Shoulders make the man. There is really no way around it. A well developed set of shoulders is the staple in upper body strength and size. Having huge broad shoulders will help in turn to build up the rest of your upper body. With this fact it’s really a mystery why a lot of ego lifters, who spend hours benching and curling, often feel the need to neglect proper shoulder training.

The main muscle that makes up the shoulders is called the deltoid, this muscles has 3 parts to it; the front, side and rear deltoid (anterior, lateral, posterior). When training the shoulders it is important to do a variety of exercises that hit all of these parts of the deltoid, so as to ensure full development of the shoulder.

Developing the front portion of the deltoids can be done through exercises such as the military press, and the front deltoid raise. In order to hit the lateral portion of the deltoids you can use exercises such as the military press, side deltoid raises, and the upright row. Developing the posterior (back) portion of the deltoid’s can be done through exercises such as the lying rear deltoid row and rear deltoid raise.

Military Press
The military press is basically like the bench press in that it is one of those overall mass building exercises. Here is the method on how to execute the military press with proper form.

1. Grab the barbell from the rack or floor and place it in front of yourself.
2. Grip the barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart and your palms facing down.
3. Lift the weight into the starting position, just in front of your neck. Make sure that when you lift the weight off the ground that you keep your back straight, your head facing straight ahead and lift with your legs. This will keep your spine all aligned and help reduce injury.
4. Push the bar up until it is above your head, and your arms are just about fully extended.
5. Pause for a second and then bring it back down to the starting position.

Tips:
-When lifting the weight do not lock your elbows up at the top of the repetition, and do not rest the weight on your chest at the bottom of the repetition. This will help to keep your muscles under constant stress and will give you better results.

-Make sure that you keep your abs tight as much as possible, this will help to keep your back straight and keep you from injuring yourself.

-Never try to mix it up by bringing the weight behind your head instead, this will cause a lot of stress to your rotator cuff as well as lower neck.

Front Deltoid Raise
The front deltoid raise is a perfect isolation exercise that really hits your front delts. This exercise is very easy yet very effective. Below are the steps to correctly perform this exercise.

1. Grab a pair of dumbbells and lifting with your legs, and your back straight bring the dumbbells to your sides.
2. With a hammer like grip slowly bring one of the dumbbells up with your arm bent just a little until your arm is parallel to the floor.
3. Hold for about a second and bring the weight slowly back down to the starting position.
4. Repeat with other side.

Tips:
-Using too much weight will cause your back to take on some of the weight, this can cause back injuries.

-Avoid swinging the weight or using momentum to get the weight up, this is not only going to take away from the effectiveness of the workout, but it could cause injury as well. If you are unable to control the weight you’re lifting too heavy.

-If you find that you are having a hard time keeping your back still, try standing against a wall, this will help to keep your back more stable throughout the exercise.

Side Deltoid Raise
This is basically the same as the front deltoid raise, but instead of bringing the weight out in front of you, you would bring it to the side. This will isolate your lateral (side) deltoid muscles. Below are the actual steps of performing this exercise properly.

1.Grab a pair of dumbbells, and lifting with your legs and keeping your back straight bring the dumbbells to your sides.
2. With your lifting arm bent just a bit at the elbow and your palms facing down slowly bring one of the dumbbells out to the side, until your arm is parallel to the floor.
3. Hold for about a second and bring the weight slowly back down to the starting position.
4. Repeat with other side.

Tips:
-Using too much weight will cause your back to take on some of the weight, this can cause back injuries.

-Avoid swinging the weight or using momentum to get the weight up, this is not only going to take away from the effectiveness of the workout, but it could cause injury as well. If you are unable to control the weight you’re lifting too heavy.

-If you find that you are having a hard time keeping your back still, use less weight.

Upright Row
This is another great compound exercise that will work your entire shoulder. This exercise is very effective, however; if done improperly can cause rotator cuff, or trap injuries. Below are the steps to perform this exercise with proper form.

1. Grasp the barbell with your hands just a bit narrower than shoulder width apart.
2. Using proper form lift the bar up until it is at your pelvic area.
3. Slowly bring the bar up to the middle of your chest.
4. Hold for about a second and then return the weight to the starting position

Tips:
- Using a weight you can handle, this exercise can really cause injury if done improperly because of too much weight.

-To avoid injury do not bring the bar any higher than your upper chest.

-If you find that your wrists are hurting, you can either drop some of the weight or you can try holding the bar with a bit of a wider grip.

Lying Rear Deltoid Row
This exercise focuses on your upper back as well as your rear deltoid muscles. This exercise is performed using the following method.

1. Lay face down on a flat bench.
2. Grasp the barbell with your hands a little wider than shoulder width apart.
3. Keep your upper arms perpendicular to your body; slowly lift the weight until the bar is just below the bottom of the bench or your upper arms are just a bit above parallel to the floor. The bar should be in line with your chin.
4. Hold for a second and then lower the weight back down.

Tips:
-Because the rear deltoid muscles are smaller, they should be worked out with lighter weight and more reps 15-20.

Rear Deltoid Raise
This is pretty much the same idea as the previous exercise except for a few changes. This exercise is performed in the following way. This exercise is hard to explain but its pretty much a reverse pec flye.

1. Sit on a flat bench so that your but is right on the edge of the bench.
2. Bend over so that your back is parallel to the floor.
3. Reach behind your legs and grab hold of the dumbbells.
4. Lift the dumbbells in an upward fashion until your upper arms are parallel with the floor.
5. Hold for a second then bring the weight back down to the starting position.