This type of question is not really a serious inquiry for many readers because, who says you can only do one shoulder exercise?! That being said, if you’re short on time and are trying to condense your workout to get the most out of one exercise per body part, what is the one and only shoulder exercise you will need?
One of the best all around exercises for the shoulders has to be the clean-and-press. I can’t think of any other movement which will simultaneously challenge the traps as well as the deltoids (as well as many other muscle groups) through a full range of motion while allowing the use of quite a heavy weight. The explosive nature of the clean and press can also help build new muscle mass and improve your power.
Is clean and press better than military press? Why is the clean and press better than other exercises? How do you do them? Let’s continue.
How do you perform a clean and press for shoulder development?
A clean and press is performed as follows:
- Stand with a barbell on the floor, over your feet. Feet spread shoulder-width apart or slightly closer.
- Keeping your head faced forward, (not down), bend your knees to 90 degrees, grasp the barbell in an overhand grip, about shoulder-width.
- Explosively launch the barbell up as you simultaneously extend your legs and ‘shrug’ the bar up to your shoulders.
- Catch the barbell in front of your neck, control and stabilize the weight, straightening your legs.
- Press the barbell overhead in a controlled fashion.
- Lower the barbell to the shoulders.
- Lower the barbell to the starting position, keeping your head facing forward throughout.
This exercise is popular within the crossfit community since it is a known explosive power builder that will rev up your metabolism and help train you to use your body as a whole. Crossfit people (amongst others) will often drop the barbell from the top position, then start the next rep. This is fine if you simply want to train for explosive power, or are going very heavy. However, controlling the weight on the way back down really helps squeeze the most out of your shoulders and arms. I, personally, would also have safety concerns about dropping a heavy barbell.
Controlling the negative is a massive part of any other exercise, with the negative being capable of producing more microtears in the muscle fibers than the positive portion. These microtears are where the muscle will then rebuild itself and become larger. So be sure to focus on a controlled, slow descent with each repetition.
Your shoulders will also benefit if you can keep the overhead press portion of the exercise controlled and strict, without giving into the temptation to convert it into a push-press. The push-press is a useful lift, but it gets momentum from the legs and takes work away from the shoulders.
Why is the clean and press the best shoulder exercise?
The clean press is one of the best exercises out there for virtually your whole body, but it especially gives your traps and deltoids a great workout. Few other exercises hit both of these muscle groups. Upright rows and lateral dumbbell raises come to mind, but upright rows do not allow for as full of a range of motion and cause your arms to flare out to the sides. This puts your shoulder in a poor position for the joint’s health. Lateral raises are a better choice but are only practical with light weight.
Military (standing overhead) presses will work the front deltoids well, but will do little for the side and rear delts. The traps are not involved to a great degree either. But during a clean and press, you will use your traps and deltoids to get the weight to your shoulders, then press it overhead. So, the clean and press combines a power clean with an overhead press, making it the all-around shoulder builder.
The weight used in the clean and press will typically be quite heavy, and will require you to do lower rep sets. This is to be expected, since the clean and press really takes a lot out of you since you are essentially combining multiple exercises into one movement. The range of movement is greater than any other resistance exercise that comes to mind, with the barbell starting on the floor by your feet, and being raised all the way overhead.
What other shoulder exercises can I do?
If you have more time, and want a complete shoulder workout built around the clean and press, then there are a few exercises that will complement it well.
Dumbbell lateral raises will really isolate the side deltoids and help round out your shoulder cap, helping you look broader. It is always good to include dumbbell exercises to force each side of your body to work independently, helping to eliminate imbalances.
Resistance bands are also a great choice for lateral raises, as the ‘weight’ will increase as you raise your arms. This is why resistance bands are such a great tool. The power curve of your muscle is matched by the increased resistance coming from the band as it is stretched further. This allows for the muscle to be maximally challenged at the top of the movement, where you are strongest, and less challenged at the bottom of the movement, where you are weakest.
Shrugs are the perfect follow up to clean and press to really stimulate your traps to the max, and help you look your most muscular and imposing.
Although I believe that back exercises such as pull-ups and rows will train the rear deltoids sufficiently, if you see this as a weak point you can add some bent over lateral raises to isolate those rear deltoids.
So the complete shoulder routine might look like:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Clean and press | Few as possible | 50 total |
| Shrugs | 3 | 10-20 |
| Lateral raises | 3 | 10-20 |
| Bent over lateral raises | 3 | 10-20 |
It’s important to keep accurate tabs on your progress in order to keep motivated. So be sure to use a retractable tape measure to take weekly shoulder measurements. Small changes can be hard to notice in the mirror, so keep track of these measurements so you can see how much size you gain in your shoulders over time. A bodyfat monitor is also a great idea to see changes in your overall body composition.
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Will only doing clean and press be a good workout?
Somehow this exercise seems to equal more than the sum of the individual parts. You will find it pretty intense on your cardiovascular system. Performing high reps within one set is extremely difficult. The better technique is to shoot for a total number. If you’re simply attempting to only do the clean and press and nothing else I would try and do 50 three times a week. Even if you’re doing other exercises I would aim for at least 20 three times a week. Simply do as many as you can per set, for as many sets as it takes. A whole workout consisting of only 50 reps sounds like it would be too easy. Most guys do more than 50 reps just on their biceps. But a clean and press is a lot harder than a barbell curl and it will be difficult to reach that number!
How many squats a day will make a difference?
While nearly any number of squats will make some difference, the higher the number you do, the greater the results. This carries true until you get to really high rep numbers, i.e. over 200 squats. If you are out of shape, even 10-20 squats per day will have a significant impact on the strength of your legs, back, and on your energy levels. It is difficult to overtrain with bodyweight squats, so do plenty of them. 100+ squats a day is a great level to be at. If you want more muscular legs, try to work your way up to at least 50 per day, every other day and you will not regret it!
