How to Build Big Shoulders

Bodyweight Training, How to Build Muscle

Question: Jason, I have a question about how to build big shoulders. Actually two, first of all, what are the best exercises for building big, powerful shoulders? Secondly should I do direct shoulder work or not? Some people say that the shoulders get worked enough with upper body exercises so I don’t need to train them at all.

Answer: First of all, yes, you should train the shoulders directly. You don’t need to do 25 sets of lateral raises in every direction, though. Stick with a few of the big, basic pressing exercises and your shoulders will be good. In fact, by regularly incorporating overhead work you will find that your shoulders find better, more stable and stronger. It will also help increase your bench press as well.

I have two favorite exercises for building big shoulders. The first is the barbell hang clean and push press. Perform this exercise by bending over with a barbell in your hands and a shoulder width grip. Start with the barbell just above your knees and be sure to maintain perfect posture with your head in line with your spine, chest up and back arched. Initiate by driving your hips forward and shrugging your shoulders. Pull the bar to your upper chest and catch it there by dipping at the knees slightly. Stand up all the way by powerfully exploding up out of the slight squat position that you caught the bar in and immediately press the bar straight up overhead to lockout, using the momentum generated by your legs. This exercise should typically be performed for 3-8 sets of 3-6 reps.

A great variation of this can be done with one dumbbell. This allows for more natural motion since your arms aren’t locked into a fixed range with the barbell. It’s also a lot easier to learn and a bit safer. Whether you use a barbell, dumbbell or kettlebell doesn’t really matter in the end, as long as you use this powerful shoulder building exercise. It will not only build big delts but also pack size on the traps and upper back while simultaneously developing explosive power.

No discussion about how to build big shoulders would be complete without mentioning the handstand pushup. This is as difficult as it sounds but can be modified for novice or intermediate lifters. The easiest way to work up to a handstand pushup is to start by simply holding the position for time while you keep your feet up against the wall. When you can easily hold your bodyweight for sixty seconds start working eccentric only reps. Do five singles and take five seconds to lower yourself. Do these twice per week and work up to doing five sets of three, lowering in 6-8 seconds. After doing that for a few weeks you will be able to get your first rep on your own.

Once you can do 8-10 reps it will be time to start increasing the range of motion. To do this place your hands on boxes and lower your head between them. Ideally you would want to start with thin rubber mats and add one every couple of weeks. If you don’t have that ability, stack some magazines or something in between the boxes to increase the range gradually. Once you can do a set of 6-8 reps with your head all the way down between the boxes you should have some pretty massive shoulder development, not to mention some overall full body strength and athleticism.

Some other great shoulder building exercises are standing military presses with a barbell or dumbbells. Push presses are also an outstanding shoulder building exercise as well as an outstanding way to develop explosive power.

Now you know how to build big shoulders.

PS. For an awesome 16 week program that incorporates the push press and takes you through full progressions for the handstand pushup check out Uncaged… one of my most popular and bad ass programs ever created!