Without a doubt, having broad shoulders is a defining characteristic of strength and stature. Getting a broad set of well defined-shoulders that tapers down to a small waistline takes training and effort, but nobody who’s serious about building a well-defined physique can ignore the deltoid muscles.
“But wait, what are deltoids?” is what many of you may be asking. In every day language, when we say shoulders, we are pretty much talking about any of the muscles just below our neck but above our chest. When we say we want a shoulder rub, we’re usually talking about the on the muscles that connect to our neck. When we say someone leans on your shoulder, it’s probably the muscle that connects the arm to the body.
So we’re going to abandon the word “shoulders” for now and get a little bit more specific. That group of muscle that’s located at your shoulder bone and connects to your upper arms is called the deltoid muscle group. The group of muscles that connects to your neck and is also part of your upper back is called the trapezius. We talk about the trapezius in more detail in the back workouts section. Our focus here will be to discuss the deltoids.
To get a feel for the movements that the deltoids are responsible for, place your hand over your shoulder in the area where it meets your arm. Raise your arm straight in front of you, and you will feel your shoulder tighten in front. Raise it out to the side and you’ll feel the middle portion of your shoulder tense up. At this point, you can probably guess what will happen when you raise your arm toward the back.
What you are feeling in your deltoids is each of the three heads doing its job. That’s right, your deltoid muscles are made up of three separate heads that each need attention in your workouts. The front head is called the anterior deltoid, the middle is referred to as the medial deltoid, and the back head is called the posterior deltoid. These three heads wrap around your upper arm bone on all sides.
That’s why working your deltoids is so important. They can be seen from all angles. Whether a person is looking at you straight on, from the side, or from the back, they’ll be able to see your deltoids. This is also the reason that your deltoids help you to look large and broad on top… from every angle you appear to have large shoulders that narrow down to a thin waist. This is the V-shape that so many body builders work so hard to earn.
The good thing is, your broad shoulders will be visible all the time, no matter what you’re wearing. Other body parts might be able to hide under your clothes, but broad and thick shoulders will always be apparent. Some of us may have been blessed with naturally wide shoulders above a thin waist; others of us might have been given narrower shoulders.
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