Shoulder Exercise (Part 2)

Bent over dumbbell real delt

How To Do Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise With Head On Bench
Starting position: Stand up straight while holding a dumbbell in each hand and with an incline bench in front of you.
While keeping your back straight and maintaining the natural arch of your back, lean forward until your forehead touches the bench in front of you. Let the arms hang in front of you perpendicular to the ground. The palms of your hands should be facing each other and your torso should be parallel to the floor.
Keeping your torso forward and stationary, and the arms straight with a slight bend at the elbows, lift the dumbbells straight to the side until both arms are parallel to the floor. Exhale as you lift the weights.

Warning: avoid swinging the torso or bringing the arms back as opposed to the side.

After a one second contraction at the top, slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position

Variations: This exercise can also be performed with cables or seating.

Low pulley side lateral

How To Do The Low-Pulley Side Lateral
Starting position: Select a weight and hold the handle of the low pulley with your right hand.
Bend at the waist until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor. Your legs should be slightly bent with your left hand placed on your lower left thigh. Your right arm should be hanging from your shoulder in front of you and with a slight bend at the elbow.

Raise your right arm, elbow slightly bent, to the side until the arm is parallel to the floor and in line with your right ear. Breathe out as you perform this step.
Slowly lower the weight back to the starting position as you breathe in.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions and repeat the movement with the other arm.

Variations: You can perform this exercise with dumbbells or exercise bands.

Single arm shoulder press

How To Do The Single Arm Shoulder Press
Starting position: Grab a dumbbell and either sit on a military press bench or a utility bench that has a back support on it as you place the dumbbells upright on top of your thighs or stand up straight.
Clean the dumbbell up to bring it to shoulder height. The other hand can be kept fully extended to the side, by the waist or grabbing a fixed surface.
Rotate the wrist so that the palm of your hand is facing forward.
As you exhale, push the dumbbell up until your arm is fully extended.
After a second pause, slowly come down back to the starting position as you inhale.

Variations: You can perform the exercise standing or sitting on a regular flat bench. For people with lower back problems, the version described is the recommended one.

You can also perform the exercise as Arnold Schwarzenegger used to do it, which is to start holding the dumbbells with a supinated grip (palms facing you) in front of your shoulders and then, as you start pushing up, you align the dumbbells in the starting position described on step 3 by rotating your wrists and touch the dumbbells at the top. As you come down, then you would go back to the starting position by rotating the wrist throughout the lowering portion until the palms of your hands are facing you. This variation is called the Arnold Press. However, it is not recommended if you have rotator cuff problems.

One arm upright row

How To Do The One-Arm Upright Row
Starting position: Grab a dumbbell and stand up straight with your arm extended in front of you with a slight bend at the elbows and your back straight.
Tip: The dumbbell should be resting on top of your thigh with the palm of your hands facing your thighs.
The other hand can be kept fully extended to the side, by the waist or grabbing a fixed surface.

Use your side shoulders to lift the dumbbell as you exhale. The dumbbell should be close to the body as you move it up. Continue to lift it until the dumbbell is nearly in line with your chin.
Tip: Your elbows should drive the motion. As you lift the dumbbell, your elbow should always be higher than your forearm. Also, keep your torso stationary and pause for a second at the top of the movement.
Lower the dumbbell back down slowly to the starting position. Inhale as you perform this portion of the movement.

Warning: Be very careful with how much weight you use in this exercise. Too much weight leads to bad form, which in turn can cause shoulder injury. Also, if you suffer from shoulder problems, you may want to stay away from upright rows and substitute by some form of lateral raises.

Variations: This exercise can also be performed using a straight bar attached to a low pulley and it can also be performed using an e-z bar, cables and exercise band.

Front dumbbell raise

How To Do The Front Dumbbell Raise
Starting position: Pick a couple of dumbbells and stand with a straight torso and the dumbbells on front of your thighs at arms length with the palms of the hand facing your thighs.

While maintaining the torso stationary (no swinging), lift the left dumbbell to the front with a slight bend on the elbow and the palms of the hands always facing down. Continue to go up until you arm is slightly above parallel to the floor. Exhale as you execute this portion of the movement and pause for a second at the top. Inhale after the second pause.
Now lower the dumbbell back down slowly to the starting position as you simultaneously lift the right dumbbell.
Continue alternating in this fashion until all of the recommended amount of repetitions have been performed for each arm.

Variations: This exercise can also be performed both arms at the same time. Also, you could use a barbell as well.

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