Most upper-body exercises involve your shoulder muscles, hence the importance to strengthen them in the gym.

By strengthening your shoulders through exercises like shoulder press, press-ups and raises, you’ll reduce the risk of injury and increase stability and endurance.

In addition to this, you’ll generate more power which will make your posture better and help your strength in physical contact on the sports field.

Another reason for training shoulder is to strengthen your back, which will benefit your lifts during chest and back sessions.

Here, we look at four tips to help get bigger shoulders.

SHOULDER PRESS

Hold two dumbells while seated on a bench. Place the dumbbells to shoulder height and lift straight above your head. Lower the dumbbells back to shoulder height and repeat.

PRESS-UP

Lie straight facing the floor. Lift your body by pressing on your hands. Once your hands are straight then lower your body back to the floor and repeat.

FRONT PLATE RAISE

Hold a plate in front of you and keep your back straight. Slowly raise the plate until it rises above your shoulders and then lower back to starting position.

LATERAL RAISE

Hold two dumbbells by your side and lift them until they are above parallel. Once the dumbbells come up past your shoulders then proceed to lower them back to starting position.

• Aim to do 8 repetitions x 4 sets on each exercise.