Home Dumbbell Shoulder Workout

This home dumbbell shoulder workout will help you build a stronger frame for injury-free strength sessions and big upper-body gains…

Your shoulders require special attention, which is why we’ve devised this workout. The big muscles in the joint have the capacity to shift a large amount of weight but if you ignore the small stabilising muscles that are deep in the joint you could end up with an injury that’s hard to heal.  

This workout begins with two exercises – external and internal rotations – that strengthen the deep-lying stabilising muscles. They will also warm up your joints for the bigger lifts, such as the seated shoulder press, that follow. As with any body part, it’s important to work the shoulders from a variety of angles. The lateral raise will target your middle shoulders, the front raise targets your front shoulders and the halo targets the front, middle and rear shoulders.  

Want to work out any time? Take a look at the best dumbbells for home workouts

Related content:

1. This Workout Will Help You Build Bigger Stronger Shoulders
2. How To Build A Bigger Chest
3. Best Dumbbell Exercises For Back Workouts

Home Dumbbell Shoulder Workout

• Do exercises 1-6 in order 
• Rest for 1 minute between sets 
• Rest for 2 minutes between exercises 

Tip: 36% of resistance training injuries are shoulder related, according to a recent US study. The top two causes were muscle imbalance and poor technique.

1. Dumbbell External Rotation

Reps: 12-15 each side
Rest: 60 secs
Sets: 2

Do this move as a warm-up before heavy shoulder exercises or at the end of a workout to develop your stabilising muscles.

Start position:

• Lie on your side with your knees bent for stability.
• With your upper arm in line with your body, bend your elbow to 90 degrees and hold a dumbbell.

Movement:

• Rotate your arm as far as is comfortable and return to the start. 

2. Dumbbell Internal Rotation

Reps: 12-15 each side
Rest: 60 secs
Sets: 2

Move your shoulder in the opposite direction to the external rotation.

Start position:

• Lie on your side with your knees bent for stability, your upper arm in line with your body and your elbow bent at 90 degrees.
• Hold a light dumbbell in your upturned palm.

Movement:

• Rotate your arm so the dumbbell points upwards with your elbow still at 90 degrees.

3. Dumbbell Kneeling Hammer-Grip Shoulder Press

Reps: 10
Rest: 60 secs
Sets: 3

Kneeling while doing the press makes the exercise more stable and allows you to lift more weight.

Start position:

• Kneel with the dumbbells held at shoulder height and your elbows out to the sides.
• Keep your core braced throughout the move and avoid arching your back.

Movement:

• Press the weights directly overhead but don’t let them touch at the top.

4. Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Reps: 10
Rest: 60 secs
Sets: 3

Use a light weight to target both your delts and your upper traps to give yourself broad-looking shoulders.

Start position:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your body upright and your core braced.

Movement:

• Lift the weights out to the sides with straight arms.
• Stop at shoulder level and hold for a second before lowering slowly.

5. Dumbbell Front Raise

Reps: 10
Rest: 60 secs
Sets: 3

By raising the dumbbells out in front of you, you place the stress on the front of your shoulders.

Start position:

• Hold the dumbbells in front of your quads with your palms facing you.

Movement:

• Lift the dumbbells out in front of you to shoulder level, pause for a second, then lower slowly to the start. 

6. Dumbbell Halo

Reps: 10
Rest: 60 secs
Sets: 3 

Moving the dumbbell around your head in a 360-degree rotation works your whole shoulder joint.

Start position:

• Hold the dumbbell in front of you at chin height with palms facing forwards.

Movement:

• Rotate the dumbbell around your head then reverse the movement back to the start.