Shoulders maketh...

I believe there is a saying that shoulders maketh the man. It's even suggested that it's one of the top things that a female look for in a prospective partner. All that aside, I don't think it quite works the other way around. But who am I kidding, some guys have profound tastes. 

Either sex that you be, respect the shoulders!

Shoulders is a very broad statement though. It refers to any top section of the arm, this includes some chest, tris, biceps and some of the back muscles. But what most people are simply referring to is the deltoid group when speaking of shoulders. 

So why respect the shoulders (deltoids)? Well because they are so interconnected with all the other previously mentioned muscles, damage the shoulders, say goodbye to chest day, arms day and upper back day!!!

When it comes to training them you also have to be mindful of the front, middle and rear deltoid regions because not all shoulder excercises and other muscles that incorporate a bit of the deltoid with them hit all three sections evenly. 

The chest, bicep and tricep workouts that everybody loves, have a tendency to put strain on the front deltoid thus giving you more front facing mass to your shoulder. This can be detremental to the look of your body, causing pulled forwad shoulders and no width. So be mindful on shoulders training day to even out the playing field a bit if you do a lot of chest and arms work during the rest of the week. Hit the lateral raises more for width and ensure that you carry out rear deltoid raises (bent over or on a bench for support) to ensure an all over shoulder look that won't have you looking like Quasimodo.