Your shoulder muscles, including the anterior, lateral and posterior deltoids, trapezius and rhomboids, move and stabilize your shoulder joints and shoulder blades. You might be surprised by just how much shifting your shoulder blades affects your posture. Doing general shoulder exercises to strengthen your shoulder muscles encourages good posture and gives you better strength and stability for performing everyday movements that involve your shoulders, such as lifting, pulling and carrying.
Shoulder Press
The shoulder press works your lateral deltoid, trapezius and triceps. Sit in a straight-back bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Press the dumbbells straight overhead, palms facing forward. Lower the dumbbells down and out to either side of your head. Press back up and repeat.
You can also perform this exercise with a barbell, bringing the bar just in front of your face as you lower it, or with a pair of low cable pulleys, each one located beneath and just outside each of your shoulders.
Upright Row
The upright row works your anterior and lateral deltoids and trapezius. As with the shoulder press, you can do this exercise with dumbbells, a barbell or a low cable pulley. If you use the low cable pulley, attach a bar to the pulley cable and stand almost on top of the pulley, facing it.
Grasp the bar or dumbbells in both hands, arms extended down the front of your body, palms facing your thighs. Pull the bar or dumbbells straight up along the line of your body until they're underneath your chin. Allow your elbows to flare naturally out and up as you lift. Lower and repeat.
Incline Reverse Fly
The reverse fly works your posterior deltoids, rhomboids and trapezius. You can also do this exercise standing in a bent-over position, but straddling a 45-degree incline bench makes it easier for beginners to get the technique right.
Lean your chest against the bench backrest, a dumbbell in each hand. Extend your arms so the dumbbells are directly below your face, palms facing in, elbows pointing out. Spread your arms apart like the cover of a book. Stop when your elbows reach shoulder level, lower, and repeat.
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