Strong, flexible shoulders are beneficial to support the chest and back during exercise and for sports, such as golf, baseball and tennis. Toned shoulders also make wearing sleeveless tops and dresses more flattering. You don't need weights or a home gym to do exercises for muscle strength, range of motion, and to release tension--your own body weight will do just fine. A personal trainer can be a great help when learning proper exercise form. You can also try doing some simple exercises in front of a mirror to check your form.
Range of Motion
You should do range of motion exercises every day and before a round to loosen up your joints and soft tissue. Shoulder circles can increase range of motion in your shoulders. Hold your arms out to your sides parallel to the floor and make slow circles forward with your arms. Circle your arms backwards. Increase the size of your circles until they are as large as you can comfortably circle them. Try five to 10 in each direction.
Relaxation
Tense shoulders will decrease your range of motion and hinder the fluidity of movements. They can also lead to a stiff neck and tension headaches. Massages and tension release exercises can help. Shrugs are one exercise that you can use to release tension. Relax your arms to your sides and shrug your shoulders up as high as you can toward your ears. Hold for five seconds and then drop your shoulders. Do this until you feel your shoulders completely relax down.
Strength
Shoulder exercises for strengthening the deltoid muscles of your shoulders should be done three days a week. Using low weights or just a body weight and doing high reps won't build large, bulky shoulder muscles. A gentle, beginner exercise to improve strength in the shoulders is shoulder scaption. Lie on a stability ball with the legs straight and toes touching the floor. Keep the back parallel to the floor with the ball under your stomach and your arms extended straight in front of you. Turn the palms so your thumbs point upward. Lower your arms to 1-inch from the floor and then lift them as high as you comfortably can.
Other shoulder exercises you can do with resistance cables, dumbbells or weight machines include overhead presses, military presses, lateral raises, bent-arm lateral raises, shoulder flexion and reverse flys.
Warning
Even gentle exercises can be overdone. Lifting too much weight, doing too many sets or repetitions, or using incorrect form can all lead to injury. The shoulders are the smallest major muscle group and can easily be hurt with a torn rotator or labrum, which will require rest if not surgery. Listen to your body and stop exercising if you feel pain.
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