Shoulders exercises with instructions

The shoulder has three heads pulling in three directions: front delt, side delt and rear delt.

The front head raises the arm forward and assists on every press — bench press as much as overhead press. It gets more work in most plans than its owner thinks. The side head raises the arm out to the side; no pressing movement hits it meaningfully, so it needs direct work, usually lateral raises. The rear head pulls the arm back and assists on rows and face pulls.

That gives one of the few rules that holds for almost any plan: the front head rarely needs extra work, the side and rear heads almost always do.

What matters in execution. A lateral raise is not a strength lift with momentum. The arm goes to shoulder height, under control, with a weight that moves without a swing. On overhead presses the torso stays braced; arch your back and you are pressing from the chest, not the shoulder. And let the shoulder blades move — locking them down is wrong overhead.

How much per week. Roughly 10 to 20 sets for the group, but split sensibly: the side and rear heads take the larger share, because nothing else reaches them.

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