How to broaden your shoulders: exercises and techniques

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2015-01-05

Hello. What man doesn’t dream of broad shoulders? There can’t be too much of a good thing! The wider the shoulders, the better! Even some girls want to broaden their shoulders. Right now, I’ll give you some tips on how to do this.

Let me say right away that the younger you are, the more you can expand your shoulders. You’ll find out why shortly. So, shoulders can be made wider due to three things:

• Expansion of the skeleton of the upper shoulder girdle
• Increase in the volume of the deltoid muscles
• Increase in the volume of the latissimus dorsi muscles

Expansion of the Skeleton

Unfortunately, if your skeleton is already formed, and you are 20 or older, you can skip this point. The shape of the skeleton can only be changed during childhood and adolescence.

According to my observations, two exercises have a good effect on the growth of the upper shoulder girdle bones in width:

• Dips on parallel bars
• Dumbbell pullover lying down or barbell pullover

If you are not yet 20 and want to expand your shoulders, do the first and second exercises twice a week. Some may notice that when doing dips, they feel pain in the middle of the chest (sternum). This is a good sign. It means that the attachment points of the ribs to the sternum have not yet ossified. And this is a good condition for expanding the shoulders and chest.

Increasing the Deltoid Muscles

The deltoids affect the visual width of the shoulders from the front. You need to focus on the front and middle parts of the deltoid muscles. Here are some basic exercises:

• Barbell press standing or seated from the chest
• Barbell press standing or seated from behind the head
• Dumbbell press standing or seated
• Lateral dumbbell raises

Of course, there are many other shoulder exercises, but these are the most fundamental. If anyone wants to know more about shoulder training, you can read this article.

Increasing the Latissimus Dorsi Muscles

The latissimus dorsi muscles make your shoulders appear wider from the back, which is also important. Moreover, everything in our body is interconnected. A good increase in back muscle size will also stimulate the growth of the deltoid muscles. Therefore, it’s important to train the latissimus dorsi as well. Here are some basic exercises for broadening your back:

• Wide grip pull-ups to the chest
• Bent-over barbell row
• Pull down behind the neck from the upper cable with a wide grip
• Pull down from the upper block to the chest with a wide grip
• Horizontal cable row

There are as many exercises for the latissimus dorsi as there are for the shoulders. But these are the most basic. If you’re interested, you can read the article: How to Build Your Back.

Conclusion

If you are still a teenager, you have a good opportunity to genuinely broaden your shoulders. The main thing is not to miss this moment. Do dips on parallel bars and perform pullovers twice a week. And don’t forget about your deltoids and back.

If you have already passed this age, your options are fewer. However, you can still increase your shoulders through muscle growth. I know practical examples where already adult individuals with narrow shoulders managed to significantly broaden them solely by increasing muscle mass. Good luck!