Broadening the shoulders

Wouter · Post by **Wouter** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:47 am

Hello, I was wondering: will you broaden your shoulders (the bones) because of shoulder exercises? I'm 16 yearswhit normal-width shoulders so I am hoping it will be like that :)

This is my shoulder exercise scheme:

once every week (every exercise x2):

Shoulder press
Upright row
Rear delt row (EZ-curl bar)
Lateral Raise
Front Raise
Rear lateral raise

Is this fine or should I exercise them more?

Ryan A · Post by **Ryan A** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:01 pm

No exercises you do will cause any changes in the skeletal structure.

Shoulder exercises can add significant muscle to the structure you already have but that is all it will do. This can significantly change your appearance and give you a more broad shouldered look. It may be worth your time anyway, if your main goal is to change your appearance.

Post by **TimD** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:27 pm

Along the same lines as Ryan is going, Back exercises for the lats along with triming down the waist also give the appearance of broader shoulders.
Tim

Post by **Ironman** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:15 pm

That's a good delt routine. You hit the laterals pretty hard, and that will make your shoulders look wider. Doing some type of shrugs for the upper traps is good. A good routine for chest and back helps the shoulders too. a couple rowing/pulling movements and a couple pressing/pushing movements will do the trick. It does make your bones thicker and stronger, but not enough to change your appearance. Only the muscle hypertrophy and fat loss can do that.

PharmBoy84 · Post by **PharmBoy84** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:16 pm

I remember wanting to broaden my shoulders & ribcage when I was a teenager. Like Ryan said, exercising isn't gonna make it happen -- but time and patience will. Shoulder exercises are good, but I agree with TimD -- work on your back (especially lats) to widen your frame.

Post by **Ironman** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:20 pm

The rib cage and or chest cavity might be able to get larger. I don't know if this is true or not, but the old timers thought it was possible. They would do a set of 20 rep squats to failure and superset with dumbbell pullovers. Doing the pullover while out of breath with the lungs pushing against the ribs was suppose to help the pullovers expand the chest. I don't know if that works, but people used to do that.

PharmBoy84 · Post by **PharmBoy84** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:22 pm

Yeah actually it was the pullovers that I used to do to try and widen my ribcage.

Post by **TimD** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:34 pm

On the pullover thing after the 20 rep breathing squats,well, yeah, that was a staple back in the day. As to whether or not it works, , I've heard different things all the way from heck yeah, to heck no, but the one that stuck with me was that a couple of exercise physiologists said that in younger people who were still growing, it was entirely possible and probably probable that it did help enlargen the rib cage.
Tim

Stephen Johnson · Post by **Stephen Johnson** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:18 pm

Ironman wrote:The rib cage and or chest cavity might be able to get larger. I don't know if this is true or not, but the old timers thought it was possible. They would do a set of 20 rep squats to failure and superset with dumbbell pullovers. Doing the pullover while out of breath with the lungs pushing against the ribs was suppose to help the pullovers expand the chest. I don't know if that works, but people used to do that.

I've read that old time bodybuilders like Mike Katz used that routine, and claimed that it could expand the ribcage. The scientific community remains skeptical, but I can't help but notice how different the chest development of the old school bodybuilders look compared to today, particularly in side chest shots

Wouter · Post by **Wouter** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:35 am

Thanks for the replies.
I'll do some db pullovers in my back exercises.
But I've seen on your site that db pullover is a chest exercise and barbell pullover is a back exercise: does the difference lie in the widened grip of the barbell and would you be able to do db pullovers with 2 db's?
So you would have a sort of widened grip?

Stephen Johnson · Post by **Stephen Johnson** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:42 am

Wouter wrote:Thanks for the replies.
I'll do some db pullovers in my back exercises.
But I've seen on your site that db pullover is a chest exercise and barbell pullover is a back exercise: does the difference lie in the widened grip of the barbell and would you be able to do db pullovers with 2 db's?
So you would have a sort of widened grip?

In both exercises, both the chest and back are worked, either as a target or synergist . Contrary to bodybuilding lore, muscles don't work in isolation. In the past, I have gone heavy with dumbbell pullovers and woke up the next day sore in my lats.

Post by **TimD** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:35 am

Just a note on grip width. With 2 DB's it's pretty difficult to mess it up, just because of balance issues, it usually turns out to be just a bit over shoulder width. With 1 DB, it's going to be fairly narrow. With a BB, well, my advice is to just find a widrh you are comfortable with that won't bother your shoulders. I've heard a lot of people complain that they screw up the shoulders. Keep a width you are comfortable with, watch the loading, and ease down into your full ROM. Also, as an FYI, in the old Milk and Squat routines (the 20 rep breathing squat mixed with pulovers), the old timers didn't worry about weight so much. They just grabbed something comfortable, kept the arms straight, used deep breaths and went for the stretch.
Tim