Shoulders

Shoulders

There is nothing like broad shoulders. Well, for some, broad shoulders are a sought-after look. It is the shoulders that give you that v-taper look. With broad shoulders and that v-taper look, the waistline looks smaller. So, let’s hear it for the shoulders.

Anatomy & Tips

The shoulder is made up of the clavicle (the collar bone), the humerus (upper arm), the scapula (shoulder blade), ligaments and tendons. The glenohumeral is the major joint of the shoulder, where the humerus attaches to the scapula. This ball and socket joint permits the arm to rotate in a circular motion. The job of the shoulder is to raise and rotate the upper arm. The shoulder attaches to fibers known as the deltoids. The deltoid muscle is the muscle forming the rounded region of the shoulder. The deltoids are covered in more detail under the deltoids section.

The shoulder is remarkable in that it can rotate, extend to the front of the body, as well as abduct and adduct. But one should also be careful with exercising the shoulder as the shoulder joint sustains more injuries than any other joints. There are several exercises for strengthen the shoulders. Check them out under the ‘Exercise’ menu.

Deltoid

Anatomy & Tips
The deltoid has three small muscle heads…the anterior (front) deltoid, is responsible for flexing, rotating and abduction. The lateral (middle) deltoid abducts, and the posterior (rear) deltoid does extension/hyperextension, rotates, and assists in abduction of the arm at the shoulder joint. The deltoid has three separate insertion points. Each insertion point matches up to that particular muscle’s areas of origin. As an example, the posterior part of the deltoid inserts from the lower posterior portion of the spine of the scapula. Whereas the anterior part of the deltoid inserts from the clavicle.

The deltoid is an antagonist muscle of the latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major throughout arm adduction. It is the major mover of arm abduction when all fibers bind at the same time. Studies show that exercises where you are performing pressing movements, low reps work best. Likewise, do high reps when you are performing exercises involving raising movements.