Shoulders

The shoulder muscles - the deltoids - is made up of 3 portions: anterior (front delts), lateral (side or mid delts), and posterior (rear delts). Make sure you develop all 3 portions for a fully balanced pair of shoulder muscles. Make sure you exercise your delts with correct technique, to avoid shoulder injury. Don't go too heavy too soon!

All 3 portions insert into the upper arm (to be precise, at the deltoid tuberosity half way down the lateral surface of the humerus, the bone of the upper arm).

The anterior portion originates at the lateral third of the clavicle (collar bone). The mid portion originates at the knobbly bone at the top of your arm known as the acromion process of the scapula (shoulder blade). And the rear portion originates at the upper rear portion of the scapula.

Anterior Delts (front delts)

The best exercises for the front delts are:

Dumbbell alternate front raise

Barbell front raise

Lateral Delts (side delts)

This portion of the delts is best stimulated with these exercises:

Dumbbell lateral side raise

Seated dumbbell press above head (known as 'military press')

Smith machine press

Standing barbell row

Lateral raise with cables machine

Posterior Delts (rear delts)

The best exercises are:

Bent-over dumbbell lateral raise (make sure you use light weights and perform slowly)

There is no end to the variety of combinations you can use to stimulate the shoulder muscles. A few sessions with a personal trainer will give you some fresh ideas to give your shoulder workout a turbo boost, and help you squeeze out the crucial last few reps to failure in each set. If you can't afford a personal trainer, find a gym buddy whose goals are similar to yours, so you can train together and motivate each other.