How To Tone Your Shoulders

5 Effective Exercises To Tone Your Shoulders

When you tone your shoulders and upper back help it rounds out an appealing physique. However, many people either don’t know or fail to include exercises in their workout routine that target these muscles.

If you’re working your upper body, you’re probably including bicep curls, push-ups, tricep extensions, along with other typical exercises that work the upper arms. But these exercises do little for the shoulders.

Strengthening the shoulders not only makes you look good, but also helps prevent injury by balancing out these muscles with the upper arm, and also increases flexibility.

5 Exercises To Tone Your Shoulders

When rolled into one routine, all of these exercises will work to tone your shoulders and develop your upper back and shoulder muscles.

1.  Bent Over Rows

These rows are meant to work the area around the shoulder blades. Start by holding a dumbbell in each hand, feet together with a slight bend in your knees. Now bend over so that your back is parallel to the floor. Next squeeze your shoulder blades together while at the same time bending your elbows and bringing the dumbbells up along your sides.

Once at the top of the move, pause slightly and slowly lower your arms back down. Use a weight light enough to allow you to do 10 to 20 repetitions per set with a total of three sets.

Free Download: 10 Muscle Toning Mistakes Women Make

2. Flys

Flys are similar in nature to Bent Over Rows, but work the upper back and the back of the shoulders. Start by sitting on a bench holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bend over toward your knees.

With your head and neck in line with your spine, raise your arms out to your sides until the weight is level with your shoulders. Pause slightly and slowly lower the weight back down to the starting position. At the top of the exercise, your body and arms outstretched should look like the letter “T”. Aim for two or three sets of 15 reps per set.

3. Push Press

This exercise works the deltoids. Start by sitting on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Now bend at the elbows so that your hands are sitting on top of your shoulders palms facing toward the ceiling. Extend your arms toward the ceiling until fully extended. At the top of the move your palms should be facing forward. Slowly return to the starting position. Do 3 sets with 8 to 10 reps per set.

4. Shoulder Shrugs

You are probably familiar with this exercise and may have done it before as a warm-up to loosen up your shoulders and upper back, but this one uses weights. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms at your sides with your knees slightly bent. With a 5-pound dumbbell in each hand, pull in your abdominal core and lift your shoulders up toward your ears. Hold for 3 seconds and release. Try to do 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps per set.

5. Ball Pull

This exercise that targets the upper back by using a stability ball instead of any weight. To begin, kneel on the floor with a stability ball in front of you. Place your forearms on the ball and by using them, roll it away from your body until your body is fully extended. Hold for a count of three.

Now for the hard part; roll the ball back toward you thus bringing your body back to the starting position. Do 8 to 10 reps per set with a total of three sets.

Free Report: 10  Muscle Toning Mistakes Women Make

All these exercises will strengthen your back, shoulder, and core muscles. You’ll have better posture and you’ll feel more confident. When women try to tone muscle they often end up making a variety of mistakes that make the job of muscle toning much harder than it needs to be. To find out more, download my free report, 10 Muscle Toning Mistakes Women Make  to help you tone your shoulders the right way and get the results you want.