There many different forms of shoulder exercise and it is hard to pick out one and say that it is the best. Considering that the shoulder is only a small area and the deltoids are not large muscles, it may seem surprising that there are so many different exercises to choose from. However, the shoulder does have a wide range of movement and this is why its supporting musculature is so complex.

For this reason it is important to vary the exercises that you do. Otherwise you risk ending up with unbalanced muscular development which not only looks weird, it also gives you a high risk of injury because the muscles that you have not developed will be too weak to support the developed musculature.

So here are some of the basic exercises that you can do at home to develop your shoulders. The exercises can be performed either seated or standing. Try to mix it up unless you have problems staying balanced while standing.

You will need dumbbells and either a straight back chair or stool to sit on when you are performing seated shoulder exercises. Be sure that whatever you choose to sit on, you can have your feet flat on the floor while maintaining a straight back and staying well balanced.

- Dumbbell Shoulder Press. Raising overhead. You can raise the weights either both together or singly.

- Lateral Raises. Raising out to the side to shoulder height only.

- Front Raises. Raise one at a time out to the front with a straight arm. Again to shoulder height only. Lower, then raise the other arm.

- Arnold Press. Start with palms facing you at shoulder height and raise to just above head height, twisting as you go so that the palms are facing outward at the top. Lift either both together or singly.

If you have a barbell at home or have access to a gym, you can add the Military Press, lifting the barbell overhead or using a shoulder press machine. There is a difference in the way that the shoulder has to work with dumbbells and barbells so you will benefit from using both if they are available to you.

You should warm up before beginning to exercise. A good way to warm up the deltoids is to perform each exercise with only half your normal weights for the first couple of reps.

Form is very important in all dumbbell exercises. Take it slow in all cases. If you don’t, you will miss out on a lot of the definition that you might have had. Breathe out while exerting, and be sure that your elbows and other joints do not move out of line during your shoulder exercise.

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