20-Minute Home Shoulder Workout With Dumbbells

Share this blog:

The shoulders are an incredibly important part of our upper body and the amount of strength we’re able to generate. After all, your arms can be as strong as they want to be, if your shoulder is weak, you still can’t use all this force.

For this reason, I thought it was a good idea to come up with a simple, dumbbell-only workout routine that will work for most people. For best results, I do recommend pairing this workout with an arm routine to maximize the amount of strength you can generate with your arms. Check out this article as well: Bicep & Tricep Workout For Over 50s At Home.

For all of these workouts, I do recommend you get yourself a good set of adjustable dumbbells. They offer by far the biggest bang for your buck in terms of strength development, are affordable and don’t take up a lot of space. You can check out some of the options on Amazon here:

Arm Circles

Arm circles are a great way to warm the shoulders up. The rotating movement means all three parts of the shoulder (front, middle, back) get stimulated. Therefore, we’re going to start off with this exercise. Make sure not to use any weights for this, since it’s just a warm-up.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Extend your arms out to your sides at shoulder height.
2. Begin to make small circles with your arms, gradually increasing the diameter.
3. Do this for 30 seconds and then reverse the direction for another 30 seconds.

Recommended sets:

• 2 sets in each direction.

Shoulder Press

The first exercise I always start with are shoulder presses. This is because shoulder presses are quite a hard shoulder exercise that work the front of the shoulder. You always want to start with the hardest exercise first because this allows you to put the maximum amount of effort into the hardest exercise.

You can do this exercise standing or sitting down. Make sure you have a set of dumbbells that allows you to do the proper number of sets and repetitions while still challenging you on the final repetitions.

1. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Hold the weights at shoulder level, elbows bent.
3. Press upwards until your arms are fully extended.
4. Slowly lower back down.

Recommended sets:

• Sets: 3 sets of 8–10 reps

Lateral Raises

Lateral raises are a great follow-up exercise because they work the sides of the shoulder. Again, you can do this exercise standing or sitting down, but I do notice most people prefer to do this standing up.

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart.
2. Hold weights at your sides, palms facing to your body.
3. Lift the weights to the side and to shoulder height, keeping arms straight.
4. Lower back down with control.

Recommended sets:

• 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Rear Lateral Raises

In essence, rear lateral raises work the same as lateral raises. Instead of working the sides of the shoulder, this exercise works the back of your shoulder.

1. Sit down on a chair and bent over
2. Hold the weights at the sides of your body, close to your ankles
3. Lift them up to the side of your body, to shoulder height
4. Lower back down with control.

Recommended sets:

• 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Cool-Down and Stretching

After completing your shoulder workouts, it’s important to properly cool down to help prevent injury and increase flexibility. I do typically recommend finishing with some stretches because it allows you to also do the work you need to do to stay flexible. It’s a win-win.

• Shoulder stretch: Stand straight or sit on a chair. Bring your right arm across your body. Gently pull the right arm closer with your left hand, feeling a stretch in your shoulder. Hold for 15–20 seconds, then switch sides.
• Triceps stretch: Lift your right arm, bend at the elbow, and pat yourself on the back. Use your left hand to press back gently on the right elbow. Hold the stretch for 15–20 seconds before switching arms.
• Neck tilts: Relax your shoulders and gently tilt your head toward your right shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds. Return to start and repeat on the left side.
• Upper back stretch: Extend your arms in front of you and clasp your hands together. Arch your back while pushing your hands forward until you feel the stretch in your upper back. Hold for 15-30 seconds.

Share This On Pinterest!

Stefan K.

Stefan has been vegan since 2019 and has been regularly working on his strength since the beginning of 2023. He’s on a mission to help other vegans get stronger and have all of them achieve the quality of life they deserve.