FOR MOST CONTACT sports, stronger, bigger shoulders will be beneficial, so try these exercises and notice the difference.

Note that stronger is not always bigger, but focus on the former and the latter will take care of itself.

We’ve six exercises here and we’re suggesting (demanding) you do them in super sets. That is, one set immediately followed by another set followed by a rest.

We’ll be doing three sets of each exercise.

The idea here is the session will be done quicker and you can collapse in a heap sooner.

Disclaimer: you might need help removing your t-shirt afterwards.

There are three main muscles in the shoulders: the anterior deltoid (the front part of your shoulders), medial deltoid (the middle part of your shoulders), and posterior deltoid (the back part of your shoulders)… prepare to have these torched.

The exercises are as:

Farmer’s walk, military press, lateral dumbbell raise, frontal raise, cable shoulder press, rear dumbbell raise.

Superset #1: Frontal raise followed by cable shoulder press

Frontal raise

Stand with your torso straight and your knees slightly bent, dumbbells resting on the tops of your thighs, knuckles facing out. Now, while maintaining a strong core and a slight bend in the elbow, lift the dumbbells in unison to the front — the palms of your hands always facing down.

Continue to lift until your arms are slightly above parallel to the floor. Pause for a second at the top. Inhale after the second pause and lower the dumbbell back down slowly to the starting position.

Complete eight reps with as much weight as you can tolerate…. and quickly skip over to the cable machine.

Cable shoulder press

Move the cables to the bottom of the tower and select a weight you know you’ll struggle to lift on the eighth rep. Hold the cables at shoulder height, palms facing forward.

Keeping your head and chest up, extend through the elbow to press one side directly over your head. After pausing at the top, return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.

Take a two-minute rest and repeat twice more.

Superset #2: Farmer’s walk followed by military press

Farmer’s walk

Grab the heaviest weight you can find and walk for two minutes. Focus on keeping your back straight and torso strong. This also helps the legs and back but it’s also a great exercise to really tax the arms and shoulders.

If you are walking with ease after two minutes you need to up the weight considerably. From here go straight into a seated military press using either a barbell or dumbbells. Using a barbell position it opposite your near upper chest, applying an appropriate weight.

Now grab the bar and lift upwards, holding above your head for a brief moment before returning to the starting position.

A good tip is to keep the rep timing slow. Don’t use momentum to move the weight up.

Repeat eight times for one set.

Again, three sets of each exercise with a two-minute break between sets.

Superset #3: Lateral dumbbell raises followed by rear dumbbell raises/dumbbell bent over raise

Lateral dumbbell raises

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and a slight bend in the knees. Maintain a strong core and resist the temptation to crunch or arch your back.

Grab a dumbbell in each hand, rest by your sides, your palms facing down and keep a slight bend in your elbows.

Now raise your arms until your elbows are parallel to the floor, keeping your wrists and shoulders strong. SLOWLY lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. This is as important as the lift itself.

Rear dumbbell raises

This isn’t the easiest one in the world to do as the angle of your back is critical to proper execution. To start with, place a couple of dumbbells in front of a flat bench, facing forward.

Sit on the edge of the bench with your legs together and the dumbbells behind your calves. Lean forward to pick up the dumbbells while keeping your back straight. The palms of your hands should be facing each other as you pick them up. This will be your starting position.

Keeping your torso forward, bend your arms slightly and lift the dumbbells straight to the side until both arms are parallel to the floor. Exhale as you lift the weights.

After a brief pause at the top of the movement slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Repeat eight times for one set. Do three sets in total.

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