Shoulder Workout: 3 Routines, Exercises, Sets and Reps

The best shoulder exercises

Your shoulder has three parts that move your arm in different directions. The front raises it forward, the side lifts it away from your body and the rear takes it back. That shapes the workout: every press, chest or shoulder, already works the front, while the side and rear need their own exercises.

Shoulder press. The lift for moving more weight and tracking your progress. It works with a barbell, dumbbells or a machine. Besides your shoulders, it works your triceps.
Lateral raise. The one that best targets the side of the shoulder, the part that gives it width. The dumbbell lateral raise only needs a pair of dumbbells, and the cable lateral raise keeps your shoulder working through the whole range.
Reverse fly. It works the rear of the shoulder, which presses barely touch. It works with dumbbells or a machine, where it is easier not to swing.
Face pull. The cable face pull also targets your rear delts and adds your upper back. It fits well at the end of a session.
Front raise. The dumbbell front raise is the least necessary if you already press. Add it only if that part falls behind or if you do no pressing during the week.

To pick others, see the full list of shoulder exercises, plus the ones for front delts and rear delts, each with a photo and step-by-step instructions.

Shoulder workout at the gym

Start with the press, because it is the heaviest exercise and the one done first gains the most strength (Nunes et al., 2021). Lateral raises come next, and rear delt work goes last, with lighter exercises. There is no front raise because the press already covers that part.

Full shoulder workout: 5 exercises and 15 sets. Each card shows sets × reps and rest.

Of those 15 sets, 4 are presses, 6 are lateral raises and 5 are rear delt work. It suits a day dedicated to shoulders. If you train them twice a week, do the press and the cable raise one day and the other three exercises on the other. If the barbell does not feel comfortable, swap it for the machine shoulder press and keep the rest the same.

Dumbbell shoulder workout

Dumbbells are enough to train your shoulders well, because almost all the key exercises already use them. You need a bench with a back for the seated press and reverse fly. If you do not have one, do the standing dumbbell shoulder press and the dumbbell reverse fly leaning forward.

Raises take little weight, so you do not need heavy dumbbells. Muscle grows similarly with light or heavy loads when the sets are hard (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), which is why the range goes up to 20 reps here. The leaning lateral raise is done one arm at a time, holding on to something sturdy with the other hand.

Shoulder workout at home, without machines

Without weights, your bodyweight does the pressing and a resistance band handles the rest. The pike push up is the main exercise: with your hips high and your torso more upright, more of your weight lands on your shoulders than in a regular push-up. You only need a resistance band and a sturdy place to anchor it.

Shoulder workout at home: 4 exercises and 13 sets.

Still struggling with the pike push up? Move your hands farther from your feet to make it easier. When you reach 12 reps, raise your feet on a sturdy chair. The band works the same way: each set should end close to failure, so if you reach 20 reps without effort, use a stronger band.

How many shoulder sets to do per week

To build muscle, what matters most is how many hard sets each muscle does per week (Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger, 2017). The ACSM links the greatest hypertrophy to 10 or more sets per muscle per week and sees gains level off around 18 to 20 (Currier et al., 2026). You can also build muscle with fewer sets (Currier et al., 2023), which is a good starting point if you are just beginning.

Direct shoulder sets per week by level
Level	Sets per week	Sessions	What to include
Beginner	Fewer than 10	1 or 2	A press and a lateral raise
Intermediate	10 to 16	2	Press, lateral raise and rear delts
Advanced	Up to 20	2 or 3	More sessions if they do not fit with good form

The table counts direct shoulder sets. Chest presses add work to the front and rows add work to the rear, so there is no need to make up for it with more front raises. If you do a heavy chest press on the same day, you can leave out the shoulder press and keep the raises and rear delt work. The rest of the session is in the chest workout and the upper body workout.

Training a muscle once or twice a week gives similar hypertrophy when the volume is the same (Schoenfeld, Grgic and Krieger, 2019), so pick what fits your week. In a push pull legs routine, the press and lateral raises usually go on push day, and rear delt work can go on pull day.

Common shoulder training mistakes

Only pressing. The press leaves little work for the side and rear of the shoulder. Add at least one lateral raise and one rear delt exercise.
Forgetting your rear delts. Push days load the front, and the rear falls behind without you noticing. The cable face pull or the machine reverse fly fix it in a few sets.
Swinging on your raises. If you lift the dumbbell with a push from your hips, your shoulder does less. Drop the weight and lift under control: light loads also build muscle when the sets are hard (Schoenfeld et al., 2017).
Going to failure on every set. Reaching failure does not build more muscle than stopping close to it (Refalo et al., 2023). Leave 1 to 3 reps in reserve on most sets, especially on the press.
Resting too little. Resting more than 60 seconds has a small benefit, and beyond 90 it barely changes (Singer et al., 2024). That is why raises get 90 seconds here. On a heavy press, rest as long as you need to repeat your performance.

How to progress on your shoulder workout

Log every set. Weight and reps for each exercise. Without that number you do not know what to beat next session.
On the press, raise the weight little by little. When you reach the top of the range on every set, for example 10 reps, raise the weight by the smallest step you can.
On raises, add reps first. The next pair of dumbbells is usually a big jump for this exercise. Adding reps also works: adding load and adding reps both worked over 8 weeks in trained people (Plotkin et al., 2022).
Keep your form. If going up means swinging or cutting the range short, it is not time yet.
Check the big picture. If you stall for several sessions in a row, look at sleep and food before adding sets.

The full rule is in the progressive overload guide. If you are unsure about timing, see the guide on rest between sets, and you can estimate your max on the press with the 1RM calculator.

Questions

How many shoulder exercises should I do per session?

3 to 5 is enough: a press, one or two lateral raises and one or two rear delt exercises. If you already did a chest press that day, 2 raises and one rear delt exercise is usually enough.

How many times a week should I train shoulders?

Once or twice is the most convenient. With the same weekly volume the results are similar, so choose based on how many days you can train.

Which exercise targets shoulder width?

The lateral raise, because it works the side of the shoulder. Do one or two variations per session, with a weight you can lift without swinging.

Do I need front raises?

If you already do chest and shoulder presses, rarely, because that part works on every press. Use those sets on the side or rear of the shoulder instead.

Can you train shoulders at home?

Yes. The pike push up does the job of a press, and with a resistance band you can do lateral raises and face pulls. Each set should end close to failure and the difficulty should keep going up.

Sources

This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from a health professional.

Shoulder workout: the best exercises, sets and reps

Short answer