In the last post I mentioned how my friends want shoulders like Dwight Howard.

Problem is, I went off into a rant about traps and lost focus on the shoulders… Today, I’m making up for that.

First of all, if you don’t know Dwight Howard and his enormous shoulders… check out the image below.

Okay, so SOMEBODY may have edited that image in Photoshop and exaggerated a bit, but still… his shoulders are pretty damn big.

So you want big shoulders like Dwight Howard, but you don’t know how to get them. Right?

It’s just a matter of the exercises you do, how you do them and how often you switch them up.

Here are the big, big shoulder building exercises:

Barbell Military Press

Clean and Press

Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Here are the little, big shoulder building exercises

Front Dumbbell Raises

Side Lateral Dumbbell Raises

Seated, Bent Over, Side Lateral Dumbbell Raises

Front Cable Shoulder Raises

Side Lateral Cable Raises

One Arm Lateral Dumbbell Raises

One Arm Front Dumbbell Raises

One Arm Front Cable Raises

Post Shoulder Workout Burnouts

1.) Grab a light set of dumbbells, 5lbs or so. Raise the dumbbells to the top portion of a side lateral dumbbell raise. Once you get to the top, STOP. Hold the dumbbells straight out at the top for as long as possible. Once you have hit failure drop the dumbbells and you’re done. You can repeat this shoulder burnout as many times as you like. I usually do this 2 or 3 times at the end of some of my shoulder workouts.

2.) Again, use a light set of dumbbells, 10-15lbs or so. Perform 1 rep of front dumbbell raises. Perform 1 rep of side lateral dumbbell raise. Repeat for 15 reps.

The Key To Great Weight Training Results Is Variation and it couldn’t be more true when it comes to shoulder training. When I train a body part like legs I don’t have to switch up my routine nearly as often as I have to switch up my shoulder routine. I can get away with sticking to the same leg routine much longer for some reason. My secret weapon for big shoulders is shoulder training with extreme variation. I literally do something different for shoulders each and every time I train shoulders.

Here is what you do…

Every time you are training shoulders choose (1) big shoulder exercise and (2) little shoulder exercises from the list of shoulder exercises above. This will ensure you have a fresh routine each and every time you train shoulders. No one shoulder workout should be the same. You may be able to get away with doing the same 2 little shoulder exercises for a couple of shoulder workouts, but the 1 big shoulder exercise needs to be swapped out and refreshed with something new EVERY shoulder workout. Perform 6-8 reps with the (1) big shoulder exercise for a total of three sets. Perform 10-12 reps with the (2) little shoulder exercises for a total of three sets each. Make sure the two smaller exercises are hitting your shoulders from different angles. For example, you wouldn’t want both of your smaller exercises to be a variation of front raises.

*Optional* – You can choose to perform one of the shoulder burnout routines at the end of your shoulder workout. If you do not commit to doing this every shoulder workout, don’t worry. I usually do the burnouts every other shoulder workout and sometimes less than that. However, my shoulders feel awesome after one of my workouts where I include the burnout.

Do you guys think you’ve got what it takes to build big Dwight Howard shoulders now?

Let me know in the comments!

I’ve got several friends and a few buddies on facebook who have told me how much they like Dwight Howard’s Shoulders.

In fact, this post was inspired by one of my facebook friends A.J. who wanted to know the answer to that exact question… but before we

get into big shoulders, let’s take a look at what guys really want.

When someone tells me “I want big shoulders” they usually don’t want big shoulders at all. They want big traps (trapezius)

Traps are one of those impressive muscles like your chest, arms, or abs that demand attention. A guy with big traps looks like some sort of intimidating not-to-be-messed-with football player.

So how do you get them? We’ll get into that… but first, what are traps?

Traps (trapezius), are not apart of your shoulder. In fact, your traps are apart of your BACK. However, many guys, including myself include their trap workout as apart of their shoulder training. For me, it’s just a comfort thing. I try to hit back pretty hard and by the time I’m done with a hard back workout  doing shrugs is the last thing I want to do. Your back is a big muscle, your traps are not so big. By working my traps and back out on separate days I allow myself to concentrate more on my back workout. Shoulders are also a relatively small muscle. It doesn’t take much to get an effective shoulder workout, so when I am done training shoulders there is plenty of time and energy available to workout traps.

Yes, I know that is not a football player and not the professional basketball player Dwight Howard. However, Terrel Owens has one of the best male bodies in my opinion and a killer set of traps. This was the perfect picture to use to get you guys to understand the difference between traps and shoulders.

Highly Effective Trap Exercises

Barbell Shrug -

1. Load the barbell with a moderate amount of weight
2. Approach the barbell and stand with at shoulder width
3. Grip the barbell with a medium, shoulder width grip
4. Raise your shoulders towards your ears as if you were a
young child in kindergarten saying “I dunno”

Dumbbell Shrug -

Same procedure as the barbell shrug, but holding dumbbells.

Barbell Upright Row –

1. Load barbell with light to medium amount of weight. This isn’t something

you’ll be able to do with a large amount of weight, but it’s very effective.
2. Approach the barbell and stand with a shoulder width stance.
3. Grasp the barbell with a medium, shoulder width grip.
4. Pull the bar up towards your neck with your elbows leading. Allow your wrists
to flex as the bar raises.

Dwight Howard definitely does have big shoulders, but when someone tells me I want big shoulders… I really think it’s traps they’re looking for. And I just needed to make it clear that traps and shoulders should not get confused. One is apart apart of your back, a completely different area of your body than the other. What do you think? Do you have any tricks or tips that helped you get big shoulders or traps? Let’s hear it… Leave a comment!