ShouldersThe shoulders are essentially the axis around which almost all upper body exercises are performed. Whether executing the bench press while working the chest, lat pulldowns while training the back, or overhead extensions while working the triceps, certain parts of the deltoid are called into play during each of these movements. This muscle group allows the arms to rotate and move in all directions; while this permits a wide variety of exercises to be used in its training, it also means that extreme caution and slow, proper form must be used when training the deltoid in order to prevent injuries. A serious injury to the deltoid will likely make it painful to perform many other exercises for the chest or back as well. Oftentimes, these types of injuries may never fully heal simply due to the fact that the shoulders are used in virtually all movements of the arms. Conversely, while an injury to the pectoralis major may not make it painful to perform simple movements involved in everyday life, many deltoid injuries will and thus, everything possible should be done to avoid such an injury. Anatomy
The entire deltoid is composed of three parts: the anterior deltoid, medial deltoid, and posterior deltoid. The anterior deltoid generally contributes to all pressing-type movements, including the front press or bench press. The middle deltoid is mainly worked during movements in which the weights are raised laterally, while the posterior deltoid is developed through exercises that allow the shoulder blades to be squeezed together. Seeing how the anterior deltoid is worked to some extent during almost all chest exercises (including the bench press or dumbbell flys), you don’t need to do too much to train this specific area during shoulder workouts, provided you are training your chest regularly. Its not a bad idea to perform a few sets to isolate the anterior deltoid, however most isolation exercises for the shoulders should be used to train the middle or posterior deltoid. Neglecting to train these areas of the deltoid will lead to an imbalance in your strength and muscular development. When the anterior deltoid overpowers the other parts of the deltoid significantly, a person will be more prone to injury, largely due to the fact that the shoulders will sag forward and the person’s posture will be misaligned. This problem is usually the result of heavy chest training that has not been balanced with adequate work for the posterior deltoid. The solution, of course, is to simply increase the training of the posterior deltoid and/or decrease chest training to realign one’s posture. The middle deltoid should be trained adequately as well in order to ensure that the entire area of the deltoid muscle is being developed to its full potential. The middle deltoid is a multipennate muscle, meaning that it resembles a feather in shape and is made up of fibers which run at an oblique angle. As a result, it is best to vary the angle of certain exercises in order to work all of the areas of the middle deltoid. Holding the dumbbells in front, at your sides, or behind your back during lateral raises will allow you to shift the effort of the movement onto different parts of your middle deltoid. Preventing Injuries
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