Targeting all three deltoid heads is crucial for shoulder growth.
The deltoids are crucial upper body muscles that enhance appearance and contribute to a balanced physique. You engage your deltoid muscles daily through pushing or pulling movements involving your chest, arms, and upper back.
Training your deltoids is vital for maintaining shoulder health, improving core strength, and increasing your range of motion. More importantly, using the right equipment and exercises is essential for developing bigger, stronger, well-defined, and broad shoulders. This article will explore effective workouts for building deltoid muscles, delve into the anatomy of the delts, and emphasize the significance of shoulder training. Let’s dive in!
Overview — What Are Deltoid Muscles?
“Delts” is another way to refer to deltoid muscles. They’re at the top of your shoulders and enable arm movement in various directions. The delts are an essential part of the shoulder region that stabilizes and helps attach the shoulder girdle to the arm. The deltoid muscles take the form of an inverted triangle and are made up of the following three muscles:
- Anterior Deltoid
- Lateral Deltoid
- Posterior Deltoid
Anterior Deltoid
They’re also called front delts and are one of the biggest among the three delts. The anterior deltoid is in the front, allowing the arm to move upward, forward, and inward. It enables daily activities like shaking hands, writing, reaching, and pushing.
Lateral Deltoid
The lateral deltoids, also known as the side delts, are located at the sides of the shoulders. It allows you to raise your arms to the sides, away from the body.
Posterior Deltoid
The posterior deltoids, also known as the rear delts, are at the back of your shoulders and enable you to move your arm outwards and back. They’re engaged when you want to throw something or try to reach behind your back. The posterior delt or rear delt is one of the least trained muscles of the three delts.
How Do You Train the Deltoid Muscles?
Since the deltoid muscles are divided into three parts, it’s vital to perform workouts targeting all three shoulder heads. Targeting the three heads of the shoulder will give you that 3D-looking, well-rounded broad shoulders.
Your choice of equipment is also essential. You can use different equipment to train your deltoid muscles, including:
Effective Deltoid Workouts for Shoulder Growth
Most athletes pick exercises that work the anterior and lateral deltoids when performing shoulder workouts, ignoring the posterior deltoids. Below are exercises carefully curated to train the delts holistically.
Face Pull
The face pull is a great pull exercise that primarily works your rear delts. It also recruits other secondary muscles like the traps, rotator cuffs, rhomboids, and core muscles. Working these muscles builds better shoulder stability, improved posture, and overall shoulder and back strength.
How To Perform Face Pull
- Stand before the cable machine and set the pulley to your face level.
- Keep your torso straight with a slight bend in your knees.
- Grab the rope handle with both hands and keep tension on the cable. This is your starting position.
- Next, pull your hand towards your face, fully flaring out your elbows, and hold for about two seconds.
- In a slow and controlled manner, return your hands to the starting position to complete a rep.
- Repeat this for as many reps as you desire.
Seated Overhead Press
You can perform the seated overhead press with free weights or machines. However, this guide focuses on doing it with a Smith machine because of the added benefit of the extra stability. The seated overhead press works the front and lateral delts and recruits secondary muscles, like the traps, triceps, pecs, and core muscles (1).
How To Perform the Seated Overhead Press
- Place the seat in the middle of the Smith machine and rest your head and back.
- Grab the bar with an overhand wide grip (shoulder-width apart) and lift the bar from the lock. This is your starting position.
- Next, lower the bar below the chin by bending your elbows.
- Immediately extend your arms and elbows slowly back to the starting position to finish one rep.
- Perform for as many reps as you desire.
Cable Lateral Raise
This exercise primarily works the side delts while activating the anterior delts and traps. This equipment’s constant tension places pressure on target muscles, inducing muscle hypertrophy (2). Cable lateral raises employ a unilateral movement that allows you to reach each side of your body. This increases your mind-muscle connection, which is good for muscle growth. It also allows you to address muscle and strength imbalances and prevent injuries.
How To Perform Cable Lateral Raises
- Stand by a pulley machine with your feet shoulder-width apart and place your idle hand on the machine for support.
- Reach across your body and grab the pulley. Slightly bend your elbows as you lift the cable slowly to shoulder level. Stay in this position for about three to four seconds and return the cable to the starting position.
- Repeat this action for as many reps as you desire.
Dumbbell Bent-Over Reverse Fly
Dumbbell bent-over reverse fly is an excellent exercise for building great shoulders. This isolation exercise works the rear delts and requires stability using core muscles, such as the abs and obliques.
How To Perform the Dumbbell Bent-Over Reverse Fly
- Hinge at your hips until your torso is almost parallel to the floor, and grab a pair of dumbbells with a neutral grip. This is your starting position.
- Next, take a deep breath and lift the dumbbells to your side while slightly bending your elbows. Hold this position for about two seconds.
- Finally, lower the dumbbells slowly and in a controlled manner back to the starting position.
- Repeat this action for as many reps as you desire.
Other shoulder-building exercises to also try include:
Conclusion
Strengthening your deltoids is crucial for shoulder health. This guide offers valuable insights and essential deltoid workouts designed to develop well-balanced shoulders. Consider dedicating some time to incorporate these exercises into your upcoming workouts!
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References
- Coratella, G., Tornatore, G., Longo, S., Esposito, F., & Cè, E. (2022). Front vs Back and Barbell vs Machine Overhead Press: An Electromyographic Analysis and Implications For Resistance Training. Frontiers in physiology, 13, 825880. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.825880
- Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
