Shoulder Resistance Band Workout – 5 Exercises To Build Wide Shoulders

Building bigger shoulders can make such a big difference to your physique.

It’s also a trick bodybuilders have used for years to make their waist look smaller.

Obviously, genetics will stop you from ever going too narrow on your waist.

Your waist will only go as small as it can right.

So by building big shoulders it creates the illusion of a smaller waist. 

Just like there is a lot of smoke and mirrors with the Instagram physique they can use similar tricks with bodybuilding.

So how do you build big boulder shoulders?

You train shoulders the same way you build up any other part of your body.

You train it more.

If your shoulders are a weak point, you need to put more effort into it.

And doing this with resistance bands doesn’t need to be any different from doing it with free weights or a cable machine.

In fact, training with resistance bands has the same principles as training with a cable machine.

But for a fraction of the price, you can literally train wherever you want.

Train Wherever The F*ck You Want is the name of my EBook which you can download here for FREE right here!

My EBook has changed the game.

I show you how you no longer need a gym membership. 

You can now do your strength training at home with resistance band exercises.

You don’t need to try and fit your exercise into someone else’s schedule, someone else’s timetable.

You can train wherever, whenever you want. Whether that be your shoulders or any other muscle group.

5 Best Shoulder Exercises

A simple workout for resistance band shoulder exercises looks like this.

Shoulder press, lateral raise, front raise, face pulls, and pull parts.

Shoulder Press

Lateral Raises

Front Raises

Face Pull

Pull Aparts

Complete 4 sets of 8-12 reps on each exercise.

Do this workout at least 2 times per week and you will start to see results.

Can You Build Shoulders With Resistance Bands?

You can build any muscle with resistance bands and your shoulder muscles are no different.

I use them in almost every workout I do with myself and with my clients.

A big advantage of training with resistance bands (other than convenience) is you can keep constant tension on the muscles.

A resistance band shoulder workout is a great way to build muscle in the 3 muscles that make up your should.

The rear deltoid, lateral deltoid and anterior deltoid.

Here’s another article I recently posted about the difference between weights and resistance bands.

When your muscles spend more time under tension they fatigue faster.

And that’s what you’re looking for especially when you are trying to build size in your muscles.

Let’s look again at the shoulder exercises I mentioned earlier.

All these exercises are not too dissimilar from the free-weight cousins.

But, with bands, you can keep tension on for the full range of motion.

And all of these movements can be done with or with an anchor point.

The main benefit of using an anchor point instead of standing inside the band is you can do single arm movements instead.

Doing any of the shoulder movements single arm instead is going to increase the difficulty which is one easy way to bring in progressive overload with your training.

Progressive overload is necessary with any fitness program.

You need to slow up the intensity in a training program.

Every workout you should be trying to push a little harder, a little further.

This is how you improve.

If your training stays the same, you stay the same.

Whether your aim is building muscle or building strength in your upper arms, the front of your body, or your chest muscles.

You also need to hit your shoulders from all angles this is why we bring in lateral raises and front raises.

With any muscle group, you need to think about it from a functional standpoint.

Which ways do your shoulders move?

How to pick stuff up and move it around?

How do you use your shoulders to go about your everyday tasks?

So when you start to think this way you can see why I’ve added the movements that I have.

By doing all these movements with resistance bands you will give your shoulders a complete workout that will build size and strength in your shoulders.

How Do You Do A Resistance Band Shoulder Press?

Performing an overhead press or shoulder press with resistance bands is not too difficult.

It’s a great upper body exercise that you’ll feel in the front of your shoulders and upper back.

For best results use loop bands.

The start position is standing in the center of the band.

Take the opposite side of the band in your two hands and bring them up into the front rack position.

In this position, you can feel that there is already tension in the band.

This is exactly how you want to feel before starting any exercise with a resistance band. Constant tension is key to a super-effective workout.

Next, you want to make sure you have your core braced.

As you press up into the band it’s going to try pulling you backward and forward.

This is another great benefit of resistance bands.

They bring your core into movements in ways you won’t be expecting at first.

I love making sure any exercise I do or that I give to my clients has an element of core strength in it.

Focus on controlling the movement, use slow and steady movements.

Keep your core engaged the whole time and you’ve hit two birds with one stone.

A very effective shoulder workout that’s burning your core out faster than you realize.

You might not even realize how hard you worked your core until the next day.

Shoulder press with a resistance band is very similar to how you would do it with a barbell.

If you’re interested in trying a full arm workout with resistance bands then have a look at this workout I posted to youtube recently.

How Can I Improve My Shoulder Mobility?

Arm Circles

Arms circles are a simple movement you can do anywhere to improve your shoulder mobility. 

1. The starting position begins straight with your arms at your sides.
2. With your core engaged, bring your hands up in front of you until they pass behind your back.
3. Only go as straight as you can. Don’t try and force your shoulder to go where it can’t. This will improve over time.
4. Do a set of 10 slow repetitions before going back in the opposite direction.
5. Start off making small circles before performing bigger circles. Complete 3-5 sets in both directions.

Pass Throughs

1. These follow a similar set of rules to the arms circles. Only you’re going to hold onto either end of a resistance band.
2. Start with your hands wider and try to keep constant tension on the band.
3. As you feel your shoulders start to warm up you can start to bring your hands closer together.
4. Follow the same sets and repetitions as the arm circles. Do set both forward and back.

Rotations

1. These are great for your rotator cuff. Tie a resistance to a post at about shoulder height. And take the other end of the band in your right hand and step back so you feel tension on the band.
2. Bring your arm out to the side at a right angle with your fist up is the best way.
3. Keep your upper arm parallel to the floor as you lower your fist up and down.
4. Repeat for 3-5 sets of 10 repetitions.

Why Do I Have Poor Shoulder Mobility?

Two of the biggest causes of poor shoulder mobility are bad posture and inactivity. So let’s have a look at the two of them.

Bad posture

We are spending more and more time looking at our phones.

Whether we’re walking or sitting we’re hunched over looking down at a screen.

And if we’re not looking at a phone screen it’s a laptop screen.

When sitting over like that our neck is strained and our shoulders are rolled in.

Having our shoulders rolled in for such long periods of time is causing the muscles in our chest to get tight. An early sign of causing problems is not only pain in the shoulder joint but pain behind your shoulder blades.

And believe it or not these muscles play a big role in our shoulder movement.

Typically when my clients can’t bring the shoulder up high and straight it’s because the tight muscles in their chest are pulling the arm back down.

You can help reverse this by doing basic chest stretches. 

Inactivity

This one is simple.

Use or lose it.

You need to stand straight and use your shoulders more.

Going through the full range of motion with any exercise is a good idea, whether with weights or resistance band workouts.

Especially those that use your shoulders.

Get up from your desk a few times a day and do a few arm circles.

Swing your arms around for a bit.

Sure you’re going to look like a bit of a weirdo. But it’s better than looking like a stiff hunchback.

What Muscles Do Resistance Band Pull Aparts Work?

Your main movers with this exercise are going to be your rhomboids, trapezius, and rear delts.

With support from your rear delts, and lateral delts.

This is a great exercise to do when warming up your shoulders before a workout with a lighter band.

I often do these with a heavier band towards the end of a shoulder workout.

Training these muscle groups is going to help improve your posture.

By building up strength through the back of your shoulders, you are going a long way towards reversing the effects of sitting down hunched over for long periods of time.

So if you find yourself rolled in from your laptop or from the dreaded text neck.

I would recommend bringing more pull aparts into your training routine.

If you haven’t got yourself a set of bands yet you can still get a set just like the ones I’m using over at Dmoose.

And if you haven’t already got a copy of my EBook Train Wherever The F*ck You Want.

It’s my FREE guide to training with resistance bands and I’ve even included a week’s worth of workouts to get you started with resistance bands.