The Best Shoulder Exercises For Women
There are more and more women working out each day at the gym. However, most of them don’t know that in order to complete their intense sessions, they must do shoulder exercises too. On many occasions, shoulder exercises are forgotten.
Without a doubt, the best shoulder exercises for women at the gym must be performed with light weights, and include several repetitions. It’s ideal to mix training with dumbbells, pulleys, your own body weight, and elastic bands. You can also use machines to tone and strengthen your shoulders.
In order to offer you some ideas on how to complete your training sessions, we’ve prepared a list of what we think are the best shoulder exercises for women. Take note and choose your favorites!
Five shoulder exercises for women
1. Front weight lifting
The first shoulder exercise that we will show you is known as the front weightlifting exercise. It’s an ideal exercise to start with. We recommend that you don’t start with a lot of weight, in the beginning, to avoid hurting yourself.
To start, take a dumbbell in each of your hands and stand with your legs hip-width apart. Put your hands on your sides and your palms on the front part of your thighs. Keep your hands straight and then raise them, stopping as they reach shoulder height. Afterward, lower your arms to the start position to end one repetition. We advise you to be careful with your back while you lift the dumbbell.
2. Bent over lateral raise
Secondly, we present the bent over lateral raise; an exercise that works the back areas of your deltoid muscles. Besides, you’ll not only tone and shape your shoulders, but you’ll also improve your posture and relieve pressure on your back and neck.
To do this exercise, stand up with your feet shoulder-width apart and light dumbbells in both hands. Keep a neutral position with your spine and then bend over until your chest is at a 45-degree angle, in respect to the floor. With your arms straight, pivot from the joints in your shoulders to take the dumbbells to your sides until they’re at shoulder-height.
The endurance you use at the gym and the endurance you use in life can only build a strong character.
3. Side lifting with a low pulley
Side lifting with a low pulley is a good exercise to tone women’s shoulders. It’s a simple exercise that can take a bit longer than others because you have to train both of your shoulders independently.
You must start by standing in front of the pulley machine, then bend your waist until your torso is almost parallel to the floor. Grab the handle of the cable with the hand that’s furthest away from the machine, and raise your arm until you reach the height of your shoulder. Make a one second stop to lower the weight slowly, so you can avoid injuries.
4. Push-ups
In fourth place, we present a popular and well-known exercise that allows you to train most of your muscles with your own body weight. Among other parts of your body, push-ups allow you to strengthen your shoulders, deltoids, and triceps.
As you may know, you must start in a horizontal position with your hands directly under your shoulders. Keep your body in a straight line from your head to your heels. Then, bend your elbows to the sides and lower your body to the floor while you hold all of your body weight. To finish a repetition, you must raise your body with your arms until you’re in the start position again.
5. Dumbbell lateral raises
The last exercises on our list are dumbbell lateral raises. To do them, you must stand up with one dumbbell in each hand and your feet slightly apart.
Afterward, raise your arms to the sides, keeping a light curve in your elbows, until they reach the height of your shoulders. Don’t forget that during this exercise your movements must be slow. Regarding the weight, don’t force yourself in order to avoid injuries. We recommend that you increase the weight and intensity gradually.
Finally, don’t forget that before you perform these shoulder exercises for women, is really important that you warm up in order to reduce the risk of injury.