Shoulders Above The Rest

While the lure of a season sans sleeves might have most people focused on working their biceps and triceps, wed like to turn your attention elsewhere: your shoulders.

- K. Aleisha Fetters

For a strong, sculpted upper body, most of us tend to up the training focus on our arms. Turns out, it’s our shoulders that help deliver serious results. Why? As one of the most muscular and metabolically active areas in this region of the body, they have the biggest impact on overall exercise performance and also on our metabolic rate. So, whatever fitness goals you’re aiming for – whether that’s a pull-up PB, finally acing a handstand in yoga or crushing your tennis serve – your chances of success rest squarely on, well, your shoulders. “Even something like a deadlift, which you might not think of as an upperbody exercise, requires strong shoulders,” says exercise physiologist Dr Mike T Nelson. “If you can’t stabilise the load as you come up, you’re going to have some issues.” Or you might not even be able to get the weight safely off the floor at all. Sculpting your shoulders will reshape and define your upper half, improve your posture, chisel your arms and make you feel strong. Let’s get to work.

Sculpt and strengthen

For shoulders that are as powerful as Adele’s lungs, try this routine. By mixing mobility with moves designed to sculpt and shape, it crosses everything off your list in 30 minutes flat. Do the following workout twice a week. Ready?

1 Resistance band shoulder rotation