If you’re looking for barbell shoulder workouts that you can do at home, then you’re in the right place. Well-developed shoulders are needed to improve the appearance. Broad shoulders and a wide back make a waist look smaller. A V-taper look is something that most people aspire to.
The trouble for most of us is finding time to work out when we don’t always have time for the gym. So, what’s the solution? Developing your shoulders from the comfort of your own home. We’re going to look at the best barbell shoulder exercises and workouts for you to do at home, so you have no excuses. Let’s get started.
SHOULDER MUSCLES ANATOMY
Before we start, let me give you a super quick shoulder muscles anatomy lesson. The deltoid is the main muscle in the shoulder. In fitness, “shoulder exercises” refers to resistance exercises that target the deltoid muscle.
It is a large, triangular-shaped muscle. Even though it is one muscle, due to its size and different muscle fibers, it is usually talked about in three parts:
- The anterior deltoid (In front),
- lateral deltoid (at the side), and
- Posterior deltoid (behind),
5 Best Barbell Shoulder Exercises At Home
There are many barbells only exercises that will directly, and indirectly, target your shoulder muscles. Barbell exercises are perfect as they require very little equipment and can be completed from the comfort of your own home.
In fact, the best shoulder workouts should make liberal use of barbell exercises, which are a smart way to target the different muscles of the shoulder.
To get your shoulder muscles working as hard as possible, you need to press exercises.
1. Military Press AKA Overhead Press
If you’re looking for straightforward barbell shoulder exercises to add to your home routine, Overhead Press are a great staple exercise to get you started.
The military press is used primarily to build the deltoid muscle. It also indirectly targets the other muscles of the shoulder, your triceps, and your core. Since the military press is completed standing up, it involves a lot of core strength to help stabilize the spine while pressing weight overhead.
How To Do Military Press
- Assume a shoulder width stance and place your hands at (or just outside of) shoulder width with a pronated grip on the bar.
- Bring the bar over and in front of your head, under your chin, and just above your upper chest.
- Now Press the bar straight up overhead until your arms are fully extended but not locked out.
- Slowly lower the bar back to the starting position.
- Repeat the desired number of reps.
Tips
- Perform a warm-up with 50% weight for 1-2 sets.
- Keep momentum out of the movement, and don’t add any additional leg drive by flexing and extending the knees.
- Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs as you press. You shouldn’t be leaning back excessively as you press.
2. Barbell Front Raise
The barbell front raise is a shoulder exercise used to target the front deltoids. Use of the barbell can allow you to overload the muscles to a greater degree than one may be capable of doing with dumbbells.
Must add this exercise to your barbell shoulder exercises at home workout arsenal.
How To Do Barbell Front Raise
- Stand holding the bar at shoulder width apart with a pronated grip, your feet are also shoulder-width apart, and your knees are slightly bent.
- Lift the barbell forward with straight arms, until the bar is at shoulder height.
- Once the arms are parallel with the floor, slowly lower the bar back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Tips
- Maintain a neutral back and engage your core throughout the exercise.
- Keep a controlled motion and avoid jerky movements.
3. Barbell Upright Row
The barbell upright Row is an excellent exercise that you can do at home to, build huge Trapezius muscles. Upright rows can be done with both narrow grips and wider ones.
The narrow grip focuses on the trapezius, and the wider focuses on the entire shoulder girdle. Moreover, the wider grip allows some cheating movement, thereby allowing you to lift more weight.
How To Do Barbell Upright Row
- Hold a bar with an overhand grip and let it hang in front of you.
- Lift the bar and get it as close as possible to the chin, using your arms and elevating your shoulders to squeeze your trapezius muscles.
- Now, lower the bar under controlled motion until it comes back to its starting position.
- Repeat for desired reps.
Tips
- Focus on keeping your elbows higher than your forearms.
- Keep a controlled motion and avoid jerky movements.
- Keep your back straight.
4. Barbell Shrug
Barbell Shrug is one of the best shoulder exercises to build bigger and stronger trap muscles at home.
The shrug is one of the simplest and easy trap exercises to perform.
You can do the shrug either using a dumbbell, Barbell, and smith machine, but the barbell variation is the classic variation to build massive traps.
How To Do Barbell Shrug
- Stand with feet placed shoulder-width apart, knee slightly bent, and core stable.
- Grip the barbell with your hands facing downwards, in a pronated grip.
- Raise your shoulders without bending the elbows as far as possible, getting them closer to your ears.
- Hold the contraction and squeeze for a brief second.
- In a controlled and stable manner, lower the weight back down to the starting position.
Tips
- Go as high as possible, but limit momentum and excessive jerking or bouncing of the weight.
- Go full range. Move only shoulders and keep rest of body steady.
5. Seated Barbell Overhead Press
This is one of the best shoulder exercises that you can do at home during your upper body workout.
The shoulder Press remains the granddaddy of all shoulder exercises to build big, round shoulder muscles.
Seated shoulder press has been the favorite shoulder exercise with bodybuilders as it builds muscle fast and is a power move.
How To Do Seated Overhead Press
- Sit on an exercise bench and grab a bar with an overhand grip.
- Bring the bar over and in front of your head, under your chin, and just above your upper chest.
- Now Press the bar straight up overhead until your arms are fully extended but not locked out.
- Slowly lower the bar back to the starting position.
- Repeat the desired number of reps.
Tips
- Perform a warm-up with 50% weight for 1-2 sets.
- Brace your abs as you press, you shouldn’t be leaning back excessively.
- Keep upper arms turn slightly inward to prevent elbows from “winging” out at your sides.
Takeaways
You don’t need much fancy equipment or a gym membership to effectively work your shoulders. If you incorporate these barbells only shoulder exercise into your regular home workout routine, you should start to see noticeable improvements within weeks.
Just remember to focus on optimal form, with a full range of motion, to ensure your shoulder muscles are worked and strengthened correctly.
People Also Ask
How can I workout my shoulders at home?
Barbell is the best tools that you can use to develop your shoulders. You can keep barbells and plates at home without taking up too much space and use them for a lot of different exercises.
There are many great barbell shoulder exercises and workouts that you can do at home.
- Military Press
- Barbell Front Raise
- Barbell Upright Row
- Barbell Shrug
- Seated Overhead Press
How can I train my shoulders without gym?
There are many shoulder exercises you can do with bodyweight, barbells, and dumbbells to build strength at home. It is possible to develop your shoulders from the comfort of your own home. Below are the best shoulder exercises and workouts you can do at home.
How can I build my shoulders at home?
There are many bodyweight shoulder exercises that will directly, and indirectly, target your deltoid muscles. Bodyweight exercises are great because they don’t require much equipment and you can do them at home.
Dumbbells are a great way to develop your shoulders. You can keep them at home without taking up too much space, and they are very versatile. There are a lot of exercises you can do with them. If you have dumbbells, you should try some of the dumbbell shoulder exercises at home.
