Complete guide to shoulder training with bodyweight

I left the shoulder training as the last progression to include in the first round. And for a reason. The three heads of the shoulder front, side and rear would all need their own article. But for now I try to include all three heads in one piece of text.

With bodyweight training your most effective way to build shoulders is to do shoulder pressing. There is just one issue with shoulder pressing. If you do a lot of other pressing movements in your routine such as push-ups, dips and direct tricep work your overhead pressing will most likely suffer if you don’t use a split routine.

Usually this is side stepped in a weights routine by using some isolation exercises for the side delts. So for example in your push or upper day you might do only horizontal pushing and leave out the overhead pressing. Instead you would do side raises or upright rows to hit your shoulders directly without the triceps interfering with your performance. Trying to do shoulder pressing and progress them after heavy push-ups or dips is going to be hard. 

There are some bodyweight isolation exercises for the side delts but their effectiveness is not guaranteed due to the limited range of motion and lack of resistance in certain parts of the movement. You can do bodyweight side raises on the floor, sliding wall lateral raises, wall leaning side raises or Y raise with rings to hit the side delts. But a more efficient way would be to use resistance bands or weights if available.

That said you can still make great progress with your shoulder training even if it's done after other pressing movements and without the use of equipment. You just need to adjust your programs training days in a way that the exercises are in a proper order. For example if you do push-ups or dips first in your routine, do one or two non-interfering exercises before hitting your shoulder exercises. Exercises for abs, calves or back don’t lower your performance that much for shoulder pressing. So take care of your intra training session rest. For push/pull/legs type split a good option is to include shoulder training to the leg day. I know it's hard but you will get more out of your shoulder training that way.

Example for upper/lower split exercise order to get most out of your shoulder training:

A1 Chest Dip 

A2 Chinup

A3 Shoulder press

A4 Row

A5 Push-ups

A6 Arms & Abs+rest

Full body routine as exercise pairs

A1 Quads & Calves

A2 Chest & Lats

A3 Abs & Shoulders

A4 Biceps & Triceps

A5 Hamstrings & whatever

Shoulders can be trained with various equipment or no equipment at all. A wall and some floor space will work fine. If you like you can use rings, push-up handles, bands or weights also.

Handstand push-up progression

Best way to induce progressive overload to your shoulders is by doing a handstand push-up progression. There are two ways to progress towards the handstand push-up. The one that I prefer is by using high incline and feet on wall push-ups to reach sufficient strength and core balance for handstand push-ups. The other way is to work your way up to feet elevated pike push-up and then start working with the wall supported handstand push-up.

With the pike push-up there some issues that make progressing a bit difficult. Some trainees feel that this exercise is uncomfortable because you need to be flexible to reach the proper pike push-up position. The other one is that you don’t learn to keep your core straight and gradually develop core strength required for the handstand push-up. So the transition from elevated pike push-up to a wall supported handstand push-up might be a bit tough due to the lack of core strength and stability.

I’m not going to go into details on how to work your way up to free handstand push-ups here since it requires an article of its own. Here my goal is to get your shoulders strong with a safe progression. That is: always do handstand push-ups supported and in a way that you can exit the exercise safely if you fail a rep. That's why I don’t recommend you do handstand walks closer to the wall when doing wall facing handstand push-ups. You are not able to walk back out or do a cartwheel safely 100% of the time when you want to exit this exercise.

Pike push-up has its place as an assisting exercise so I suggest you learn both variants: the wall supported handstand push-ups and the pike push-ups. They are both useful and have their place in a workout routine. If you wish to go for the handstand push-up from the pike push-up progression you can go from elevated pike push-up to the extra high decline wall push-up.

Exercise progression

1. High decline push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BzBtQSUjZ0

Pre-requirement:

You need to be able to do 10reps of the normal decline push-up before attempting the high decline version. Or start with the pike pushup progression. Work your way up to 12reps of Incline pike push-ups in the Pike push-ups progression and then start working with the high decline push-ups. Use a table or a kitchen counter to place your legs on a high elevated surface.

2. Feet on wall high decline push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNPodg_qV24

Pre-requirement:10 reps of High decline push-ups

Set yourself close to a wall. Kick you feet up, straighten your body and do a high decline pushup.

3. Extra high decline wall push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppbdHwtXEx8 

Kipping technique to get into position

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nj5nSeVpu0

Pre-requirement:10 reps of Feet on high decline wall push-up

This is almost like the wall facing handstand push-up but you need to have enough distance between you and the wall in order to tuck your body when you enter or exit this exercise. Set yourself as close to a wall as possible. Squat down and place your hands on the ground. Kick your feet up and straighten your body. 

I don’t recommend you walk with your hands closer to the wall since exiting the exercise is going to be hard. A safe way is to keep sufficient distance from the wall and in order to exit you just lower your legs and tuck your body back to the starting position. 

I didn’t find a good single video on how to do this so check the first one how to do the extra high decline pushup. It is done with a cartwheel. The second video shows the basic idea on how to get into position with the kipping technique.

4. Handstand wall push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wDEO6shVjc

Pre-requirement:10 reps of Extra high decline wall push-up

Practise first the wall handstand so you can figure out how to enter and exit this exercise. Hands are usually placed at least 30-40cm away from the wall so that you have space between the wall to perform this exercise with proper form.

5. Deficit hanstand wall push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QX5zEVYITo

Pre-requirement:12 reps of Handstand wall push-up

Use stable push-up handles, weight plates or blocks to elevate your hands for greater range of motion. Depending on the elevation you use this will increase the range of motion drastically. That's why it's good to be able to do at least 12 reps of the normal handstand wall push-ups before attempting this.

6. Free handstand push-up

Guide video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wSZnHQZChI

If you want to learn the free handstand push-up see the guides above. You need to be able to do at least 10reps of the wall handstand push-ups and do free handstands before attempting to progress towards free handstand push-ups. If you try to rush things and do the free handstand pushup before you are strong enough you will risk injury. It takes time to develop enough strength and balance for the free handstand push-up.

Pike push-up progression

1. Wall pike push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK9PwqU7awI

This is a good exercise to begin your overhead pressing journey. As you can see the arms are placed in front of your head in the bottom position instead of placing your head between your arms. Work up to 12reps before moving to the incline pike push-up.

2. Incline pike push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh5r4KMEKgo

Place two chairs against the wall and use the seats or use a low table and perform an incline pike push-up. Work up to 12 reps before moving to the pike push-up.

3. Pike push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmpXeWlnHFo

Start with a standard push-up position and walk in with your feet or with your hands and bend your body at the hips. Now lower yourself towards the ground. Hands should be in front of the body. Don’t lower your head between the arms because this will limit the range of motion and place the shoulders in a more vulnerable position. Elbows need to be tucked in slightly. If your hamstrings are tight it's okay to bend the knees a bit as long as you keep the upper body in proper position.

Work up to 12 reps before moving to the deficit pike push-up or Elevated pike push-up.

4. Deficit Pike push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNSIYiGVsuY

Same as the pike push-up but with extended range of motion. The increased range of motion will make this exercise noticeably harder. Work up to 12 reps before attempting the Elevated pike push-up.

5. Elevated Pike push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytczHUp_33c

Elevate your feet on top of a chair or a couch and perform the pike push-up. Work up to 12 reps before moving to the Deficit elevated pike push-up.

6. Deficit Elevated pike push-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-H8gjemiBk

Use sturdy push-up handles, blocks or weight plates to elevate your hands. The increased range of motion will make this exercise noticeably harder.

Side delts with bodyweight

There are not many great bodyweight options for the side delts due to the limitations in the range of motion and resistance curve. Most of the exercises load the side delt only in part of the movement. Y raises load the shoulders heavily only in the upper part of the movement. Wall side lateral raise only works the side delts in the bottom half of the movement with no resistance on the top position. With bands and weights you will get a better loading curve throughout the movement that can’t be accomplished with bodyweight exercises.

Good combination in a workout routine is to use overhead pressing and direct side delt work. But if you want to skip the side delt work just do more overhead pressings. For example you can do one block of training with handstand push-ups & side delts and the next one with handstand push-ups & pike push-ups.Depending on your routine you might also consider would you prefer only overhead pressing or overhead pressing combined with isolation work..

Isolation exercises for the side delts

There is no one to one replacement for the dumbbell side lateral raise or upright rows if you are training with bodyweight only. The following exercises work the side delts but have some limitations with the range of motion or the loading curve. Some exercises have a short range of motion and some lack the load on certain parts of the movement. Generally these movements don’t work well for low reps so I recommend you use a 12-15rep range with good form.

Y raise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eavsRynR06Q

The Y raise engages the side delt on top of the movement. Since you need to be able to bring your arm all the way up this exercise is not suitable for everyone. If you have shoulder impingement issues you are most likely unable to do this exercise. The good thing is that you can increase the load linearly by adjusting the length of the straps. 

Wall side lateral raise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5ZdiXCPlKs

Leaning wall side lateral raise. The range of motion in this exercise is limited since the elbow position is fixed but you can adjust the difficulty depending on how much lean you use. This is a good exercise to start with since you can start with easy difficulty and gradually increase the difficulty.

Sliding wall lateral raise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk8RsQ6u1sI

Sliding wall lateral raise engages the side delt on the bottom half of the movement. This version has greater range of motion compared to the normal wall side lateral raise since now the elbow has the ability to move on the surface. Difficulty can be adjusted depending on how close you are to the wall.

Bodyweight side plank lateral raise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfNrWMWmBTI

This is a harder version of the wall side lateral raise. Work your way up to a good amount of reps 15-20reps with the wall lateral raises before attempting the plank lateral raise. You can start with the kneeling plank variation first and then move to the straight plank.

Bodyweight side lateral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzjSbsPm85k

Bodyweight side lateral engages the side delt on the middle part of the motion. As you can see on the top of the movement your body is perpendicular to the ground so the load on the top is much less than in the middle part of the movement. This is a hard move to start with if you don’t have good shoulder strength already so it is recommended you do some other form of side lateral raise to build foundation for this exercise.

Resistance band side lateral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOJIrYjS5c4

Resistance bands give you a good peak contraction on the top of the movement. On the bottom the resistance is naturally lower.

Resistance band upright row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfzl23IIOi8

Upright rows work the side delt well. Some people find that they can feel their shoulders activating more in this exercise compared to the lateral raise. Upright row has been blamed to be bad for the shoulders. This is partially true. If you have impingement issues you should not go all the way up. Do a range of motion that feels good for your shoulder mobility.

Side raise with weights (with any form of weight)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnRrCECqDBI

Side raises with weights are great. And you don’t need that much weight if you use good form and avoid swinging the weights. Lift the weights up and hold the top position for a second before lowering the weights. You can use a weighted backpack if you don’t have dumbbells and do a single arm side lateral raises.

Rear delts

If you do a lot of rowing and pulling in your routine you can gain some size and strength by doing those pulling exercises only. But if you really want to build your rear delts do at least 6 additional sets for the rear delts. 3 to 4 sets of direct work is usually enough to make progress.

Rear delt exercises

Ring rear delt flye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnPM_3eChdI

Rear delt flye with the rings is a great exercise since you can adjust the difficulty linearly. The resistance depends on how much backwards lean you have. Hold the top contraction for a second on each rep to make sure you activate your rear delts.

Ring face pull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQQJCh4Hs1s

You can do a rear delt row or face pull with the rings also if you have difficulties with the rear flye. For some the straight arm position with the rear flye feels uncomfortable since you need sufficient triceps strength to keep the arm straight.

Lying floor rear delt flye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lke_DpSPpkw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtRDHs6nTZ0

If you don’t have access to rings you can perform different rear delt flyes on the floor or by leaning against a wall. Range of motion is limited but these exercises work the rear delts hard.

Resistance band rear delt flye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TS775tZvKQ

Resistance bands are useful for rear delt work also. 

Resistance band rear delt row

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWjVaR8Voyw

Rear delt row performed with resistance bands.

Single arm rear delt flye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhkvTWXhgOs

If you don’t have access to weights you can use a backpack and do a single arm rear delt flye.

Shoulder workouts:

If your workout routine consists of 8-12sets of pushing and pulling you are able to make progress if you do 6 sets to hit side and front delts and 3 sets to hit the rear delts. Usually this is 1 exercise for 3 sets of overhead pressing variations, one exercise for 3 sets of direct side delt work and one exercise for 3sets of rear delt work. Another way is to do a total of 6sets overhead pressing a week and 3 sets of direct rear delt work.

If you train two times a week with Upper/lower or fullbody split

Workout A

3-4x Handstand push-up progression 6-10rep range

Workout B

3-4x Side lateral raise (any form) or pike push-ups 12-15rep range

3-4x Rear delt work

If you do one shoulder workout a week.

3x Handstand push-ups progression 6-10rep range

3x Pike push-up or side lateral raise (any form) 12-15rep range

3x Rear delts 10-12 rep range

Get a free bodyweight training program with exercise guides and videos here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/10KJm1IZVU4AuRiyZw7vYxIxnRQLu5MEX

That should get your shoulders strong with bodyweight training!

Interested in Bodyweight Strength Training?

This one is for those who are interested in practical information in one small package.

Get Guide to Bodyweight Strength Training at Amazon.com

I did my best to gather all the information between these covers so that you can make the best progress possible. It is a textbook with some math. But you can skip the math part and read the best parts. I don't mind!