Some Bodyweight Exercises To Build Strong Shoulders (Intermediate Level)

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If you like the idea of building muscle and strength using only your body weight having the ability to train anywhere, anytime then you should definitely try these body weight shoulder exercises. These are guaranteed to exhaust your shoulders and develop huge deltoids. A word of caution though that these exercises may not be suitable for beginners.

Muscle Anatomy: Deltoids (Shoulders) have three heads. Anterior (Front part of shoulder), medial or lateral (middle part) and posterior deltoid ( rear part). In order to develop all three heads we need to work them from all angles.

Let's get straight into some exercises:-

Pike Push-up:
Start in a push-up position and walk in towards the hands keeping the hips relatively stacked over the shoulder. from here lower down leaning forward. Then push upward maintaining the weight on your toes opening your shoulder and shrugging upwards toward the ears. Make the exercise harder by elevating the feet. This will force you to push more of your body weight. Don't shorten your range of motion by pressing into a close shoulder angle and forgetting to shrug upwards. Work this one for larger volume.
How much: 3 sets, 8-12 repetitions.

Circle Pike Push-up
This is the next level of pike push-up making it much more difficult. This makes your shoulder workout more functional. It puts tremendous overload on each shoulder individually and also works as a great isolation exercise. You need to go clockwise and counter clockwise to complete the circle. Keep your legs straight and glutes high to maintain tension throughout.
How much 3 sets of 10 circles (5 clock, 5 counter-clock)

Pseudo Planch Push-up
When doing this exercise Straighten the body, lean forward and maintain the forward lean through out the range. Keep the hips slightly below the shoulders to maximize tension on the delts. The more forward you lean the more challenging the exercise will be . Using push-up handle makes it easier to lean forward as most people are limited in wrist extension, including myself. Please don't let your lower back sink and and make a crescent shape. This will be more challenging if the technique is strict, Go slow on eccentric(lengthening of muscle), controlled concentric(shortening of muscle) and a small pause at the top keeping arms straight.
How much 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions

Reverse Iron Cross:
This one works the rear delt. For this exercise you need to lie on your back. Stretch your arms outward and keep your fists pressing against the floor. Raise your upper back so much so that the upper traps and elbows are not touching the ground. Hold that position for 2-3 seconds. This will increase the tension on the deltoids. Do 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

Planch Lean Isometric:
To completely exhaust the shoulder muscle, ensure you lean forward as far as you can possibly handle while maintaining a straight body and straight arm. Don't cheat yourself. Work hard to lean forward for about 15 seconds.
How much 3 sets of 15 seconds hold should be enough.

Bodyweight exercises are great because they make you independent as they can be performed anywhere. Being more functional in nature they also help in losing body fat. Do incorporate them in your exercise arsenal for greater benefits. That's all for this post. See you in the next one.
Peace!

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