There simply isn’t an accessory quite as confidence-building as a strong, sculpted set of shoulders.
“With strong shoulders, we stand a little taller, walk a little prouder, and carry ourselves with a bit more oomph,” says women’s strength coach Kourtney Thomas, C.S.C.S. “How that manifests for every woman is different.” It could mean more confidence in the gym, resolve to command respect at work, or courage to speak up in a toxic relationship, she says.
On the benefits of shoulder workouts for women, science backs her up: In the face of stress, the right shoulder posture can actually boost self-esteem, according to one Health Psychology study.
Meanwhile, research definitively and consistently links physical strength to higher confidence in women. After all, getting up and over the pull-up bar or squatting your bodyweight for the first time is hugely empowering. So is saying, “No, thanks, I’ve got this” when a dude offers to get your overhead luggage into its cubby. (FYI, upper-body and shoulder exercises for women can build female upper bodies just as well as they can build male ones, per 2016 research.)
And whatever badass feats of strength you have on your to-do list, success hinges on first building strength with some shoulder workouts for women. “Even something like a deadlift—you don’t think of that as a shoulder exercise, but if you can’t stabilize the load as you come up, you are going to have some issues,” explains exercise physiologist Mike T. Nelson, Ph.D., C.S.C.S. For example, a pulled muscle, poor posture, and reduced total-body strength. With weak or unstable shoulders, you might not be able to get the weight off of the floor at all.
That’s because your shoulders are actually less a joint and more a “symphony of tissues,” says Nelson, explaining that they’re the most “do it all” structure in the entire human body. (Yeah, we women and shoulders have a whole lot in common.)
Here’s how your shoulders (and shoulder exercises for women) work: First, you’ve got two scapulae (aka shoulder blades) that are shaped like upside-down triangles. On their upper, outside edges, each of them have a little divot, akin to a golf tee, that’s called the glenoid. The end of your humerus (aka upper arm/funny bone) sits on top of that super-shallow groove like a golf ball on a golf tee. Together, they make up your glenoid-humeral joint, or what you probably think of as your shoulder joint.
Your deltoids (comprising your anterior, lateral, and posterior deltoids) are the main movers, connecting your humerus to your collarbones and shoulder blades.
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On the topic of shoulder blades, the four “rotator cuff” muscles and myriad ligaments and tendons surrounding the shoulder blades also connect to the collarbones and humerus. This enables the shoulder’s golf ball to move forward, backward, side to side, and in circles—and your arms to push, pull, and rotate—all without falling off of its tee.
Well-balanced shoulder workouts for women are all about caring for and strengthening each of these functions. They build the deltoids you see in the mirror, but they also promote stability and health in all of those little muscles and connective tissues you never even thought of having before.
Try This Awesome Shoulder Workout for Women
Ready to strengthen them—and yourself? Join us in the #ShoulderStrong movement. For shoulders that are as powerful as you are, this is one of the best shoulder workouts for women. By combining mobility work with hit-’em-hard moves designed to sculpt and shape from every angle, it crosses everything off your list in 30 minutes flat. Twice per week, perform the below shoulder exercises for women in order as instructed.
- Resistance Band Shoulder Rotation (1 X 10-12)
- Scapular Wall Slide (1 X 10-12)
- Cable Scaption Raise (3-4 X 10-12)
- Seated Dumbbell Arnold Press (3-4 X 10-12)
- Cable Rear-Delt Fly (3-4 X 10-12)
- Inverted Row (3-4 X AMQRAP)
Breaking It Down with the Best Shoulder Exercises for Women
1. Resistance Band Shoulder Rotation
This shoulder drill is great for helping to open up women’s shoulders and getting blood flowing to the joint to enable smooth movements through the rest of the workout.
How to: Grasp one end of a resistance band in each hand. Hold the band in front of your waist, positioning your hands six to eight inches wider than your shoulders and with your palms facing your body. Holding your arms straight and your core tight, slowly raise the band directly overhead and then lower as far as you can behind you. Pause briefly, then slowly reverse the movement to return to the start. That’s one rep. Do 10 to 12.
RELATED: Shoulder Mobility Exercises to Improve Shoulder Health
2. Scapular Wall Slide
It looks easy, but proper execution of this shoulder mobility exercise is a challenge! Over time, you’ll have more and more luck moving your arms through their full range of motion while maintaining a neutral spine and keeping your lower back happy.
How to: Stand with your back, butt, and head against a wall; bend your elbows to 90 degrees and raise them out to shoulder height, with the entire length of your arms pressed into the wall, palms facing forward. Slowly straighten your elbows to slide your arms up the wall. Pause briefly, then reverse the movement to return to the start. That’s one rep. Do 10 to 12.
3. Cable Scaption Raise
You can also perform this shoulder exercise for women with a resistance band, dumbbells, or light household objects. Spoiler: You don’t need much weight to get a serious burn, especially if you’re controlling the eccentric, or lowering, phase of each rep.
How to: Stand in the middle of a dual cable machine, and fix the cables as close to your feet as possible, feet hip-width apart. Grab the ends of the cables (right before the carabiner should be a small ball that fits snugly in the palm of your hand) with your palms facing your sides. From here, (keeping your body tall and not arching your back at all), raise your arms diagonally in front of you to shoulder height. Lead with your thumbs. Pause, then slowly lower to return to start. That’s one rep; do 10 to 12. Rest for about 30 seconds, and then repeat for three to four total sets.
4. Seated Dumbbell Arnold Press
Speaking of posterior deltoids, they deserve their own exercise in all shoulder workouts for women.
Consider this two (or three?) shoulder exercises for women in one: You’ll work your anterior and lateral delts in a big way, but by adding the Arnold, rotational element, you’ll hit the often-underworked rear-delts too. Warning: You won’t be able to use as much weight with this as you do with traditional shoulder presses.
How to: Sit on a bench with your back flat against the rest and your feet braced against the floor. Hold the dumbbells in front of your shoulders, with your palms facing your shoulders. Press the weights up overhead and, as you do so, rotate your hands so that when they reach their highest point, your palms will face away from you. The dumbbells should end directly above your ears, with the ends just touching. Pause, then slowly return to the start, rotating your hands back as you lower the weights. That’s one rep; do eight to 12. Rest for 90 seconds, and then repeat for three to four total sets.
5. Cable Rear-Delt Fly
Speaking of posterior deltoids, they deserve their own exercise in all shoulder workouts for women.
How to: Stand in the middle of a dual cable machine, and fix the cables to shoulder height, right next to each other, in the center of the machine. Hold on to the ends of the cables (right before the carabiner should be a small ball that fits in the palm of your hand), with the left cable in your right hand and the right cable in your left hand so that the cables cross in front of you. From here, pinch your shoulder blades together and move your arms back and outward, keeping your elbows straight, but not locked out, throughout. Pause, then slowly return to start. That’s one rep; do 10 to 12. Rest for 30 seconds, then repeat for three or four total sets.
6. Inverted Row
Shoulder workouts for women should always involve a healthy dose of pulling, helping to promote better joint alignment and counteract all of the hunching we do in front of computers and phones.
How to: Get underneath a bar in a squat rack or Smith machine (the higher it is, the easier the exercise will be); place your hands more than shoulder-width apart and extend your feet out in front of you, so your body forms a straight line from shoulders to heels. Keeping your body flat and your core tight, bend your elbows and pull your shoulder blades together to raise your chest to the bar. Pause, then slowly reverse the movement to start. That’s one rep; do as many full reps as possible. Rest 10 seconds and then repeat, doing three to four total sets.
Originally written for Women’s Health magazine. Check out the print version—you can even download the pdf—below.