The Back-to-Basics Delt Workout for Bigger Shoulders

The gym is your playground. Use everything it has to offer—free weights, machines, cables—to build size, strength, and balanced symmetry. Excluding any one piece of equipment as “nonfunctional” is being close-minded to all the benefits that can be reaped from doing an exercise you’ve never tried or haven’t done in years.

The following delt workout is nearly as diverse as the shoulder joint itself. It utilizes three distinct pieces of equipment—a barbell, a pec deck, and a cable station—to develop strength, hypertrophy, and a healthy dose of detail-oriented isolation work. There’s something here for every deltoid head (middle, anterior, posterior), and the exercise variety will keep even the most ADHD-challenged person from getting bored. But, hey, if the Smith machine isn’t “functional” enough for you, go ahead and let someone else build bigger shoulders on it.