It is important to warmup your shoulders before every shoulder workout. This 5 exercise sequence will help to hit every head of the delts while making sure to warm up the shoulder joint through all three planes of motion. Just 8 reps of each move will have your shoulders feeling loose and ready to roll in less than a minute.
The first thing we need to do is understand a little shoulder anatomy and function. The muscle group is comprised of three individual heads; the front delts, middle delts and rear delts. Each of these heads is capable of moving the shoulder through all three planes. These are the sagittal (front to back), frontal (side to side) and transverse (clockwise and counterclockwise).
To kick off this 5 exercise shoulder warmup sequence we have an exercise called the halo. Simply grab a plate that you can handle but make sure it’s not too light. It is important that the weight you use has enough weight to assist the joint in moving through the motions to achieve a better warm up.
Here you want to grip the plate with both hands opposite of each other, at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions. Now, just circle the plate around your head trying to keep it as close as you can to your face. The arms will have to move quite a bit around your head in order to maintain this relationship throughout. This is a good thing. This will make the shoulder have to go through external rotation which is a fast and fluid way to warm up the rotator cuff muscles. Aim for 8 reps clockwise and 8 reps counterclockwise to start out this warmup.
From here, move immediately into the plate 8 exercise. With the same hand placement as you had from the last exercise, you are going to raise the plate out in front of you and imagine that there is a figure 8 laying on its side. The goal is to simply trace out that eight left to right and right to left. This will start to hit both the front delt and side delts to get them loosened up and ready for your shoulder workout. Perform 8 complete reps here before immediately moving onto the next exercise.
That next move is called the plate shovel. Imagine throwing a shovel full of dirt over your shoulder. Be sure to lean forward a bit here to ensure the focus is shifted to the rear delts and get that plate up and over the shoulder like you’re throwing dirt to get some added work for the rotator cuff. As with the rest, 8 to each side is the goal.
Next we move right into the plate press out. This starts transitioning us to the elevated arm position we’re going to ultimately need in our shoulder workout. Try to press the plate out and up at an angle to really warmup the shoulders. At this point again, we are going to start moving towards the overhead pressing motion that we are going to ultimately need in our shoulder workout. 8 quick reps is what you’re shooting for once again.
Finally, we wrap it all up with the rocking press up. Even though you’re starting to fatigue the rocking momentum of this one will help to get your arms fully overhead to prep you for that overhead pressing while at the same time having your entire shoulder joint feel much looser and ready to roll.
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Please do a similar video for knee warm ups on leg day. I avoid a lot of lifts because I have injured my knees before and I have heard lots of stories of other people doing the same.
I got your joke Jeff
Make a series for each joint
Indian clubs (Karla kattai in tamil language ) is best warm up for shoulder!!! Those clubs simple movements are partially executed by this exercise with the weight in its centre of gravity but, same thing if weights in ends will be best for muscle warm up!!!!! U can mix indian club with your warm up plan!!!! Try it u will be amazed !!!!!
Before the workout? That sounds like a workout lol
Just…do it with less weight or with a short dowel..or with nothing.
Stop making excuses.
I know with a 45 sounds hard lol
You dont warm up before a workout? You workout before a workout?
What’s wrong with you? That’s just a few movements that you do for a few minutes. If this is “tough” for you, I can already tell how you do your actual sets…
These videos is the thing we need in our lives
How do I warm up for this exercise?
@James eastward
Based and gympilled
Exactly
Use a lighter weight duh
Do Low impact cardio for 10 min it‘s a good way to warm up you can also add various schoulder circles make sure that when you move your arms, you move them through every angle and slowly. It dosen‘t hurt to add in rotator cuff exercises as well.
This is awesome I’m doing shoulders today!! ThNk you Jeff!!!
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An 8 in recovery post shoulder workout.
Fit Jeff: “The most injured joint in the body is the shoulders”
Fat Jeff’s Knee’s: “Are we a joke to you?”
That’s not injured.. that’s meshed-up
If I did these exercises with that weight, my arms would be spaghetti afterward.
@Pazz 123 I was an athlete as a kid/adolescent. When we had a new coach he made us run ridiculous lengths as a “warm-up”. Up-hills, too.
I couldn’t do any more training after that (I specialised in sprint and long resp. high jump) and quit not long afterwards.
I can’t see: what weight does he use?
@BlackAdder665 That sounds harsh dude. Hope you are continuing workout of your own making
weak knees arms are heavy, moms spaghetti
I mean I don’t think so… these exercises don’t require a whole lot of force cuz they’re supported but your actual joints and bones rather than putting your muscles under a whole lot of tension… but use a medicine ball or 25 pound plate instead or whatever is round that is less heavy than a 45 if u want
forget warmup, this could be the workout
This is perfect! As I’ve been able to lift heavier I’ve certainly worried more about my shoulders, this’ll be awesome to get them prepped for a good workout!
If i do this warm-up,i would have my shoulder training for that day completed…
Fluid 5. Deltoid dozen. This guy is a genius poet
“Your shoulders are killing your gains! Here’s how to fix that!”
Jeff’s warmup is my entire workout
Thinking the same thing
A work out is considered a work out only if you do it 30+ min bub
These exercises saved my shoulders, I include them along with bands in my warm up, and feel no pain during the workout! No Matter how intense thank you Jeff and AthleanX crue for educating and helping.
This is more volume than my entire push day
Great info..this would be an entire shoulder workout for me…
I’ve had a shoulder injury before. That wasn’t fun. So you’d better believe I do halos every warm up and face pulls at the end every time. My shoulders feel great now. I might add some of the rest of these in too… Thanks Jeff!
Thank you very much for generously and wisely sharing your expertise with us, Jeff!