Do you need a dumbbell shoulder workout at home? You are in luck! Shoulders are a very easy muscle group to workout at home, since you can do a full shoulder workout with a pair of dumbbells.
You won’t need expensive or big equipment either; no squat rack or special bench needed. If you have a set of dumbbells, or even some lighter weights and resistance bands, you’ll have plenty of options to get a great dumbbell shoulder workout at home!
Shoulders are a smaller muscle group than legs and glutes, for example, so you don’t need quite as much heavy weight to get a great shoulder workout. You probably know this intuitively: you can squat and deadlift heavier weights than you can overhead press.
Of course, when you have the chance to train shoulders at a gym, you can increase the weights and utilize all the equipment, but I guarantee you can get some of the best shoulder workouts of your life at home with minimal equipment and hard work.
Below are some of the best dumbbell shoulder exercises for your workout at home or even in the gym. And, I’m throwing in a couple body weight and band exercises because they work too!
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- sit on a sturdy bench or chair and brace your feet into the ground or bench
- hold the dumbbells at shoulder level
- tuck your elbows slightly so they are in line with your body and not poking behind you
- press straight overhead until elbows are straight
- stop before weights clank each other
- if you get good contact with the ground and drive your feet in, you can do a bit more weight on the seated shoulder press than the standing dumbbell press
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Presses
- stand tall with your abs and glutes engaged
- hold the dumbbells at shoulder level
- tuck your elbows slightly so they are in line with your body and not poking behind you
- press straight overhead until elbows are straight
- stop before weights clank each other
- if you are between weights (ie, 17 pounds would be optimal, but you only have 10 or 20), then you can give it a little push from your lower body to move the heavier weights
1 Arm Dumbbell Overhead Press
- stand tall with your abs and glutes engaged
- you won’t drive with your lower body, but keep a slight bend in your knees
- stand with feet shoulder-width. Much wider will give you too much stability. (the offset nature of this exercise actually makes you work your core muscles too)
- hold one dumbbell at shoulder level
- tuck your elbow slightly so it is in line with your body and not poking behind you
- press straight overhead until elbow is straight
- control the descent and repeat for the desired number of reps
Lateral Raise
- stand tall
- keep your arms straight but not locked
- reach for the sides of the room as you bring the dumbbells to shoulder level
- control the return to the start position
- the dumbbell lateral raise is one of the best exercises for shoulder work. Maybe my favorite!
Front Raise
- with a dumbbell in each hand, raise your arms straight in front of you
- palms will be facing down
- you can do these seated or standing, but control the movement both ways and minimize rocking forward and backward
- these target front delts
Bent Over Rear Delt Raise
- hinge over with hips behind you and back straight
- keeping elbows straight but not locked, extend the dumbbells to your side
- be sure dumbbells don’t travel toward your hips or out in front of you
- control the return to your start position
Bent Over Rear Delt Row
- hinge over with hips behind you and back straight
- upper arms are extended straight out to your side, with palms facing behind you
- bend at the elbows as if you are elbowing the ceiling
- aim for elbows to be straight out from your shoulder, not toward your hips
Prone Rear Delt Series
- lay face down on the mat
- bend your elbows like goalposts, with thumbs pointed up
- raise your arms a few inches up and down
- repeat with arms straight out like a “Y”
- repeat with arms straight out to your sides like a “T”
- repeat the whole series with your palms facing down
Dumbbell Upright Row
- Start with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Stand with feet about shoulder width, and arms extended down straight in front of your body
- Palms will be facing your torso.
- Drive your elbows up toward the ceiling, leading with your elbow.
- When dumbbells are about shoulder height (or a few inches lower), reverse the movement and return to your starting position.
- Control the dumbbells down and repeat for all your reps.
- This will work your shoulders and upper back muscles (traps).
Band Pullaparts
- stand tall
- extend your arms in front of you, gripping a light band
- keep elbows straight but not locked as you press your arms straight around your side
- I prefer palms down but you can experiment with different hand positions
- squeeze your shoulders behind you as you make a big wide sweep with your arms
- press until the band touches your chest
- control the return to your start position and repeat
- the goal isn’t to squeeze your shoulder blades here. Instead, think about keeping them wide, apart from each other, and really reach toward the edges of the room.
What Muscles Make Up the Shoulders?
I threw a bunch of exercises at you, so let me elaborate on what you’re actually working. Dumbbell exercises for shoulders primarily target the three heads of the deltoid muscle. Here’s a breakdown of the shoulder muscles worked by specific dumbbell exercises:
Deltoid Muscles
- Anterior Deltoid (Front)
- Primary Exercises:
- Front Raises: Lifts dumbbells directly in front of you, targeting the anterior deltoids.
- Arnold Press: Combines pressing and rotating movements to engage the front deltoids.
- Primary Exercises:
- Lateral Deltoid (Middle)
- Primary Exercises:
- Lateral Raises: Lifts dumbbells to the sides, focusing on the lateral deltoids.
- Shoulder Press: Overhead pressing movement primarily targets the lateral and anterior deltoids.
- Primary Exercises:
- Posterior Deltoid (Rear)
- Primary Exercises:
- Bent-Over Reverse Fly: Targets the rear delts by lifting the dumbbells outward in a bent-over position.
- Face Pulls (with dumbbells): Pulling dumbbells toward the face while maintaining a bent-over position can also engage the rear deltoids.
- Primary Exercises:
Supporting Muscles
While the primary focus of these exercises is the deltoid muscles, several supporting muscle groups are also engaged:
- Rotator Cuff Muscles
- Function: Stabilizes the shoulder joint during movements.
- Exercises: Engaged in all shoulder movements, especially those involving rotation like the Arnold press.
- Trapezius (Upper Traps)
- Function: Assists in lifting and stabilizing the shoulders.
- Exercises: Shrugs and to a lesser extent during overhead presses.
- Serratus Anterior
- Function: Helps in the upward rotation of the scapula, essential for overhead movements.
- Exercises: Engaged during shoulder presses and front raises.
- Rhomboids
- Function: Retracts the scapula.
- Exercises: Engaged during bent-over reverse flys and other rear deltoid exercises.
By incorporating a variety of dumbbell exercises, you can effectively target and develop all parts of the shoulder muscles, contributing to balanced shoulder strength and aesthetics.
The Benefits of Shoulder Exercises
There are so many benefits to working shoulders:
Functional Benefits
Strong shoulders enhance your ability to perform everyday tasks such as lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling objects. This includes activities like carrying groceries, lifting heavy items, and reaching overhead.
Strong shoulders also help maintain proper posture by supporting the upper body and reducing the tendency to slouch. Good posture reduces stress on the spine and helps prevent lower back pain.
Finally, shoulders can really enhance athletic performance. Many sports and physical activities rely on shoulder strength and stability, including swimming, basketball, tennis, and weightlifting. Strong shoulders improve performance and reduce the risk of injury in these activities.
Health Benefits
Healthy shoulders give you many health benefits too, including injury prevention. Strong shoulders help stabilize the shoulder joint, reducing the risk of injuries such as dislocations, strains, and rotator cuff tears. Well-developed muscles provide better support and protection for the joints and ligaments.
Strong shoulders can help alleviate pain associated with conditions like impingement syndrome, arthritis, and tendonitis. It can also prevent compensatory muscle imbalances that lead to discomfort in other areas such as the neck and upper back.
Strong and flexible shoulder muscles contribute to a better range of motion, making it easier to perform various movements without discomfort or restriction.
Aesthetic Benefits
Finally, and possibly the most fun benefit, is the aesthetic look of well developed shoulders. Well-developed shoulders contribute to a balanced and proportionate physique. Broad shoulders enhance the appearance of the upper body, creating a V-shaped torso that is often considered aesthetically pleasing.
In short, big shoulders always look good!
Overall Well-Being
Achieving shoulder strength and muscle development can boost self-confidence and body image, motivating individuals to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
Maintaining shoulder strength is crucial for aging populations to preserve independence and perform daily activities without assistance. It helps in maintaining mobility and quality of life as one ages.
In summary, strong shoulders are essential for functional efficiency, injury prevention, improved health, and overall aesthetic appeal. Regularly incorporating shoulder-strengthening exercises into your fitness routine can yield significant benefits across various aspects of life.
Here’s a great leg and glute workout to do from home, if you’re looking to make it a full body situation! Or, if you’re adding in back, learn how to do barbell rows and their variations.
How To Incorporate These Dumbbell Shoulder Exercises at Home
Now that you have the shoulder exercises, what is the best way to add them in your program? There are obviously a lot of variables here, like how your workouts are split and what other exercises you are doing. If you are doing an upper body day, I’d recommend adding 2-3 of the above exercises in. If you are doing a shoulder-specific training day, you can do 4-6.
I suggest doing both the compound movements (overhead presses) and isolation exercises (lateral raise, band pullaparts).
As far as how these exercises complement the other exercises you are doing, it’s hard to give you an exact step-by-step guide. I’d rather walk you through what fits your needs.
First, consider what will be redundant. For example, if you bench press often, you are probably getting lots of work on your front delts. You might not need to add front raises in. In fact, you might need to add more band pullaparts, face pulls, and rows to offset muscular imbalances.
Seconds, what’s your ultimate goal? If its full development and you want to pack on the muscle mass for boulder shoulders, you’ll still want to supplement with heavy weights. You might do a hybrid workout routine where you can progress the weight and work on your strength goals at the gym, and do another shoulder session at home.
Balance out your shoulder work with some back work. Here’s how to add barbell rows in your routine.
Try These Dumbbell Shoulder Exercise in Your Workout Routine
So there you have it! A complete, but not exhaustive list of some of the best shoulder exercises you can do at home for muscle growth, shoulder stability, and shoulder health. Try these dumbbell exercises, and see which work for you to build your best routine for a dumbbell shoulder workout at home.
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Let’s get you strong and healthy! 💪
About the author
Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.
