The deltoid muscle gives your shoulder its rounded shape. It is made up of the anterior deltoids (front) , medial deltoids (middle) and posterior deltoids (back). There are a number of exercises that are geared towards working your medial deltoids. Let’s have a look.
Seated Shoulder Press with Dumbbells
Start seated on a low straight-back bench with a pair of dumbbells in your hands and lift these until they are at shoulder height. Make sure that your palms are facing towards the front. Lift the dumbbells straight above your head and then, in a controlled manner, bring them slowly down again to your shoulders.
When you start off your training programme, do more reps with lighter weights so that you can develop your strength and ensure that your form is correct. If you start off with weights that you can’t lift, chances are very good that you’ll forget about your form trying to lift the heavy weights and, in so doing, injure yourself.
Lateral Raises with Dumbbells
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold two dumbbells, one in each hand, and keep these at your sides. Keep your wrists strong. Lift the dumbbells up slowly to shoulder height. Once your arms are parallel to the floor, pause for a second and the slowly lower the dumbbells back to your sides. During this exercise, make sure that you keep your engaged and that you don’t lift the dumbbells higher than your shoulders.
Shoulder Press Machine
There are a couple of watch points that you need to be aware of before you start to use this machine. When you sit on the seat of the shoulder press machine, ensure that your feet are firmly planted on the floor and that your back is firmly against the seat back. You need to hold the machine handles with your palms facing forward. Push the handles of the shoulder press machine up, until your arms are straight. It’s important that you don’t lock your arms. Once your arms are straight, hold the handles in this position for a second before lowering them down gently.
How many reps and sets of each exercise should I do?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question as the amount of reps and sets varies for everyone as well as what your goals are. For example, if you want to get stronger medial deltoids you need to train with more weights and perform fewer reps. Studies show that rep ranges in the 3 – 6 range work best.
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