3 Dumbbell Shoulder Exercises You Can’t Afford To Miss

Want nice shoulders muscles and only have dumbbells available? These compound shoulder exercises you can do at home are the best out there!

Your Shoulders In Three Parts

The shoulder muscles are the visual connectors between well-developed arms and a defined chest and back.

Without giving them some love, your training and physique isn’t complete. Seriously.

Training the shoulder means taking care of each of the the three muscles it consists of. They are the anterior (front), lateral (side) and posterior (rear) deltoid muscles:

What exercises best achieve that? So-called “compound” exercises, that have one target muscle but take more along for the ride. Here are those I consider best for the purpose if you only have dumbbells available!

The Shoulder Press

The dumbbell shoulder press targets the anterior delt, but also involves the side delts, upper back, the triceps and the upper chest.

The Dumbbell Raise

The dumbbell raise works the side delts, but also involves the posterior shoulder portion, upper back, the forearms and many of the smaller, deeper shoulder muscles. It’s easy to lose good form when doing this exercise, so monitor yourself!

Dumbbell Rear Delt Rows

This one targets the rear delt, but also gets work from the shoulder’s rotary cuff, the side delts, the upper back and the forearms. Make sure to not slip into the dumbbell back row when doing it!