Shoulder Exercises You Never Knew Existed, According To Instagram’s Fitness King

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Shoulder Exercises You Never Knew Existed, According To Instagram’s Fitness King

Jo Lindner, Instagram’s fitness king, has revealed some shoulder workout variations that promise to supersize your shoulders.


Shoulder exercises are some of the most crucial for men to perform in the gym. Not only can they help give you a broader figure, but having strong shoulders can help improve your overall upper body strength.

You may think you already have a decent shoulder workout routine, but Instagram’s fitness king, German bodybuilder Jo Lindner, has just come out with some variations you might not have thought about.

Taking to Instagram (obviously) recently, Jo takes us through a series of shoulder exercises using plate weights, dumbbells and even the cable machine, which all serve to work all three heads of the shoulder muscle.

Starting with a plate weight – a staple of any well-stocked gym – Jo Lindner shows how you can perform a variety of shoulder exercises using just a single piece of equipment, adding, “when you have a plate, you can do a lot of shoulder exercises.”

He demonstrates front raises, a pressing movement (which will also target your chest muscles) and, one of his favourites, bending over slightly and raising the plate with straight arms. He also shows how you can perform single-arm upright rows to target the delts.

In a second video, Jo Lindner runs us through various ways to perform a favourite shoulder exercise of many, the lateral raise, all of which are performed while sitting on a bench. He utilises being able to bend his body over to help target the rear delt muscles.

Leaning upwards slightly enables you to target the side of the shoulders (essentially a traditional lateral raise) and then he sits upright to perform front raises to target the front head of the shoulder muscle. This, he says, will give you “3D delts.”

Jo also demonstrates how you can employ the use of cables to work your shoulder muscles. Some of you may already use a cable machine to perform single-arm side lateral raises, but did you also know you can perform upright rows with the cables, or even hold the handle grip attachment behind your back?

Image: @joesthetics

Regarding the latter, holding the handle behind you, Jo says you’re able to better target the side and even the front of the shoulder, compared to simply raising the cable out to your side. You may need to experiment with different amounts of weight, depending on which position you’re employing.

In a final video clip, Jo explains how a simple change to your regular lateral raises can help to isolate the rear delt muscle. With a pair of dumbbells in each hand, bend over by hinging at the hips. Then, raise your arms out to the side, bending your elbows at a roughly 90-degree angle.

By kicking out your elbow like this, you’re going to target the rear delt specifically, as opposed to using your traps to help raise the dumbbells.

All of Jo Lindner’s shoulder exercise variations are simple changes to what we imagine you’re already doing, so give them a go next time it comes to shoulder day.

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