Seated dumbbell press
1. Grasp two dumbbells and sit down on a bench.
2. Place your feet firmly on the ground, press your back against the bench and curl the weight up to the shoulder area. Hold the dumbbells beside your torso at shoulder level.
3. Press the dumbbells simultaneously upwards to an overhead position with your palms facing forward. (At the top position, the dumbbells can lightly touch each other.)
4. Slowly lower the weight down to shoulder level. Keep your back firmly pressed against the bench throughout the exercise.
Muscles Targeted: This is a compound exercise that directly hits the front deltoids as well as the sides. Secondary muscle groups are the triceps and trapezius muscle.
2. Place your feet firmly on the ground, press your back against the bench and curl the weight up to the shoulder area. Hold the dumbbells beside your torso at shoulder level.
3. Press the dumbbells simultaneously upwards to an overhead position with your palms facing forward. (At the top position, the dumbbells can lightly touch each other.)
4. Slowly lower the weight down to shoulder level. Keep your back firmly pressed against the bench throughout the exercise.
Muscles Targeted: This is a compound exercise that directly hits the front deltoids as well as the sides. Secondary muscle groups are the triceps and trapezius muscle.
Front raises
1. Grasp two light dumbbells and stand firmly with your feet roughly shoulder width apart.
2. Lift one dumbbell with your arm in front of your body until the palm is just above shoulder height. While performing this movement, make sure to keep your back straight and avoid swinging the weight up. (Your shoulders are supposed to do the work, not your core!)
3. Slowly lower the dumbbell back to its starting position.
Muscles Targeted: The alternate front dumbbell raise is an exercise that isolates and hits the front deltoid (shoulder). This is a great exercise for those of you who want to really develop the front of the shoulders.
2. Lift one dumbbell with your arm in front of your body until the palm is just above shoulder height. While performing this movement, make sure to keep your back straight and avoid swinging the weight up. (Your shoulders are supposed to do the work, not your core!)
3. Slowly lower the dumbbell back to its starting position.
Muscles Targeted: The alternate front dumbbell raise is an exercise that isolates and hits the front deltoid (shoulder). This is a great exercise for those of you who want to really develop the front of the shoulders.
Lateral raises
1. Grasp two light dumbbells and sit down on a bench. Your feet should be placed shoulder width apart with your back pressed firmly against the bench.
2. Keep your elbows slightly bent while raising the dumbbells in an arc from the side of your body to shoulder level.
3. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the start position.
Muscles Targeted: With the shoulder in neutral rotation, the lateral raises primarily target the middle head of the deltoid. The anterior (front) and posterior (back) heads of the deltoid will also co-contract to aid in the abduction function.
2. Keep your elbows slightly bent while raising the dumbbells in an arc from the side of your body to shoulder level.
3. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the start position.
Muscles Targeted: With the shoulder in neutral rotation, the lateral raises primarily target the middle head of the deltoid. The anterior (front) and posterior (back) heads of the deltoid will also co-contract to aid in the abduction function.
Bent-over lateral raises (Reverse flyes)
1. Grasping two light dumbbells, sit down on the very edge of a bench and place your feet in front of you.
2. Bend over until your upper body is parallel to the ground. Keep your back straight while doing so. (Your hands should be underneath your thighs and behind your knees so that the dumbbells are hanging parallel down.)
3. Slowly raise the dumbbells out and away from the body until they are parallel with the upper back.
4. Lower the weight to starting position.
Muscles Targeted: If the lateral raise is performed with the shoulder is laterally (externally, outwardly) rotated, the anterior deltoid becomes the prime mover of the glenohumeral joint, the posterior deltoid de-activates, and the middle head assists.
