Shoulder Exercises … How to do a Shoulder Circuit with my 5 Best Movements

Shoulder Exercises

Shoulder exercises are a great way to help maintain your health. There are so many benefits. Strong shoulders can help you as you age – it can enhance your posture and strengthen the muscles surrounding your shoulder joint, creating more stability and an overall sturdier body structure. When you have a sturdy body structure, you are less likely to suffer from any breaks as you age … that is very important. A broken bone in older people can be devastating.

There are some things you do need to remember when you do these shoulder exercises and any exercise for that matter.

• Make sure you have your doctor’s clearance
• Wear the correct attire – weightlifting belt, gloves, shoes, knee sleeves
• Use proper form – I have put together a video to show you form and how to do this exercise which you will find below after I go through something very important! Warm up!

The Warm Up

The first thing you need to do is warm up. Warming up before exercising is extremely important. This gets your heart rate up and gets your muscles ready for activity.  Remember that your warm up can be anything from a brisk walk on the treadmill, to doing some elliptical work. You also want to stretch those muscles.

Why is this important? Stretching helps to get your muscles more pliable. It is important because it helps lower your risk of injury. It is also to cool down and stretch when you are done. But first, let me outline some good stretches to do before your shoulder exercises.

Cross body shoulder stretch:

1. Start by standing or sitting tall and straight.
2. Grab one arm above your elbow with your opposite hand and pull it across your body toward your chest until you feel the stretch in your shoulder.
3. Make sure to keep your elbow at shoulder height.
4. Hold for about 30 seconds and then release.
5. Complete 5 sets.
6. Repeat on the other side.

Behind the back shoulder stretch:

1. Start by standing (You could sit but this is much easier when standing). If you are big like me, then grab a small hand towel as this will allow you to perform this movement).
2. Grab each end of the towel behind your back with one hand on each end of the towel.
3. Gently pull the top of the towel toward the ceiling as you pull down to the floor with your bottom hand.
4. Hold for about 10 seconds and release.
5. Complete 5 sets.
6. Switch hands and repeat.

Upper Shoulder Stretch:

1. Start by standing by a wall.
2. Place your hand with your palm flat on the wall and stand with your side facing the wall.
3. Gently lean forward until you fill a slight stretch in your shoulder.
4. Hold for about 10 to 15 seconds and release.
5. Complete 5 sets.

Switch sides and repeat.

In my workouts you may hear me reference reps and sets. Here is what I mean by that:

A set is the number of cycle of reps (repetitions) that you complete.

A rep is the term used to describe the number of times that you perform an exercise.

Now, let’s say you don’t have dumbbells to use (like I do) to do your shoulder exercises. Don’t worry. There are options. Thinking out of the box will help you. Look around your house. What are things that you have that you can use to give you resistance in your training?

Do you have some canned goods? Or do you have some empty or even full milk jugs somewhere in your home? Well, there you have it. You can use those for your resistance. The point is that anything that adds resistance is what you are aiming for.

Wrapping it up – The Shoulder Exercises cool down

CONGRATULATIONS! You made it! Now that you have completed your workout, you need to cool your body down and stretch those muscles. I follow my warm-up routine but at a slow and easy pace. I am sure you are thinking… but I stretched before I started exercising my shoulders.

Why would I want to do more stretches? Well, stretching after a workout helps to avoid tired, stiff, and sore muscles by relaxing them before you return to a normal pace. Here are some good ones to do:

Cross body shoulder stretch:

1. Start by standing or sitting tall and straight.
2. Grab one arm above your elbow with your opposite hand and pull it across your body toward your chest until you feel the stretch in your shoulder.
3. Make sure to keep your elbow at shoulder height.
4. Hold for about 30 seconds and then release.
5. Complete 5 sets.
6. Repeat on the other side.

Behind the back shoulder stretch:

1. Start by standing (You could sit but this is much easier when standing). If you are big like me, then grab a small hand towel as this will allow you to perform this movement).
2. Grab each end of the towel behind your back with one hand on each end of the towel.
3. Gently pull the top of the towel toward the ceiling as you pull down to the floor with your bottom hand.
4. Hold for about 10 seconds and release.
5. Complete 5 sets.
6. Switch hands and repeat.

Upper Shoulder Stretch

1. Start by standing by a wall.
2. Place your hand with your palm flat on the wall and stand with your side facing the wall.
3. Gently lean forward until you fill a slight stretch in your shoulder.
4. Hold for about 10 to 15 seconds and release.
5. Complete 5 sets.
6. Switch sides and repeat.

There you have it. Some of my shoulder exercises. I hope you try them and get some benefits from them.

Do you have some favorite shoulder exercises that you would like to share? I truly believe that we all have exercises and movements that we can share and benefit from. You can put your ideas in the comments. I do read each and every one of them. I always look forward to hearing from you!

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