Home Fitness Guide Shoulders

The core logic of shoulder training at home is actually to "prioritize the sense of force with light loads + actively avoid oblique compensation + adjust according to your own body posture needs." There is no need to buy hundreds of adjustable dumbbells. Two 500ml bottles of full mineral water can meet the training needs of 90% of ordinary people. If you insist on it for 4 weeks, you can not only see clear shoulder lines, improve rounded shoulders, but also eliminate most of the shoulder and neck pain caused by sitting for a long time.

I have seen too many people step on the trap when they get up. After finishing the right-angle shoulder tutorial, they grab something and swing it wildly when they get up. After 15 repetitions, their shoulders feel nothing. Their trapezius is so sore that they dare not put their heads on pillows at night. After half a month of training, their shoulders are no longer wide. The trapezium is two centimeters higher. Even the neck is almost invisible when wearing a T-shirt.

Regarding the priority of shoulder training at home, different circles have quite different opinions: the logic of bodybuilding training is to give priority to weight to build deltoid volume, especially the middle deltoid must be trained full to have the effect of "pumpkin shoulders", which is indeed no problem for people with good muscle control.； But the view in the field of rehabilitation is just the opposite. Most ordinary people have the problem of rounded chest and rounded shoulders. The trapezius muscles are already in a state of tension for a long time, and it is easy to compensate when heavy weights are put on them. Instead, the core is to train the weak rear beams first and open the shoulders. Both opinions are correct, it depends on what you want.

A while ago, I helped my cousin who works a nine-to-five job adjust her shoulder training plan. She had been practicing blindly for two months following online tutorials. The trap was so high that it took half an hour to take a photo. I asked her to stop all heavy movements and practice with two bottles of mineral water. Before each exercise, she should do 30 seconds of shoulder sinking activation - standing and sinking her shoulders, as if she were trying to stuff her shoulders into a trouser pocket. Put her hand on the trap to make sure it is soft when exerting force before starting to move.

She takes 10 minutes every day. She first does the bent over fly. She bends her upper body until it is parallel to the ground, and hangs her arms naturally. She holds mineral water and lifts it to both sides until it is flush with her back. She does not need to swing it too high. She does 3 sets of 12, training the rear delts. If you find the right sense of force in this action, the sides of your back will be sore after practicing, but the oblique side will not be a problem at all. Then do lateral raises. Raise your arms until they are parallel to the ground and stop. Don't throw them upwards. Do the same for 2 sets of 12. Finally, lean against the wall and do 10 wall presses. Put your elbows against the wall and slowly lift them up until your arms are straight. Doing front delts can also open your chest.

It was such a simple plan. After the first week of practice, she said that the pain in her shoulders and neck that she had to apply plaster after work every day was gone. In the third week of wearing the sling she bought before, her shoulder line has come out, and the oblique square has not become larger anymore. She no longer needs to prick her neck when taking photos.

Of course, if you already have a fitness foundation and want a fuller shoulder shape, it is perfectly fine to buy a 1-3kg dumbbell and add weight at home. Just do 8-10 times to failure in each set, and there is no need to make it too heavy. Recently, someone asked me if I would make my shoulders too wide to look good. This really depends on aesthetics. If you like narrow shoulders, do less lateral raises and practice more rear delts to adjust your posture. Rounded shoulders will improve your overall appearance and make you look much taller. There is no need to pursue a unified "right-angled shoulder" standard.

By the way, if you have obvious snapping or even stinging in your shoulders when doing the movements, don’t hold on hard. Do a few sets of lucky cat warm-ups first, that is, raise your upper arms parallel to the ground, and swing your forearms up and down like a lucky cat. If you still feel pain, stop practicing first and see a rehabilitation practitioner. Don’t hold on hard and cause acromion impingement. The gain is not worth the loss.

In fact, shoulder training at home really doesn’t have that many bells and whistles. The most important thing is not to rush. Don’t just look in the mirror to see if you have muscles after two days of training. Find the right feeling of exertion first. Even if you only train for 5 minutes a day, it will be more useful than half an hour. After all, we ordinary people do shoulder training just to look good in clothes and have comfortable shoulders, right?