3 best exercises for shoulders on the bar: exercise technique, photos and videos

The shoulder muscles are made up of three heads – the anterior, middle and posterior deltoids. Each head of the deltoid muscle has a specific function. Knowing this, we can choose exercises that will maximize the effectiveness of the deltoids.

For the most effective work of the anterior deltoid muscle, it is necessary to lift a dumbbell in front of you.
For the most effective work of the middle deltoid muscle you should lift a dumbbell to the sides with the elbow up.
To most effectively work the posterior deltoid muscle, you should lift a dumbbell to the side and back with the elbow back and up.

It is best to pump the shoulder muscles with a barbell, dumbbells or in an exercise machine. But you don’t always have the necessary equipment, and you want to train. Let’s see how to engage the shoulder muscles on the bar and bars.

They will help you strengthen your shoulders and upper shoulder girdle. However, if you want to purposefully increase the volume of your shoulders, then the bar and bars are not the most effective way, because the load is distributed among a large volume of muscles.

When doing pull-ups, the main load falls on the back muscles and biceps, and only then – on the back delta. The bar will strengthen ligaments and tendons and add a lot of strength. Even if you pull up with different grips, the load on the delta will be too small for it to increase in size.

When doing push-ups on the bars, the main load is on the chest muscles, triceps and front delts. When doing push-ups on the bars, the front delts are not badly engaged, but still the load is too diffuse if you aim to increase the delts in volume.

Kazalo vsebine

What’s important to know before training your shoulders?

Shoulder muscles are actively engaged on various basic exercises. For example, the anterior delts are engaged during bench presses, dumbbell presses and push-ups. The rear delts are actively engaged when we do pull-ups, barbell pulls to the waist, dumbbell pulls to the waist, hammer pulls and any other pulling exercises.

It is very important to properly distribute the training load and choose a day to pump the delts, so that they have time to recover from the last workout. If the shoulders are constantly overworked, there will be no growth. Two workouts in seven days, in which the load is placed on the shoulders accentuated or indirectly, will be enough to increase the delts in volume.

How to increase the effectiveness of shoulder training?

We recommend that you approach shoulder training wisely, because athletes who engage in strength training often suffer from them. This is expressed in pain, swelling, discomfort, decreased strength, inability to do the exercise in full amplitude.

The causes may be different. For example, poor recovery after training, long-standing shoulder injuries, incorrect technique of exercises and much more.

Before you start loading deltoid muscles, do a 7-10 minute joint warm-up. This will help warm up the joints and prepare them for the work ahead. Also do special exercises that strengthen the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder.

The 3 best exercises on the bar and horizontal bar to pump up the shoulders

Pull-ups with a medium grip

The main load is on the muscles of the back, biceps and posterior delta of the shoulder.

Tehnika:

Grab the bar with hands shoulder-width apart.
Before pulling up, slightly tense the shoulder blades, lower them down and bring them together. Push your chest forward.
As you exhale, pull the upper part of the chest to the bar with a powerful movement. Try to squeeze the bar firmly to better engage the muscles of the arms.
We make the movement by pulling back the elbows. The shoulder blades are in tension throughout the exercise.
As you inhale, slowly lower yourself to the starting position.

Perform three approaches of 7-10 repetitions. Rest between them – 1-2 minutes.

Push-ups on the bars

The main load is on the pectoral muscles, triceps and anterior delts of the shoulder.

Tehnika:

Grasp the bars firmly, the body is flat. Neck, back and hips are in line. Feet together.
Lock your shoulder blades and lower them down. Elbows point backward.
As you inhale, slowly lower the body to the lowest point, bending the elbows to a 90-degree angle. Do not throw the body down.
As you exhale, powerfully straighten your arms, lifting your body to the top point. Jerks are not allowed.

Perform three approaches of 10-15 times. Rest between them – 1-2 minutes.

Wide grip pull-ups

The main load is on the muscles of the back and the posterior delta of the shoulder.

Tehnika:

Grab the bar with hands much wider than shoulder width.
Before pulling up, slightly tense the shoulder blades, lower them down and bring them together. Put your chest forward.
On exhalation pull the upper part of the chest to the bar with a powerful movement.
Make the movement by withdrawing the elbows. Try to minimize the bending of the arms at the elbows. The shoulder blades are in tension throughout the exercise.
As you inhale, slowly lower yourself back to the starting position.

Perform three approaches of 7-10 repetitions. Rest between them – 1-2 minutes.

How to pump up the shoulders on the bars and the bar?

You can’t pump up your shoulders on the bars and the bar. If you have little training experience or you are a beginner, at first you will be able to build up a minimal amount of meat on the shoulders, strengthen ligaments and tendons. You will generally develop your upper body, but no matter how you try to experiment – the bars and the bar are designed to train the pecs, back muscles, biceps, triceps and forearms.

The best solution is to include exercises that specifically load the delts. For example, barbell presses, kettlebell presses, dumbbell presses, kettlebell snatch, various dumbbell presses and many others. We recommend choosing 3-4 exercises and working all three bunches at the same time in one training day. You can work your shoulders separately or combine them with leg training.