Don’t have any weights?
Wrong!
Your entire body is essentially just a glorified dumbbell rack. And if you know how, you can do a ton of great workouts using nothing but that slabs of weight you’re carrying around with you all day. The only downside? Some parts of your body are much harder to target than others when you’re not using equipment.
And one of the toughest areas to focus on is undoubtedly the deltoids. Don’t despair though! All you need is a little creativity and you’ll find there are plenty of ways to get those shoulders burning with not a dumbbell or barbell in sight.
The only thing you’ll need is a dip bar, but you can always omit that one move.
Assisted Handstand Press Ups
These are handstand press ups but using something to support yourself and aid balance. The easiest way to do this is simply by keeping your feet on the floor and buttocks in the air.
Dipping Push Ups
Dipping push ups are push ups that start with the buttocks in the air, head facing down and arms straight. From there, you swoop down as though you’re about to faceplant. At the last minute
Tuck Planche Push Ups
This is where the dipping bar comes in. Grab a handle on each and perform dips but while keeping your chest facing the floor and legs tucked in underneath you.
Practice Planche Push Ups
These are push ups but performed with your arms a little lower down your body than normal. In other words, your hands are in the position they would be for planche, except your feet are still on the floor. This is a great way to build up to planche (if you’re interested) but it’s also a great move to follow the tuck planches with.
Pulsating Delt Pyramid
Don’t think you can train your deltoid heads specifically without weights? Well, prepare to be proven wrong! This technique involves standing with your arms apart as though you’re a crucifix and then pulsating them rapidly up and down. This is enough to effectively train the lateral deltoid heads. From here, you can do the same thing with the posterior and anterior deltoids. Continue for about 8 minutes, combining all three.
Clapping Assisted Handstand Push Up
This is simply the assisted handstand push up from before, except now you’re launching yourself in the air high enough to perform a small clap at the end of each rep. This is a very effective way to build the fast twitch muscle fibers in the deltoids, which is generally thought to encourage more rapid growth.
Alternated Assisted Handstand Push Ups
Finally, again in the assisted handstand position, you’re now going to dip gradually down from one side to the next in a controlled manner. This way, you will be isolating each side in turn while using the other hand to stabilize and balance.
Try all these in order and you should find you have a powerful circuit that will get your shoulders insanely pumped.
