Resistance Band Shoulder Exercises – Introduction
What are the best resistance band shoulder exercises you can do?
If you work out at home, it’s very tempting to think that you are:
a) limited to bodyweight exercises, or b) need to buy things like adjustable dumbbells and an exercise bench for conventional free-weight shoulder exercises.
And while there is nothing wrong with either of these options, there is a third choice – resistance bands.
You can use resistance bands to replicate almost any strength training exercise you can think of, and there are additional benefits of resistance band training, too, such as:
Resistance Band Benefits
1. Light and portable
Never miss a workout; take your bands wherever you go, even on vacation.
2. Easy on your joints
With no initial inertia to overcome, resistance band exercises are often more joint-friendly than the same movement done with weights.
3. Quiet to use
Apart from the sound of your breathing, resistance band shoulder workouts are all but silent.
That’s good news if you want to exercise without disturbing your family or neighbors.
4. Suitable for all levels of exercisers
Resistance bands are available in light, medium, and heavy resistance.
As such, they’re ideal for all exercisers; beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
5. Quick setup and transitions –
With no weights to change, moving from one exercise to the next takes mere seconds.
That makes resistance bands an especially great tool for circuit and high-intensity interval training, as well as regular strength training workouts.
So, are you sold on resistance bands? Good to hear!
This article reveals the seven best resistance band shoulder exercises and provides you with a simple workout to try.
Shoulder Anatomy
All of the exercises in this article work your shoulders, but your shoulders are a complex group of muscles.
Let’s take a quick look at the structure and function of this vital body part.
The anatomical name for the muscles of the shoulders is deltoids.
Known as the delts for short, this muscle has three sections or heads, each with a different role.
Anterior deltoid
Located on the front of your shoulders, the anterior delts lift your upper arm forward and rotate it inward.
Lateral deltoid
Responsible for lifting your upper arm up and out to the side, the lateral delts are located on the side of your shoulder.
Posterior deltoid
Located on the back of your shoulder joint, the posterior or rear delts push your upper arms backward.
Beneath the deltoids is the rotator cuff.
This is a group of small muscles that work with the deltoids and also help stabilize your shoulder joint.
The rotator cuff muscles are:
- Supraspinatus
- Infraspinatus
- Teres minor
- Subscapularis
While small and out of sight, these essential muscles are involved in all shoulder and upper body exercises.
However, you probably won’t need to train them specifically unless you have a rotator cuff weakness or are seeing a physical therapist for shoulder rehab exercises.
The 7 Best Resistance Band Shoulder Exercises
Use the following exercises to work your shoulders at home or at the gym.
For clarity, we’ve also listed the primary shoulder muscles used and any secondary muscles involved in each exercise.
#1. Shoulder press
Target muscles: Anterior deltoids, triceps
Overhead presses are a compound exercise that’s ideal for building muscle strength and size.
More typically done using a barbell or dumbbells, this exercise also works well with a resistance band.
How to do it:
- Stand on the center of the band with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hold the band and raise your hands to your shoulder height, hands facing forward or inward as preferred.
- Extend your arms and raise your hands above your head.
- Keep your torso upright, and do not lean forward or back.
- Lower your hands back to your shoulders and repeat.
Variations: You can also do this exercise using just one arm, with an alternating arm action, or kneeling on your band instead of standing on it.
#2. Upright rows
Target muscles: Lateral deltoids, upper trapezius, biceps
The upright row is a slightly controversial exercise because it sometimes causes joint or shoulder pain.
If this exercise bothers your shoulders, you should drop it from your workouts.
However, it’s worth noting that doing this exercise with a band is usually more shoulder-friendly than free weights.
How to do it:
- Stand on the center of your band with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hold the band in front of your hips, hands together.
- Bend your arms and pull your hands up the front of your body to just below your chin.
- Lead with your elbows, so they’re higher than your hands throughout.
- Lower your hands and repeat.
#3. Pull-aparts
Target muscles: Posterior deltoids, mid-traps, rhomboids
This exercise is excellent for maintaining good posture.
It not only works your posterior deltoids but also involves the muscles across and between your shoulder blades.
If you spend a lot of time seated at a desk, this exercise should definitely be part of your resistance band workouts!
How to do it:
- Seated or standing, hold your resistance band with an overhand, slightly less than shoulder-width grip.
- Keeping your arms straight, raise your hands out in front of you.
- Open your arms and stretch the band out across your chest.
- Pull your shoulders back and together.
- Return to the start position and repeat.
#4. Lateral raise
Target muscles: Lateral deltoids
The lateral deltoids give your shoulders their width.
If you want a broader, more impressive upper body, or more shapely shoulders, this exercise should help.
How to do it:
- Stand on the middle of your band with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hold the ends of the band down by the outside of your thighs.
- Keeping your arms straight, raise your arms up and out to the side until they’re parallel to the floor.
- Lower your arms back to your side and repeat.
Variations: This exercise can also be done seated or lifting one arm at a time.
#5. Front raise
Target muscles: Anterior deltoids
Front raises work your front or anterior deltoids.
However, while this is an effective resistance band exercise, it’s worth remembering that the anterior deltoid also gets a good workout when you train your chest.
As such, not everyone needs to do front raises.
How to do it:
- Stand on the center of your band with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hold the band in front of your hips, hands together.
- Lift your arms forward and up until they are roughly parallel to the floor.
- Lower your arms back down and repeat.
#6. Resistance band thrusters
Target muscles: Anterior deltoids, triceps, quadriceps, gluteus maximus, hamstrings
Short on time?
Want to train your shoulders and legs simultaneously?
Looking for a great fat-burning full-body workout for HIIT or circuit training?
Then thrusters are the exercise you want!
They’re not easy, but that’s exactly why they’re so effective.
How to do it:
- Stand on the center of your band with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Hold the band and raise your hands to your shoulders, hands facing forward or inward as preferred.
- Bend your legs and squat down until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor.
- Take care not to round your lower back.
- Stand back up and then press your hands up and over your head.
- Lower your hands back to your shoulders and repeat.
#7. Shoulder dislocation
Target muscles: Anterior deltoids, lateral deltoids, posterior deltoids
Despite the scary-sounding name, this exercise is very therapeutic and will increase your shoulder mobility and flexibility.
Done with a light band, it’s an effective way to start or end any shoulder workout.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Hold your band with an overhand grip, hands about 1 ½ shoulder-widths apart.
- Starting with the band stretched across your hips, raise your arms up and overhead.
- Keeping your arms apart, lower the band over and behind your head until it touches your lower back/butt.
- Bring the band back over your head and return to the starting position.
- The further apart you press your hands, the easier this exercise becomes.
Shoulder Resistance Band Workout
While you could just do a few resistance band shoulder exercises and hope you get the results you want, you make more progress if you follow a structured approach.
Here is a simple workout that’s ideal for home use.
Before you begin, get your muscles and joints ready with a brief warm-up of 5-10 minutes of easy cardio, such as jumping rope, followed by a few dynamic flexibility and mobility exercises.
Do this workout 1-2 times per week as part of a split workout routine.
If you do it twice, make sure you train your shoulders on non-consecutive days to allow time for rest and recovery, e.g., Tuesday and Friday.
Do 2-4 sets of 8-20 repetitions of each exercise.
The precise number of reps will depend on the strength of your bands and your fitness level.
Keep going until you feel your muscles starting to get tired. Rest for a moment or two and then repeat.
Note: you can replace the second exercise overhead press with thrusters if you want a more intense shoulder workout, as they’re more demanding.
Similarly, substitute band thrusters for the band overhead press if you want to make this shoulder workout more of a cardiovascular workout.
Resistance Band Shoulder Exercises – Wrapping Up
A lot of people think that the best and only way to build muscle, get stronger, and burn fat is to go to a gym and use state-of-the-art exercise equipment.
However, the reality is that your body can’t actually tell the difference between doing shoulder presses on a $20,000 machine or using a $20 resistance band.
It just knows tension and work and, providing you train hard and often enough, it doesn’t matter how you overload your muscles.
Resistance bands are portable, cheap, and easy on your joints, and they’re versatile enough that you can use them to replicate almost every exercise you can do in the gym.
Use these exercises and our workout to build shoulders you can be proud of – all in the comfort of your own home!
What’s Next
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- 11 Best Calisthenics Shoulder Exercises + Bodyweight Workout
- 10 Best Compound Shoulder Exercises for Bigger Shoulders
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