How To Get WIDER Shoulders (3 Training Mistakes You’re Probably Making)

Wider, broader looking shoulders are one of the most sought after bodily features that most men aim to achieve. This is likely because wider shoulders not only accentuate a powerful looking upper body, but bigger shoulders also create the appearance of a smaller waist as a result. And although genetics will play some role in how wide your shoulders appear, you can definitely add further width to them by targeting the lateral deltoids with proper shoulder exercises and wider shoulder workouts. Given that the lateral deltoids comprise the middle portion of your shoulders, adding more size to them will create the effect of wider looking shoulders. However, even if you choose the right broad shoulder workout, you want to make sure you are performing them optimally in order to see the best results. In this video I go through 3 of the most common shoulder training mistakes preventing people from getting bigger shoulders.

First, you want to ensure you’re varying the resistance curve applied to your shoulders during your shoulder workouts. This is done by choosing the right shoulder exercises. Rather than exclusively sticking to dumbbell lateral raises, incorporate some cable lateral raises since the cables enable tension to be applied to the shoulder throughout the whole range of motion. You can rotate between the two shoulder exercises throughout the week and/or perform both exercises during your shoulder training.

Next, you want to ensure that during the lateral raise that you’re not leading with your hands. At the top position, if your hands are higher than your elbows then you’re performing more external rotation which isn’t the main function of the shoulder and is instead involves more of the rotator cuff. To fix this, simply think about driving up with your elbows and having your hands stay inline with the elbow at the top position.

Lastly, during your shoulder exercises you need to make sure that you’re not letting the traps takeover the movement as you perform them. For example, during the overhead shoulder press or lateral raise, as you lift the weight up you want to make sure your shoulders aren’t shrugging up and tensing at the upper traps as you do so. Instead, keep the upper traps relaxed and pulled down before and throughout the movement.

As I say quite often, if you want to see the best results then it’s vital that you choose the right exercises and variations. But, even more importantly is that you apply them correctly within your routine.
For an all-in-one step by step program that optimizes your workout and nutrition based on science, head on over to the link below to find out what science-based program is best for you:

WRITTEN ARTICLE:

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK:

FILMED BY:
Abdo Megahid
Instagram: @abdohmegahed

MUSIC:

STUDIES:
Wider shoulders and attractiveness:
Dumbbell lateral raise EMG:
Lean-away lateral raise:

[GretchensVeganBakery]

I will never understand dislikes on a video like this! Thank you, great video, great info!

[robertnatchataha]

Killer results because of these videos. I love the fact that he uses studies and the results of them to reinforce that how you implement the form of a routine matter ! I have seen more improvement in the last year than I've seen the past 5 ! Keep it up Jeremy, you're making a difference in peoples lives!

[gimmethekeys]

Hands down, this is my favorite workout channel! I love how you get right to the point, back your advice by research and offer practical tips.

[tomcologner]

Jeremy I purely appreciate how informative and well done your videos are. Keep up the good work you do for all of us 👍

[elliothillsater]

Jeremy can you please make a push pull workout? Maybe even Push A, push B, pull A, pull B, Legs A, legs B. Would be awesome :)

[anmaister]

This man quotes studies, I appreciate that.

[musclegaining]

4:50 Lead with elbows instead of with hands. Dont let hands be higher than elbows
6:00 Dont let traps get involved. Combat this by keeping traps down and back before you start. More tips on combatting occur til 6:36

[davidvuelvas]

I was just about to go to the gym and hit shoulders! But I had to watch this video first thank you!

[megatbasyarullah]

Im a teen and about to continue my studies. Thinking of taking sports science. And your videos really make my interest grew even higher. Great video man!

[christophercarlone]

Thanks Jeremy. Getting wider, more defined shoulders has been on my to-do list this year for my physique.

[michiferrucci]

Hello Jeremy, I'm Italian and it's my first time watching a video of yours.
I'm absolutely impressed by the way you explain complex concepts and by the way you actually show them to us.
Please keep up the good work, you have a new subscriber now!
Ciao!

[fren]

Your editing, tension range graphics and other additions are so clean. Looks great!

[canthischannelgetsubscrib]

I actually added these workouts to my schedule and in 2 weeks there is a significant growth of shoulders.
Thank you so much Ethier .

[TheFitnessMusicChannel]

Always on point, as this is one of the most informative science based training tips you can get on YouTube. No BS no gimmicks zero waste of time and no constant annoying sales pitching is why your video's are my favorite. You are truly my
"DAX homegymmotivation" trainer. Thank You as always Dax.

[rcmp]

As for the concept regarding the supraspinatus activity in the early ROM. I would actually recommend increasing the tension earlier in the ROM instead of limiting it, precisely because the supraspinatus activity is higher. The supraspinatus is a muscle designed primarily to stabilize the shoulder (along with the rest of the rotator cuff). It has a relatively small crossectional area compared to the deltoid and significantly smaller moment arm due to its attachment site. As a result, if you simply increase the relative load at the beginning of the ROM with a more consistent resistance curve, than the supraspinatus won't be enough to move the weight and the deltoid will be forced to increase its contribution to perform the movement. Also, considering the fact that supraspinatus helps mitigate many of the negative effects of the high level deltoid contractions (example. excessive superior humeral head migration that can cause impingement), I would definitely not go out of my way to reduce supraspinatus activity.

[vinatious]

This is gold Jeremy. These are solid tips that can get results over time.

[rcmp]

If you want to maximize the resistance curves for the dumbbell lateral I would actually recommend leaning the opposite way. The lean described in the video at around 3:40 actually still has the same problems as the normal standing lateral raise. In both cases, the external torque on the shoulder is increasing in a linear fashion as you go towards 90 degrees of shoulder abduction with peak torque occurring at the very end. Which is still wasting the first half of the ROM with extremely low tension. I would actually recommend a lean in the opposite direction by putting yourself into a tilt of around 45 degrees to the other side. Pretty much as if you were in a side plank with your L arm on a bench or other elevated object while doing the lateral raise with the dumbbell on the R arm. This gives you a bell shaped torque curve with 45 degrees of abduction (middle of the ROM for the exercise) being peak torque. This provides more tension throughout the ROM, similar to the cable lateral raise, which is also very effective.

[markosm]

You have the best training videos on internet. Helping me every day. Thank you.

[David]

7:03
1) Incorporate *both cables and dumbells* into your shoulder training in order to maximize the resistance curve
2) When performing the lateral raise, *avoid raising your hands higher than your elbows.* Instead, they should remain in line with each other and the elbows should "drive" the movement.
3) *Avoid shrugging your upper traps* during shoulder exercises. Instead, keep them depressed to better activate the lateral deltoids.

[BigMcLrgehuge]

Coming back to this video to say that I tried leading with the elbows for my shoulders day today and it was total death, in the best way possible. Thanks for the tip! I'm excited to see some more shoulder development now that I'm using better form!