Saturday, August 1, 2009

Body Building Workouts, How to Exercise Your Shoulders

By Ricardo d Argence

As any bodybuilder will attest to, developing big shoulders is a crucial aspect of bodybuilding in that it not only looks good when doing various poses, but it also looks good even when you're simply standing. Providing you develop your side deltoids in the correct proportion to your biceps, your arms and biceps will look magnificent.

The shoulder region includes the posterior, medial, and anterior deltoid muscles. If you are including the whole shoulder girdle, then the rotator cuff muscles as well as the upper trapezius are included.

The upper trapezius muscles extend from the back of your neck to the medial deltoid and then down to where they intersect with the middle trapezius. The deep rotator cuff muscles on the other hand, connect various parts of the thoracic region to the front, back, and sides of the humerus.

The posterior deltoid is situated further back on the shoulder just below the lower portion of the upper trapezius muscles. The medial deltoid on the other hand is situated on the outer region of the shoulder with the anterior deltoid muscle being visible on the outside of the pectoral muscles.

As you more than likely already know, each section of the shoulder has a specific function as far as lifting your arms is concerned:- the posterior deltoid makes it possible to move the arm backwards and to rotate it outwards. The anterior deltoid on the other hand makes it possible to move the arm forward, inward, and to rotate it. The medial deltoid is responsible for making it possible to move the arms away from your sides.

When the scapula is moved upward toward the ears, like shrugging your shoulders, the upper trapezius muscle does the job. Lastly, the muscles of the rotator cuff stabilize the arm during movement and allow the arm to rotate.

If you want to develop the shoulder area effectively, then there are numerous exercises you can do, such as: lateral raises, lying lateral raises, military press, bent-over natural raises, behind-the-neck press, and the Arnold press. Furthermore, if you really want spectacular shoulders, then you should include the upright row and the bent-over row.

Ideally, if one wants to develop magnificent shoulders, then you need to have an understanding of how the shoulder actually works, and also how to maintain them. Bear in mind that an injury sustained in the gym will put an immediate end to any progress you may already be making.

Because the rotator cuff muscles are not large strong muscles, they tend to be the most prone to injuries. In order to minimize the risk of injury to these muscles, one should include a certain amount of band work in your workouts.

To minimize injuries be sure that you are using the right amount of weight. You should be able to have control of the weight through the entire movement. If you find that you can only do partial reps or you need to shift the weight around, then the weight is too heavy.

Using too much weight puts too much stress on the shoulder and is likely to cause injury. Be sure that you can maintain the proper technique and use the full range of motion before increasing the weight.

As all bodybuilders will bear testament to; while you'll have to put in a lot of work in order to develop huge shoulders, the results make it well worth it. Because everyone's bodies develop at different rates, it's important to experiment in the beginning in order to determine what's best for you.

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