Whether you want to rock a cold shoulder top [1] or wear a sexy off-the-shoulder dress [2], your shoulders are on full display in the summer. And if you're focusing on your biceps and triceps, you might be ignoring Summer's most on-display muscle; you can carve out sexy, toned shoulders with a few exercises.
Joel Freeman, Beachbody [3] super trainer and creator of the new lifting program called LIIFT4 [4], told POPSUGAR some of his favourite bodyweight and dumbbell moves for your shoulders. The best part about the dumbbell moves is that you can also do them with resistance bands, a great option for at-home workouts or travel.
Joel recommends doing three sets of 10 reps for each exercise. If you're new to working your upper body, he said women should start with between five and 20-pound dumbbells. Try these four moves as a circuit to tone up your shoulders [6] and show them off all season long.
Dumbbell Side Arm Raise
Here's a basic yet effective move to target your shoulders.
- Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand so your palms face in toward the sides of your body.
- Start with your right side first. With control, keep your arm straight (but don't lock that elbow), and as you inhale, raise your right hand up toward the ceiling. You want your palm to be facing down and your arm to be parallel to the floor. Then, as you exhale, slowly lower your hand back to your body. You should be able to see your hand in your peripheral vision. Your arm won't be directly out to the side but slightly forward.
- Do the same move with your left arm.
- Then do both your right and left arms at the same time.
- Continue these moves — right, left, together — for a total of two to three sets of 10 reps.
Wide Arm Push-Up
"A wide push-up, hands just outside the shoulders, is a great way to work [your shoulders]," Joel told POPSUGAR.
- Begin in the top of a push-up position with your arms straight and your wrists underneath your shoulders.
- Step each hand a few inches wider.
- As you inhale, bend your elbows out to the sides as you lower your torso toward the floor. Then straighten your arms. This counts as one rep.
- Complete as many reps as you can with proper form.
Overhead Shoulder Press
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand just above the shoulders, palms facing in.
- Straighten your arms above you.
- Bend your elbows, coming back to the starting position, to complete one rep.
- Continue this move for a total of three sets of 10 reps.
Dumbbell Front Arm Raise
- Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand so your hands are facing forward with your palms facing your thighs and each dumbbell down in front of your legs.
- Keep your torso straight and lift both arms up, keeping your elbows with a slight bend and your palms always facing down.
- Continue to lift your arms until they are slightly parallel to the floor, about shoulder height.
- Continue this move for a total of three sets of 10 reps.