Shoulder exercises are very important as strong shoulders helps in doing everyday task of lifting objects. Shoulder exercises also improves posture and decreases chances of injury around shoulders like sprains and strains. Following are the 10 Best exercises for shoulder muscles strengthening.

1. Front Raise-Hold weight in your hands and set them at hip height. Stand tall and keep your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping elbows straight and palms facing down, lift arms until they reach shoulder level. Then, slowly lower your arms down. Repeat 10-15 times.
2. Lateral Raise-Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, your arms at your side and palms facing downwards. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, raise your arms to your sides until they are at level with your shoulders. Slowly lower your arms. Do 10-15 reps.
3. Seated Rear Lateral Raise-Sit on a bench holding weight in each hand by your side. While bending over and resting your torso on your thighs, raise both dumbbells to your side until they are at shoulder height. Lower under control and repeat 10 -15 times.
4. Diagonal patterns of the shoulder with weights-Start with dumbbells in the hands and the arm raised out to the side above shoulder height. The arm is pulled down across the body so that the hand reaches the other hip. Repeat the same movement on the other side. These are functional exercises.
5. Overhead Shoulder Press-Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bring your weights to shoulder level, with your palms facing forward. Extend your arms straight above your shoulders. Slowly lower the weights back to shoulder level and repeat 10-15 times.
6. External and Internal Rotations of the shoulder with resistance bands-Tie one end of the resistance band to the doorknob and hold the other end in your hand. Keep the arm close to the body and bend 90 degrees at the elbow, bring your hand towards your navel rotating the shoulder internally and then move your hand outwards rotating the shoulder externally.
7. Push-ups– Get on your hands and toes, with feet slightly apart and whole body aligned in a straight line. Keeping your core tight, lower your body by bending the elbows to 90 degrees. Then push back up through your hand to the starting position.
8. Planks-Alternating between the low plank and high plank by pushing off from the floor is a good strengthening workout for shoulders.
9. Arm Circles-Start standing with legs shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms extended out to sides at shoulder height, palms facing the floor. Make 10-15 small, clockwise circles with arms and later repeat the movement in an anti-clockwise direction.
10. Shoulder Shrugs with dumbbells-Start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart, a dumbbell in each hand, and hands at sides, palms facing inwards. Lift shoulders up toward ears, then slowly lower back down to starting position. Do 10-15 reps.

Always do the correct form of exercise with appropriate weight that your body can handle. You should start with a weight with which you are able to complete the full range of movement without deteriorating the quality of movement. Once you are able to complete a set of 10 reps with that weight, increase the reps to 15. Then progress to doing 2-3 sets with the same weight. Lastly, increase the weight by half kg.

Stay Informed and Stay Strong!

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• Neck and Shoulder Conditions