Strengthen and fortify your shoulder muscles with a personal trainer's three-step dumbbell conclusion routine

Personal trainer Alex Marks of London's On Your Marks studio has devised a challenging 10-minute workout to effectively target the shoulders. This routine, dubbed the "Shoulder Burner", consists of three exercises that work the deltoid muscles from various angles and through different movement patterns.

The deltoids, the shoulders, are made up of three heads: the anterior or clavicular deltoid, the middle or acromial deltoid, and the posterior or spinal deltoid. This workout aims to strengthen all these heads, resulting in stronger, more injury-resistant shoulders that not only look more defined but also move better.

The Exercises

Unilateral Arnold Press: This exercise works one side of the body at a time. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, press one weight overhead while rotating the hand, and lower with control before repeating on the other side.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: In this exercise, hold a light dumbbell in each hand by the sides, raise each dumbbell out to shoulder height while keeping the core and glutes engaged, tipping the front of the dumbbell down to target the medial deltoids, and lower with control.
Dumbbell Upright Row: This bilateral move involves holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of the thighs, pulling the dumbbells up toward the chest, keeping the weights close to the body and the elbows higher than the wrists, and lowering under control.

The Approach

Marks suggests performing these exercises back to back without rest for the full 10 minutes. However, for those who find this approach too challenging, an alternative is to break the workout into 60-second blocks and adjust the working period to one's fitness level.

The focus should be on the effort put into each repetition and round, rather than the numbers. Beginners can work for 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds for each move; intermediates can increase the work to 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off; while more advanced can aim for 50 seconds of effort and just 10 seconds of rest.

The Benefits

Incorporating both unilateral and bilateral exercises in workouts helps prevent imbalances from building up due to one side compensating for the other. This workout, in particular, helps challenge the shoulder muscles from different angles and movement patterns, ensuring a balanced and effective workout.

By following this three-pronged approach, you can expect stronger, more injury-resistant shoulders that not only look more defined but also move better. So, get ready to feel the burn with Alex Marks' Shoulder Burner workout!

Strengthen and fortify your shoulder muscles with a personal trainer's three-step dumbbell conclusion routine