A 9-move circuit for bigger, stronger, injury-proof shoulders

If you want to sculpt your shoulders and make your waist look smaller, then give this 9-exercise dumbbell a circuit a try!

Do each move in the order listed with no more than 20 seconds of rest and transition between moves:

1. Dumbbell incline chest-supported low trap raise, 15 reps

2. Dumbbell incline chest-supported reverse fly, 15 reps

3. Dumbbell seated overhead press, 10 reps

4. Dumbbell incline chest press, 10 reps

5. Dumbbell chest press, 10 reps

6. Dumbbell high incline chest-supported row, 15 reps

7. Dumbbell medium incline chest-supported row, 15 reps

8. Dumbbell low incline chest-supported row, 15 reps

9. Dumbbell pulsing lateral raise, 30 reps

That’s 1 cycle. Do up to 3 rounds, resting 1 to 2 minutes between rounds.

If you want to make this protocol time-based to avoid rep counting as you’re demolishing your delts, then use a 40-20 or 45-15 interval protocol for 9 rounds.

Moves 1 and 2 provide a built-in warmup, targeting the lower trap and rear delt muscles. These muscles are critical for shoulder health and performance. Use a lighter weight for this to make sure you’re not using momentum or muscling it up with other larger muscles. I used a pair of 10-pound dumbbells but adjust as needed.

Moves 3 to 5 are a mechanical pressing drop set, where you move from a weaker to stronger pressing position as you fatigue. This will extend your time under tension for serious gains. Plus, even though all pressing options hit your anterior delts and pecs, the different angles that you'll do here shift the muscle-building focus. The overhead press works your shoulders more and the incline chest press works your upper chest more. I used a pair of 60-pound dumbbells but adjust as needed.

From there, you move to a multi-angle chest-supported rowing protocol for moves 6 to 8, moving from a high- to medium- to low-incline setup. The higher positions are more challenging and shift the emphasis to your upper-back muscles. The lower the incline, the more the stimulus shifts to your mid-back. All three rowing variations hit your rear delts, rhomboids, lats, and traps. I used a pair of 30-pound dumbbells but adjust as needed.

The ninth and final move involves some direct shoulder abduction work to carve up those mushroom caps and add width to your shoulder girdle. Use that same light pair of dumbbells for moves 1 and 2 and pulse at the top of the lateral raise position to light those muscles on fire. I like the keep my arms as straight as possible and the pinkies up for maximum lateral shoulder development.