Friday, December 26, 2008

Gym Workout Programs for Your Shoulders

By Ricardo d Argence

Developing the shoulders is an important aspect of bodybuilding. In addition to looking amazing when doing a double back bicep pose, they make you look terrific when standing. If you develop your side deltoids in proportion to the biceps, the arms and biceps look large and well defined.

The shoulder area consists of the muscles of the posterior, medial and anterior deltoid. The rotator cuff muscles and the upper trapezius are included in the whole shoulder girdle.

The deep muscles of the rotator cuff attach different sections of the thoracic area to different parts of the humerus. Upper trapezius muscles are the muscles that run from the back of the neck; extend to the medial deltoid, then downward to intersect with the middle trapezius. Toward the back of the shoulder, you will find the posterior deltoid muscle, beneath the lower region of the upper trapezius. The outer part of the shoulder is a where the medial deltoid lies, with the anterior deltoid muscle being visible outside of the pectoral muscles.

When lifting the arm, each shoulder performs a different, and specific, function. The anterior deltoid is responsible for bringing the arm forward, inward and for rotating the arm. The medial deltoid allows the arm to move away from the side. When the arm goes back the posterior deltoid will come into play. When the scapula is moved upward toward the ears, like shrugging your shoulders, the upper trapezius muscle does the job. Finally, the rotator cuff muscles secure the arm as it moves and permit its rotation.

Coming to shoulder area, the military press, lateral raises, lying lateral raises, the Arnold press, behind the neck press, and bent-over lateral raises are just some examples of the exercises you can perfom to target those muscles. The upright row in addition to bent-over rows will also help you build the shoulder area to magnificent proportions.

Indicative to building massive shoulders is the knowlege of how they work and are kept healthy. Injuries can quickly slam the brakes on any progress you are making, so take extra care to avoid them. One of the most common injuries is to the rotator cuff muscles. Rotator cuff muscles are not particularly large or strong muscles. Try to prevent injuries by including some band work into your shoulder exercises.

To minimize injuries be sure that you are using the right amount of weight. You should be able to have control of the weight through the entire movement. If you find that you can only do partial reps or you need to shift the weight around, then the weight is too heavy. Using too much weight puts too much stress on the shoulder and is likely to cause injury. Be sure that you can maintain the proper technique and use the full range of motion before increasing the weight.

Even if developing your shoulders muscles can be a very difficult task, you'll see that results are really worth the effort. Experimentation and determination is important, since everybody's body will develop at a different rate. - 15255

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