Wondering how to grow your shoulders? Today I want to share the #1 shoulder workout that absolutely blew up my delts. My Filipino genetics blessed me with a 1:1 shoulder-to-waist ratio and narrow clavicles that made me look frail and weak. But I refused to let my genetics define me. This past year, my shoulders are wider, broader, and fuller than they’ve ever been. I followed a simple, science-based shoulders workout that’s worked better than anything I’ve tried in the past. There are only 3 shoulder exercises (including the crowd fav, lateral raises) in this shoulders workout, but proper form is crucial, so pay attention.

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First up in our shoulder workout, the side delts. This is the part of the shoulders that broadens your frame and is where I put most of my effort. Now in the past, in my delts workout, I’d always just do your typical dumbbell lateral raises. But there’s an exciting new area of research called long muscle length training that suggests muscles tend to grow better if they’re challenged in the stretched position.

But the thing about dumbbell lateral raises is they’re easiest at the bottom when the delt is fully stretched and hardest at the top when the delt is fully contracted. The opposite of what we want. So I chose behind-the-body cable lateral raises for my delts workout to target my side delts instead. This is where I stand in front and to the side, so my side delt is now stretched behind me. Make sure the cable is 2-3 notches from the bottom so it challenges your delts the most when it’s stretched.

A crucial progressive overload tip: I’d start around 10 reps per set, and only once I was able to do at least 15-20 reps per set with good form did I increase the weight. This way, I still made gains by increasing my reps, and then once I did make that jump in weight, I was ready for it.

So the side delts create width, but the rear delts help balance out the shoulder and give it that 3D look. But it’s by far the most underdeveloped part of most people’s shoulders. We know that muscles are best grown if the arm path of the exercise matches the direction of the muscle’s fibers. In the case of the rear delts, they run at about a 45-degree angle. What I found to be the most successful of all the shoulder exercises with was using this 45-degree arm angle during the reverse cable fly, but with a few steps back from the cable to make it more difficult near the beginning of the exercise when the rear delts are more stretched.

But you could apply this to the reverse pec deck as well. Move the seat up high and instead of sitting right up against the pad, scoot your butt back and lean your chest into the pad. This way, your arm angle will now line up better with rear delts. And if you don’t have access to cables or machines for your delts workout, you can do an incline dumbbell row with your arms kept at that 45-degree angle.

In all of these exercises, though, to prevent your mid-back muscles from taking over, don’t squeeze your shoulder blades together. Push your arms forward to open up your shoulder blades, and keep them that way as you pull your elbows back.

Lastly, we'll tackle the front delts in our shoulders workout. Now in the past, I’d always do standing barbell overhead presses. But they just really started beating up my joints, and it was always a struggle to stay balanced. So I switched this out for a more stable and smoother exercise on the joints, the seated dumbbell shoulder press. But not the way most people do it.

Instead, you’ll want to try to bring the bench back about 1-2 notches, and as you can see, it’ll require far less shoulder mobility. Once you’re set-up, line up your arm with the front delt fibers by driving your elbows inwards slightly with your palms facing in. Then, press the weight over your shoulders and return back to this starting position after each rep.

You now know how to grow your shoulders! Here are the 3 exercises with the reps, sets, alternatives, and how often to perform them. 

Seated dumbbell shoulder press
3 sets x 6-10 reps, 1x/week
Alternative — machine shoulder press

Behind body cable lateral raise
3-4 sets x 10-20 reps, 2-3x/week
Alternative — dumbbell lateral raise (with partials at end)

Reverse cable fly
3 sets x 10-15 reps, 1-2x/week
Alternative — reverse pec deck, incline dumbbell rear delt row

You could do this as a workout on its own, but I’d recommend splitting these exercises up into 2-3 of your workouts throughout the week.

Research is always evolving. I may end up being wrong about all of this in a few years' time, but I will do my best to keep you guys updated with the latest science. So far, though, the research is promising, and it seems like it’s working.