Best Shoulder Exercises for Muscle Growth: Top Picks and Rankings

Are you ready to build boulder shoulders? Whether you're a beginner or an intermediate lifter, choosing the right exercises for your shoulder workouts can make all the difference in your muscle growth journey. In this comprehensive guide, we'll rank popular shoulder exercises from 5 stars to 0 stars, helping you optimize your training for maximum gains.

Introduction

Before we dive into the rankings, let's establish our criteria for a 5-star exercise:

1. High tension in the stretched position: This means that you can train the target muscle well at a long muscle length, which is the optimal way to train for muscle growth according to our best scientific understanding of training for muscle growth.
2. Smooth resistance profile. The best exercises are hardest when the muscle is maximally stretched and become easier towards the peak contraction.
3. Simple progression: We want the ability to easily add weight or reps over time as we progress in our training. Both of these have been shown to be similarly important for building muscle.
4. Good feeling: What we do not want is shoulder pain or wrist issues of any kind. We want 5-star exercises to feel good.

Your shoulder muscles (which are also known as deltoids or delts) consist of three main heads:

1. Anterior (the front head)
2. Lateral (the side head)
3. Posterior (the rear head)

We'll be looking at exercises that target each of these heads effectively. But it is important to note up front that the lateral head is the most important shoulder part to train for building a wide and muscular physique.

The other shoulder heads, the rear and the front delts, get decent stimulus from pushing and pulling movements. These are trained quite well just by doing chest and back training using compound pressing and pulling exercises (Bench Press and variations and pulldowns, pullups, rows)!

Because of that, we should care about how well an exercise targets the lateral head (side delts) when judging how good this exercise is for building shoulders. Training the front head and the rear head is redundant and not needed in most cases if pressing and pulling movements are done in your program.

Please note:
Get Jacked has a detailed exercise directory for all muscle groups and this article links to the relevant exercise for you if you want to learn more about them.

Shoulder Exercises for the Lateral Head (Side Delts) - From Best to Worst

We mentioned that the side delts are what you mainly want to focus on because you train the other shoulder heads with pressing and pulling movements. So let's explore the best exercises for the side delts first. The others come later on if you keep reading.

Cable Lateral Raise

Cable lateral raises are a 5-star exercise. They offer the maximum tension at the longest muscle length if they are done correctly. That makes cable lateral raises one of the best exercises for the side delts.

Set the cable up to be at a mid-height position, ideally at the same height as your hands are when you are standing there. Then, step out and perform the exercise, making sure that when your arms are next to your body, there is still tension on the cable. That way, you get the best stretch under tension.

The exercise feels excellent to perform for most people and rarely causes shoulder or wrist issues. For maximum effect when targeting the side delts, rotate your thumbs down and your pinkies up as you sweep out and up if you can. Following this cue helps you target the side delts even more effectively.

• Loaded in the stretched position
• Good progression
• Becomes easier throughout the movement

• Requires access to a cable
• Cable needs to be height adjustable for optimal variation

Variation: Cable Lateral Raise on Knees

Some cable towers are not height adjustable. If you find yourself with one of those, then the cable lateral raise on knees is a great variation for you to try using the low cable attachment.

You get the same benefits as with the standing cable lateral raises with the cable at hand height by kneeling down close to the cable attachment and performing the exercise on your knees. It may look a little odd, but it is very effective.

Behind-the-Back Cable Lateral Raise

Behind the back cable lateral raises are efficient and effective exercises targeting your side delts very well. To set up, attach a handle to a low cable, face away from the machine, and perform lateral raises with the cable running behind your back.

The resistance profile of this exercise favors the long position, making this exercise an excellent shoulder builder. We think that this exercise is superior to regular lateral raises in terms of targeting the side delts. We have it a little lower down on this list only because it is a bit awkward to set up. But once you've got the hang of it, it is a great exercise to add to your shoulder workouts.

• Excellent stretch emphasis
• Great resistance profile (easiest at the top, hardest at maximum stretch)
• Super shoulder builder, possibly the best of them all.

• Needs dual cable towers
• Can be a little awkward to learn and set up

Cable Y Raise

The cable Y raise is a lateral raise variation that provides a big range of motion. It shares a lot of the advantages with the other cable lateral raise variations but it can feel awkward for some lifters. That's why we had to take half a star from the perfect score. If you can do this exercise, it is easily a 5-star for you personally. Give it a try to see how you like it and swap it out if it is not for you.

Arnold-Style Side Lying Dumbbell Raise

The Arnold-Style Side Lying Dumbbell Raise is a variation of regular dumbbell lateral raises, which you can read about a little further down. Of any dumbbell lateral raise variation, this one offers the highest tension when stretched, making it the best one for hypertrophy.

Using a bench, it also provides a stable position for lifting and it can easily be progressed by increasing the load of the dumbbells. It is easier to set up than cable side raise variations but that comes with the tradeoff of sacrificing stretch under load, which is greater for a well set up cable variation.

• Decent Exercise
• Easy to set up

• Less potential for loaded stretch than cables have

Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise

The standing dumbbell lateral raise is a classic exercise for building capped shoulders. It has been a staple in the gym for decades and is a good exercise to add to your shoulder workouts.

It has some issues though, making it not the perfect exercise for us. The biggest issue is that with this exercise there is zero tension on the side delts when stretched and peak tension at 90° with a fairly short muscle length. The resistance is the highest at the peak of the movement and the lowest at maximum muscle stretch.

• Simple and time-efficient. Just grab a pair of dumbbells and you're good to go.

• Zero tension on side delts when stretched
• Peak tension at 90°
• Not optimal resistance profile

Variations: Lean In/Out Dumbbell Lateral Raises

By leaning in, the dumbbell lateral raise becomes a little bit more effective for building the side delts. This is because we can emphasize the stretched position by leaning in a little bit more. We can accomplish this in two ways:

• Leaning the upper body in sideways against support from a solid wall or a rack.
• Leaning the upper body in sideways against a bench.

Leaning out accomplishes the opposite: it reduces the tension in the stretched position, making the variation less effective. 2.5 stars.

Super ROM Lateral Raise

Super range-of-motion lateral raises are a variation of dumbbell lateral raises, where the movement is not reversed at 90 degrees but taken all the way up to where the arms are overhead. This results in a full contraction of the side delts. While it sounds promising, it still faces the same resistance curve issues as dumbbell lateral raises do. Therefore, it is also a 3-star exercise.

Upright Row

The upright row targets your upper traps and side delts. It can be performed with barbells or using the cable tower.

Doing the exercise using cables brings some advantages. It provides you with a smooth resistance curve and allows you to move your hands out at the top if you use the rope attachment.

Because the forces point straight down on this exercise, stretch under load is not as good as it is with cable lateral raises and variations.

• Great to overload

• Low stretch under load
• Not the best resistance profile

Machine Lateral Raises

The lateral raise machine provides smooth and consistent tension, but it lacks optimal stretch in some positions on some machines. This exercise is only as good as the machine you do it on. And because the machines vary a lot between them, there is a lot of variability in how well this exercise works. It really depends. Could be great or meh. We cannot rate it much more highly because of that:

Banded Lateral Raise

Similar to the dumbbell lateral raise, this variation faces some resistance curve issues. These are even more pronounced than with the dumbbell variation, which makes this exercise less suited to build the shoulders.

It can be useful, however, if you find yourself limited to bands for some reason. Maybe you are traveling? In that case, doing banded lateral raises is better than not doing anything at all.

• Provides some challenge, results in some training

• Worst lateral raise variation in all aspects. Prefer dumbbells or cables if you can

For learning more about effective lateral work, explore our complete list of hypertrophy training exercises for the side delts. All the exercises in our exercise directory are part of our bodybuilding training app.

Frontal Head (Front Delts) Exercises From Best to Worst

Above, we mentioned that training the side delts is all that matters for building good-looking capped shoulders for most people. However, some people might not do enough pressing in their training and for that reason may want to train the front delts directly. If that is you, keep reading and we will walk you through the definitive list of exercises for building bigger front delts, again going from best to worst.

Overhead Presses and Variations

The barbell overhead press, also known as military press, is a staple in many shoulder routines. It is a good front delt builder with a fine resistance profile but it has some disadvantages.

The main one is that it imposes significant axial fatigue because it is performed standing up and all of the load goes through the spine. That's a drawback, particularly if you impose more fatigue on your spine during your training week by doing squats or deadlifts (or variations of those movements).

• High tension in stretch position
• Can be overloaded
• Gratifying lift

• Anterior delt dominant
• Stability issues when standing
• Fatigue cost

There are variations that lower the fatigue issues significantly. Doing seated overhead presses with a barbell or dumbbells, using the Smith machine (again seated), or performing the exercise on dedicated shoulder press machines all improve the stimulus to fatigue ratio.

Variation: Machine Shoulder Press

Doing the exercise on a dedicated shoulder press machine is a great way to reduce the fatigue cost of the exercise. It is a very effective exercise for building the front delts.

Variation: Seated OHP

Similar to the machine shoulder press, doing the exercise seated on a bench reduces the fatigue cost of the exercise. It is a very effective exercise for building the front delts.

Variation: Dumbbell OHP

Like the barbell overhead press, dumbbell overhead presses are a great exercise for building the front delts. They are a little more versatile than the barbell version because your hands can move inwards. For fatigue management, you can perform this exercise seated using a bench.

Dumbbell Front Raises

While popular, dumbbell front raises are often not needed if you are already doing presses. They are only recommended for those with underdeveloped front delts or those who cannot perform presses for whatever reason.

That said, they are a good exercise for targeting the front delts if you need to do so. Their resistance curve is suffering from the same drawbacks as dumbbell lateral raises do, though. Tension is highest at 90 degrees and then tapers off, becoming zero at maximum stretch. Not ideal.

• Easy to set up

• Redundant exercise for most
• Poor resistance profile
• No load under stretch

Rear Delts Exercises From Best to Worst

Most people don't need to train the rear delts. They are trained quite well by pulling movements. Any row variation will do the job already and so do pulldowns and pullups. But maybe you want to train them anyway? In that case, here is a list of exercises that will help you do so.

Reverse Pec Deck

The Reverse Pec Deck is a machine exercise that offers consistent tension throughout the movement. For a deeper stretch, you can try sitting sideways on the machine. It is a very good exercise to train the rear delts. It offers the best stretch under load of all rear delt exercises, which is why we rate it so highly.

Reverse Cable Crossover

This exercise is excellent for targeting your rear delts. Focus on a sweeping motion rather than yanking the cables for best results. It offers good stretch under load and a smooth resistance profile, making it a good rear delt builder. The stretch is a little lower than on the reverse pec deck, which is why we rate it a little lower but it is still a great exercise.

Rope Face Pull

The rope face pull targets your rear delts, though your mid traps will also be active. It offers good potential for progressive overload and it has a smooth resistance profile. It is a great exercise to train the rear delts.

Bent Over Reverse Dumbbell Flys

While limited in tension at the bottom of the movement, bent over reverse dumbbell flys can be useful when you're short on time or cannot do one of the better rear delt exercises. Dumbbells are easy to grab, so this exercise is a great option to set up quickly. They also are usually widely available in gyms, so if there is no available cable tower for face pulls, you can still perform and train your rear delts. Some training is better than no training at all.

Conclusion

So you see, the best shoulder exercises are the ones that target the side delts well and work them in the stretched position. Remember, the key to effective shoulder training for most people is to mainly target the lateral deltoid (side delts) with exercises that provide optimal tension under stretch and allow for progressive overload.

By incorporating the highest-rated exercises from this list into your routine, you'll be well on your way to building those impressive, well-rounded shoulders. For more training insights on other muscle groups, visit the best hypertrophy training exercises.

If you are ready to take your shoulder workouts to the next level, why not give Get Jacked App a try? We offer personalized training splits that are optimal for your constraints, with exercise technique guides and progress tracking. With our evidence-based approach, you'll be on the fast track to great muscle growth in no time! Also, explore our blog, where we talk about all sorts of hypertrophy-related topics.