You should always be on the lookout for new, exciting and challenging workouts or exercises to add to an already developed workout routine. Not only will swapping, adding and changing movements keep things interesting for you, which in turn should continue to give you motivation to go to the gym or to workout, but it helps to keep the muscles guessing and to ‘shock’ them, so that you can maximise your gains.
Your shoulders are a vital muscle group to target. They’re the muscle group with the largest range of motion in the body, and are responsible for a wide range of upper body movements, so keeping them strong and healthy is important. Fortunately, there are a number of shoulder exercises you can perform, from lateral raises through to overhead presses, but this recent shoulder workout we spotted on Instagram is unlike anything you’ve seen before. It comes from fitness trainer George Bamfo Jr., and just watching it is enough to make our shoulders feel weak.
All you need to complete it (if you dare) is a set of dumbbells, so you could theoretically perform it at home. The shoulder exercises involved are by no means easy, and your shoulder muscles can become fatigued pretty quickly, so you only want to use a light weight to start with to see how long you can last. George might be using 25lb dumbbells, but then, look at the size of him. We’d go for 5kg/11lbs weights as a good starting point.
Check out George Bamfo Jr’s Brutal Shoulder Workout in the Video Below
George’s workout includes the following movements:
- Bent Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise with Rotation: The lateral raise is a classic shoulder exercise that targets the deltoid muscle. Usually, you would perform this movement with your arms out straight (albeit with a slight bend in the elbow), but here, George bends his elbows at 90-degrees, allowing him to lift a heavier weight. The wrists rotate too which can help to put a bit of tension on the upper arm muscles (and the rotating movement can help provide some momentum to lift the arms up).
- Dumbbell Overhead Press with Rotation: The overhead press is another movement that should already be featured in your upper body workouts. Good for both the shoulders and chest, as well as your arms, it’s essential. Here, George adds a rotation in, rotating at the shoulder. This helps to add tension to the rotator cuff muscles, which will not only make them stronger but help them to pop too. Also, notice how he’s performing this movement whilst kneeling down. This takes away some stability, so he’ll be needing to engage his core a lot more to help prevent his body from swaying around too much.
- Dumbbell Close Grip Chest Press with Fly: The close grip dumbbell chest press is a great variation of the classic dumbbell chest press. It’s a compound movement, so works multiple muscle groups in one hit, including the pecs, deltoids in your shoulders, triceps and rotator cuff. The fly movement George adds on at the end helps to improve the strength of the rotator cuff, as well as helping to open up the chest muscles.
- Dumbbell Push Up with Reach: Push-ups on their own are already a fantastic upper body workout, targeting your arms, core, chest, shoulders and back muscles all in one. Here, George uses a narrow stance with his hands gripping a pair of dumbbells, which he then extends out in front of himself at the top of the push-up movement. This not only requires his core to engage to help him stabilise himself, but the reaching movement is similar to a front lateral raise, meaning he’s targeting the deltoid and trap muscles.
- Russian Twists with Press: Russian twists are a core exercise that sees you sitting down with your legs lifted off the floor, putting all the tension on your core to keep your body upright. Holding a weight, twist your upper body from side to side to target the obliques. Here, George adds in a dumbbell press after one rotation on each side, just to give his shoulders one last blast.
This shoulder workout circuit is certainly not easy. So for your first time, try to complete 8 – 10 reps for each movement, and complete the full circuit 3 times.