltoid muscles.
A Shoulder and Arm Exercise Structure to Follow
The first thing you need to note is that you really don’t have to execute every single shoulder and arm exercise out there.
A typical shoulder workout for muscle growth session that you could adopt today can consist of 3 sets of 6 to 12 reps of Dumbbell shoulder press, 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps of Dumbbell lateral raises, 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps of Dumbbell biceps curls, 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps of Overhead triceps extensions, and 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps of Face pulls.
Try to rest between sets as this will enable you to maintain perfect form while also promoting a more productive overall performance.
Keep your workload manageable in accordance with your experience level as well as the number of upper body workout you may have done already within your training program.
Final Thoughts
Gaining thicker arms and bigger shoulders is not something you can achieve by simply swinging heavy weights or randomly sampling different shoulder and arms exercises.
You can build an impressive upper body through performing a smart selection of shoulder workout for muscle growth with perfect technique, controlled movement, progressive resistance as well as recovery that is consistent.
Always try to begin your arm hypertrophy training by sticking with the basics. Focus on deliberately training your biceps, triceps and deltoids. As you gradually improve, be sure to adjust your program accordingly and track your progress. Finally, try to train your upper body with a clear plan and purpose by making sure every single rep counts and gives your muscles a fair chance of growth.