When it comes to upper body workouts, most trainees are mainly concerned with chest and how much they can bench press. But if you’re after a better physical appearance, broad shoulders should be your priority.
Broad shoulders make you look fitter and more powerful – a characteristic that many men desire but few actually develop correctly. When you put a shirt on, no one can see how developed your chest is, but everyone can spot a set of wide, powerful shoulders. And the higher your shoulder-to-waist ratio, the more athletic and lean you’ll look regardless of your actual bodyweight.
Sadly, only a small percentage of people know how the shoulders are built, how they function, and how to train them properly. This guide covers all three.
Understanding the Shoulder: The Three Heads
The shoulder is made up of the deltoid muscle, which has three distinct heads. Each one contributes differently to the broad shoulder look – and understanding this is the difference between training that actually widens your shoulders and training that just makes them bigger from the front.
The Lateral Head (Side Deltoid)
This is the head most responsible for shoulder width. When you look at someone from the front and their shoulders appear wide and capped, it’s the lateral head doing that. Two-time Mr. Olympia Larry Scott is a perfect example of how you can build impressively broad shoulders with proper training and determination – his lateral delts were exceptional.
Despite being the most important head for width, the lateral head is almost always the most underworked. Most pressing movements – bench press, shoulder press, dips – barely touch it. If you’re not doing direct lateral work, you’re leaving the most important muscle for width completely underdeveloped.
The Anterior Head (Front Deltoid)
The most overworked head for most trainees. The front deltoid gets hammered by bench pressing, shoulder pressing, and dips. Most people don’t need to train it directly at all – it’s already getting more work than the other two heads combined. If your programme is heavy on pressing, your front delts are taken care of.
The Posterior Head (Rear Deltoid)
The most neglected head – and the one that’s critical for developing depth and three-dimensionality in the shoulder. Without a developed rear delt, the shoulder looks flat from the side and from behind. Viewed from any angle other than directly from the front, underdeveloped rear delts make even large shoulders look incomplete.
The takeaway: if you want broad shoulders, concentrate your direct shoulder work on the lateral and posterior heads. The front delts look after themselves from all the pressing you’re already doing.
The Best Exercises for Broad Shoulders
#1. Side Lateral Raise
The single best exercise for the lateral deltoid – the head most responsible for shoulder width. Most people do this wrong: they use too much weight, swing the torso, and generate momentum rather than muscular tension. The result is a movement that loads the traps rather than the delts.
How to do it: Stand with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing your body. Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, raise both arms out to your sides until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. At the top, your elbows should be slightly higher than your wrists – tilt the front of the dumbbell slightly downward, as if you’re pouring water from a jug. This external rotation keeps the lateral head fully engaged. Lower slowly back to the start.
Related: Why You Need Side Lateral Raises
Common mistake: Using momentum to swing the dumbbells up. If the weight is causing you to lean or swing, it’s too heavy. Go lighter and feel the lateral head working.
Sets and reps: 4 sets of 12–15 reps. Keep the weight moderate and the tension constant. This is not a movement you should be maxing out on.
#2. Cable Lateral Raise
The cable version of the lateral raise provides one crucial advantage over dumbbells: constant tension throughout the entire range of motion. With dumbbells, tension drops off at the bottom of the movement where your arms hang at your sides. The cable maintains tension from bottom to top – which means the lateral deltoid is under load for the full range, not just the top half.
How to do it: Stand side-on to a low cable pulley with the handle in the hand furthest from the machine. With a slight bend in your elbow, raise your arm out to your side until it’s parallel to the floor. Lower slowly under control. Complete all reps on one side before switching.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 15 reps each side. Works especially well as a pre-exhaust before heavier compound shoulder work, or as a finishing movement at the end of a shoulder session.
#3. Barbell Overhead Press
The primary mass builder for the entire shoulder complex. While it doesn’t isolate the lateral head, the overhead press builds the overall size and thickness that makes the shoulder look impressive from every angle – and a bigger shoulder means more width once you add direct lateral work on top.
Related: The Overhead Press: The Most Underrated Upper Body Exercise
How to do it: Stand with a barbell at shoulder height, hands just outside shoulder width, palms facing forward. Brace your core and press the bar straight overhead until your arms are fully extended. Lower under control back to the starting position. Use a standing version rather than seated – the standing press forces your core and stabilisers to work harder, producing more total muscle activation.
Sets and reps: 4 sets of 6–10 reps. This is your heavy compound movement – it goes first in the session when you’re fresh.
#4. Hang Clean and Press (Wide Grip)
A compound movement that hits both the lateral and front deltoid heads simultaneously – making it highly efficient for shoulder width development. The wider-than-shoulder-width grip specifically recruits the lateral head more than a standard clean and press.
How to do it: Hold a barbell with a grip wider than shoulder width. With a slight hinge at the hips and knees, explosively pull the bar up the body and catch it at shoulder height (the clean). From there, press it overhead. Lower the bar back to hang position and repeat.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 6–8 reps. The explosive nature of the clean component makes this one best placed early in the session.
#5. Barbell Upright Row (Wide Grip)
One of the most effective exercises for shoulder width when performed with a wide grip. The wide grip specifically recruits all three deltoid heads and upper traps simultaneously. Related: The Barbell Upright Row: A Great Width Builder
How to do it: Hold a barbell with an overhand grip at least shoulder-width wide – a couple of inches wider is even better. Pull the bar straight up toward your chin, leading with your elbows. At the top, your elbows should be higher than your hands and the bar should reach approximately nipple height. Lower slowly back to the start.
Common mistake: Using a narrow grip, which shifts emphasis to the biceps and front delts. The wider the grip, the more direct the hit to the lateral deltoid.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 10–12 reps.
#6. Dumbbell Arnold Press
Named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, this press variation adds a rotation component that hits all three heads of the deltoid through a longer range of motion than a standard shoulder press – making it one of the most complete shoulder exercises available.
How to do it: Sit on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, palms facing toward you (as if you’ve just finished a bicep curl). As you press the dumbbells overhead, rotate your palms forward so they face away from you at the top. Reverse the rotation as you lower back to the start. The full rotation ensures the lateral and rear heads get recruited throughout the movement, not just the front.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 10–12 reps.
#7. Rear Delt Fly
Direct work for the posterior deltoid – the most neglected shoulder head. Without rear delt development, even large shoulders look flat from the side and back. Related: Lying Rear Lateral Raise
How to do it: Sit at the end of a bench and lean forward until your chest is close to your thighs. Hold a dumbbell in each hand hanging below your chest, palms facing each other. With a slight bend in your elbows, raise both arms out to your sides until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Squeeze the rear delts at the top, then lower slowly. Alternatively, lie face down on an incline bench set to 30–45 degrees and perform the same movement – this version removes any temptation to use momentum.
Sets and reps: 3–4 sets of 12–15 reps. Use lighter weight than you think you need – rear delts are a small muscle and are easily overpowered by the traps if the weight is too heavy.
#8. Face Pull
Possibly the most underrated shoulder exercise. Face pulls hit the rear delts and external rotators simultaneously – which not only builds shoulder depth but actively counteracts the internal rotation most people develop from excessive pressing work. If you do a lot of bench pressing, face pulls are practically mandatory.
How to do it: Set a cable machine with a rope attachment at face height. Grip the rope with both hands, palms facing each other. Step back until there’s tension. Pull the rope toward your face, separating the ends as you pull so your hands finish beside your ears – think double bicep pose. Squeeze the rear delts and external rotators hard at the top, then return slowly.
Sets and reps: 3–4 sets of 15 reps. Can be done at the end of any upper body session as a corrective and finisher.
#9. Cable Rear Delt Fly
The cable version of the rear delt fly provides constant tension throughout the range of motion – a significant advantage over dumbbells for a muscle as small and hard-to-feel as the rear deltoid.
How to do it: Stand in the middle of a cable crossover machine. Take the left handle with your right hand and the right handle with your left hand so the cables cross in front of you. With a slight bend in your elbows, pull both handles out to your sides in a wide arc until your arms are extended. Squeeze the rear delts at the peak, then return slowly under control.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 15 reps. Works well as a superset with lateral raises for a complete lateral and rear delt combination.
A Broad Shoulders Workout
Here’s a complete shoulder session built around the exercises above. This can replace your existing shoulder day or be added to an upper body session:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Overhead Press | 4 | 6–10 | 90 sec |
| Wide-Grip Upright Row | 3 | 10–12 | 60 sec |
| Dumbbell Arnold Press | 3 | 10–12 | 60 sec |
| Side Lateral Raise | 4 | 12–15 | 45 sec |
| Rear Delt Fly | 3 | 12–15 | 45 sec |
| Face Pull | 3 | 15 | 45 sec |
Run this programme for 8–12 weeks. Focus on adding small amounts of weight each week on the compound movements (overhead press, upright row) and on improving the mind-muscle connection on the isolation movements (laterals, rear delt fly). The isolation work should be felt in the target muscle – if you can’t feel it, the weight is too heavy.
Key Tips for Building Broader Shoulders
Train lateral and rear delts directly, every session. They don’t get enough stimulation from compound pressing to develop on their own. Side laterals and some form of rear delt work should appear in every shoulder training session.
Don’t neglect the rear delts. The ratio of front delt to rear delt work in most programmes is wildly imbalanced. For every pressing set you do, aim for at least one set of rear delt or upper back pulling work to maintain balance and protect the shoulder joint.
Keep lateral raise weight honest. The lateral raise is one of the most cheated exercises in the gym. Swinging, shrugging, and using momentum all shift the work away from the lateral head and onto the traps. Use a weight you can control for a full 12–15 reps with strict form.
Be patient. The shoulders respond to consistent, direct training over months – not weeks. Stick with the programme, add weight progressively, and the width will come.
Remember – no one can see your chest and biceps with your clothes on, but everyone can see how athletic you are if you own a set of wide shoulders.
You might also like:
- V-Taper Workout: Build Wide Lats, Broad Shoulders and a Small Waist
- 9 Best Shoulder Exercises for Building Massive Deltoids
- How to Get a Shredded Physique: Nutrition and Training Guide
