Building Muscle 101's Beginner Shoulder WorkoutWelcome to building muscle 101's beginner shoulder routine. I hope you enjoyed the beginner shoulder routine with Tori. Tori is one of our in house certified professional trainers who really knows her stuff. Thank you Tori! You can do this routine once or twice per week. Remember, if you choose to do this routine twice per week, make sure you give your shoulders at least 4 days of rest in between each workout. That way, the deltoid muscles of the shoulders are fully recovered. For example, if you perform this routine on a Monday, the next time you should be using this routine is on Friday. Before we get started with the beginner shoulder routine, I strongly suggest you do a 5 minute, general warm up with an aerobic exercise of your choice. That can be an exercise bike, elliptical trainer, treadmill, stair stepper or other aerobic exercises that will warm up your body. Remember to always plenty of water during exercise. Try and take a small water bottle with you to the gym. Let’s get started with the routine. Once you’ve finished that, let’s head over to our first exercise, the seated dumbbell shoulder press. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press To start, we are going to do the seated dumbbell shoulder press. This is an effective compound exercise that directly targets the side and front deltoid muscles as well as the triceps muscles of the arm. First, let’s get into position for the seated dumbbell press. I recommend that you use a bench with back support for this exercise. This way, you can take a little bit of the pressure off of your lower back. In a seated position with your feet firmly planted on the floor, grasp two dumbbells with both hands. Curl the weight up to the shoulder area. Hold the dumbbells at shoulder level. Keep your back straight and your head up. Make sure you rotate your palms so they are facing forward. Now that we are in the correct position, inhale and press the dumbbells simultaneously upwards to the overhead position without locking the elbows. Pause for a moment and concentrate on contracting the deltoid muscles. To complete the rep, exhale and slowly lower the weight down and repeat the movement. Do not arch the back and remember to keep the movement fluent, slow, and controlled. Try doing 2 sets of 12 repetitions for this exercise. For the rest periods, you want to ensure that your muscle is recovered before attempting another set. Generally, a 30 to 40 second rest will suffice. Once you’ve finished the seated dumbbell press, we can go over to our next exercise which is the side dumbbell lateral. Remember, drink a lot of water while you are exercising.
Side Dumbbell Laterals The side dumbbell lateral raise is a great exercise that focuses its development of the front and outer deltoid heads of the shoulder. Since form is very important in this exercise, you should use lighter than normal dumbbells. First, let’s get into position for the side dumbbell lateral. Start the exercise by standing with your feet about 18 inches apart, just about shoulder length apart. Grasp the dumbbells and bring them to your sides with the palms facing each other. The arms must be bent in order to stress the lateral deltoids, roughly a 10 to 15 degree angle. To perform the exercise, keep the elbows slightly bent and raise the dumbbells in an arc from the side of your body to level with your head. Hold and focus the contraction and slowly lower the dumbbells back to the start position. Always keep the movement fluent, slow, and controlled. Try doing 2 sets of 12 repetitions. For the rest periods, you want to ensure that your muscle is recovered before attempting another set. Generally, a 30 to 40 second rest will suffice. Once you’ve finished the side dumbbell lateral, we can go over to our next exercise which is the bent over deltoid raise. Seated Bent Over Deltoid Raise Our last exercise is the bent over deltoid raise. As with most shoulder and chest pressing movements, the front and side deltoids receives the majority of attention. However, it’s important to note that we must effectively exercise the rear deltoid muscle for an overall balanced development. The bent over deltoid raise will target the rear deltoid muscle. Since form is very important in this exercise, you should use lighter than normal dumbbells. Let’s get into position for this exercise. While seated, make sure your feet are firmly planted on the floor and the ankles almost touching each other. With both hands, grasp a pair dumbbells. Bend over until your body is roughly parallel to the ground or slightly above. Your chest should almost be touching your thighs. To perform this exercise, in a controlled fashion, raise the dumbbells with both hands using your shoulders, out and away from the body. You should raise the dumbbells to each side until they are parallel with the upper back. Pause for a moment and slowly lower the weight to the initial position. Inhale on the up cycle, and exhale on the down cycle. Try doing 2 sets of 12 repetitions For the rest periods, you want to ensure that your muscle is recovered before attempting another set. Generally, a 30 to 40 second rest will suffice. Alright, that’s it for our beginner shoulder routine. Now, I would suggest doing another 5 to 10 minutes of light cardio to cool your body down from the training routine. For those of you who don’t yet know what some of the terms are in the video, let’s go over the basic ones: • What Is A Repetition? One repetition consists of a series of muscle contractions with a weight or movement such as one sit up or push up. A series of repetitions is called a set. For example, 10 repetitions of push ups is considered one set. • What Is A Set? A set is a series of repetitions. For example, 10 repetitions of sit ups for example is considered 1 set. 10 repetitions followed by a brief rest and another series of 10 repetitions is called 2 sets of 10 repetitions for a total of 20 repetitions. Often indicated as: 2 x 10 repetitions, as in the video. • How Much Water Should I Be Drinking? You should have at least 2 eight ounce glasses of water 20 to 30 minutes before you workout. Drink one cup of water for every 15 minutes of exercise and more in extreme temperatures. Make regular water breaks a part of your training. In terms of drinking water after your exercise, you should drink 2 to 3 cups of water within two hours after exercise. Continue to drink and additional 30 to 50 percent more fluid for the next 3 to 4 hours. • How Should I Be Breathing? Inhale going up and exhale going down. This is very important! You must practice breathing properly when you are exercising. Really concentrate on your breathing.
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