The basic dip exercise it always overlooked by bodybuilders as being a major exercise for the shoulder development. Most builders use the dip exercise to target the chest area only. Dips work just as well for developing the delts. Dips are performed with a basic dip machine, ensure you slowly lower yourself down as much as possible and try not to swing, pause for a second, then finish the rep by raising yourself until the arms are almost locked. An enhancement to this exercise is to strap on a weight belt and add weights to the belt. This is great for people with enormous upper body strength who can do several sets of dips without feeling any type of stress. I often do several sets of dips with my body weight only so I can achieve an enormous amount of reps. With a strict technique, You can still get in a shoulder good workout even If you do less than the maximum weights. Another word of caution pertaining to the rotator cuffs, when using the weight belt, be careful not to go too heavy because the cuffs are easily damaged when doing these. Be sure you're doing each rep in a smooth and controlled motion. Any type of damage to the shoulder will hinder the training of nearly every other upper body part.

One thing to remember when training the deltoids is that you indirectly hit different heads of the delts when training other bodyparts such as chest and back. So if a particular head is getting alot of indirect work, you may not need to do as much direct work for it as the other two heads.

Each set consists of eight repetitions. To warm up: Do a set at fifty percent of your maximum effort. Begin with three sets of eight. When you can't break a sweat with that, add five more reps to each set.

Military press. Stand or sit on an exercise bench. Grasp a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Raise it above your head, then lower it until it touches the back of your shoulders.

The one to do if you're doing only one? Military press.

From a standing position, start with the bar as pictured in the first photo. Lower the bar to the upper portion of your chest, press upward concentrating on using only the shoulder muscles. Be careful not to lean back to far as you do this movement. This exercise can also be done from a seated position to avoid injuring your back.

* Muscle Confusion Tips. Alternate lowering the bar to the front one workout and to the back on the next. There should be several different machine variations of this movement in your gym.

From a seated position start as pictured in the first photo. Press upward and move the dumbbells inward as pictured in the second photo. This movement seems very similar to the military press, however by moving the dumbbells inward as you press upward you dramatically change the movement.

* Muscle Confusion Tips: Alternate your starting hand position by turning your palms inward instead of outward as you begin the movement. As you press upward rotate your wrist outward and move the dumbbells inward. You may find it more comfortable to start with the dumbbells closer together when starting with your palms facing inward.

Start from a standing position and hold onto something very stable as shown in the photo. Elevate the dumbbells up with your wrist slight bent as if you are pouring water. Do not go above parallel or you may injure your shoulder.

* Muscle Confusion Tips: In this photo TJ’s legs are together, you may try a shoulder width stance with a slight forward lean -- you should be able to use heavier weights when doing them this way. You can also do both arms at once from a seated position with as light forward lean.

This is probably the best way to concentrate on the rear delts. The photos best describe the proper movement for this exercise. Notice that T.J.'

Take a Look at Those Delts...
Kenneth Etta, winner of the Max Muscle Naturals, has a surprising shoulder routine which intermediate and advanced bodybuilders may want to examine closely. Its construction seems to run counter to some advice and current trends, but could serve as an excellent intermediate's primary routine, or as a changeup and confusion workout for the advanced practitioner.

Sets & Reps
Etta varies his routine a lot, and his sets and reps vary widely as well. He often uses a pyramiding routine, upping the weight with each set to create a 30/25/15/10/5 rep scheme. It's very rare that we see a routine with such a high first and second set rep goal, most running down from 15 down to 8 or so. "Most of my exercises start light and progress to as heavy as I can, and the reps, of course, decrease with the poundage," says Etta. "This works for me. Occasionally, I will keep the reps the same from lightest weight to the heaviest, but still limiting the reps to about 10 per set. Or I'll do sets of 10 at various weights until I'm thoroughly fatigued and can't do any more whatsoever." At the heart of this, then, is muscular confusion, keeping the routine fresh so the body can't adapt to the loads. Etta's basic training movements don't change, but he adds a lot of different minor exercises for finishing off the routine, For example, he'll substitute hammer front raises, which he saw Flex perform at a gym, for the more frequently seen front raises.

Underlying It All:
"I attempt to do the heaviest weight I can without sacrificing form. Once I feel my form is getting out of balance I don't go beyond that. If I can't sustain a rep goal at a heavier weight without sacrificing form, I just do more reps.

Behind-the-neck presses have fallen out of favor with many bodybuilders. Master Moves columnist and Mr. Olympia Masters Champion Jim Morris suggests both he and Joe Gold believe that the behind-the-neck presses cause a high percentage of gym-related neck injuries. But the 5'9Ó Etta and many topline pros consider this front and side deltoid mass-builder the mainstay of a shoulder routine. Etta begins his routine with this exercise because of this. He'll warm up with just the bar or 2 25-pound weights, and increase the weight with 25's until he has 3 "quarters" on each end. Note that he pushes the bar almost until his elbows lock out (but not quite...he doesn't want to relieve tension on the muscle group). Etta also brings the bar down considerably lower than some experts suggest, allowing it to almost rest on the nape of his neck. Most experts, however, suggest letting it come down no lower than the bottom of the ear. If you're performing the more commonly seen presses which come in front of the body, the weight is often taken much lower, coming to rest on the chest plate (upper pec). 

You'll find 3 pieces of preparation help enormously:

1. Wear a lifting belt. When pressing heavy weight over head, the back is subjected to enormous compressing forces.

2. Warm up with at least 2 sets done at 20 to 30% of the weight you estimate will be used at a 10-rep-to-muscular-failure level.

3. At the lowered beginning position the forearms should be perpendicular - 90 degrees - to the ground; this also means they are "straight up." If your hands are positioned too close to each other, creating an angled forearm position, the triceps become more involved. (The triceps are integrally involved in any pressing motion, whether you're lying, seated, or standing, but the intention in working the shoulders is to minimize that involvement and isolate the shoulders as much as possible).