Posts Tagged ‘bodyweight shoulder exercises’
Body weight exercises can be used to work on any part of your body, the shoulders are no exception. This post is going to cover some of the best body weight shoulder exercises that you can do.
You can do bodyweight shoulder exercises with virtually no equipment, however, I would recommend that you spend a few dollars and make some homemade parallelettes. These are great for getting the most out of your handstand push-ups which is the crowning jewel of the body weight shoulder exercises.
I have included a picture of my homemade parallelettes. They are constructed out of 1.25″ PVC pipe. I would recommend at least 1.25″ but it may be better if you go with 1.5″ PVC. My parallelettes are 12″ tall and 27″ long. You need 4 end caps, 2 Ts, 2 elbows and about 5′ of straight pipe to make each parallelette. So a 10′ piece plus the extras should give you enough to make 2.
The first bodyweight shoulder exercise that you can do is performed with your feet on the floor. With your hands on the floor in front of you and your body in a pike position lower yourself to the point where your head touches your hands and return to the starting position.
You can also perform this exercise with your feet elevated. Here my son performs it on our ottoman.
A different version of this exercise is to place your feet up against a wall (fireplace in our case) and walk your hands in until they are about 2.5′ from your feet. Turn your hands so that the tips of your fingers are touching each other and then lower your head down to your hands. This is a slightly more intense exercise. You will feel it in your shoulders. The following photos will show you what I am trying to say.
The king of all body weight shoulder exercises is the Handstand Push-Up. Kick up to a wall or door and lower yourself to your hands and then return to the starting position. This is a difficult exercise and not many will be able to do this bodyweight shoulder exercise for reps. Just do the others exercises shown until you can build up the strength. You can also have someone hold your feet instead of kicking up against a wall. I wouldn’t want you to accidentally put a hole in your drywall.
The parallelettes are used with the handstand push-ups. Using them gives you a greater range of motion since you can take your head below your hands. Make sure that the parallelettes are on a surface on which they won’t slide. I put a blanket under ours when my son performed for this picture. Be safe at all costs. Here is a picture of the handstand pushup with the parallelettes.
If you perform these body weight shoulder exercises you will be surprised by the increase in strength that you will experience. Keep up the good work.
