How to get Ripped Shoulders

Let’s be honest. Nothing looks as great as shredded, ripped up shoulders. We put this shoulder workout together with specific bodyweight exercises to activate all the muscle groups in your shoulders to help you achieve shoulder awesomeness. If you want some great shoulder guns to show off, you need to get with this workout.
To get the shoulders you want you will need to do two, basic things. First, you will have to go all out with the jump rope to drop any excess body fat and reveal those shoulder muscle hiding underneath your arm fat. Second, you need to do a variety of push-up movements to build that upper body.

The shoulder training workout:

  • 30 Sec: Jump Rope Regular Bounce
  • 20 Sec: Alternate Between Reg/Wide/Hammer Push-ups
  • 30 Sec: Jump Rope Run In Place
  • 20 Sec: Alternate Between Reg/Wide/Hammer Push-ups

Repeat twice to complete one circuit. That’s 8 movements in total. Rest 1 minute between circuits. Complete 4 circuits total (or 5 for advanced) to make one awesome 30 minute intense shoulder workout. Let’s dig into this workout and break it down:

30 Seconds: Regular Bounce

Start off your shoulder workout with a regular bounce jump rope. Always remember to keep your body in the proper jump rope form that we teach here at Zen Dude Fitness. Keep your elbows in and to your sides with your hands jutting out, knees slightly bent and use only your toes and the balls of your feet to jump.

Having good form when doing any jump rope workout routine is super important. It will help you spin the rope faster, which will result in burning more calories. Having proper form, by the way, will also help when you are learning awesome new tricks with your jump rope.

20 Seconds: Alternate between Regular, Wide, and Hammer Push-ups.

You’ll need to do a variety of push-up styles to activate all the different muscle groups in your shoulders and get them toned up. The best shoulder exercises by far are still good old push-ups.

So, straight from the Regular Bounce go down into a regular push-up. Remember, when you’re doing push-ups, always keep your arms in and your back straight. No cheating.

Once you have completed the regular push-ups (shoot for around 5 reps), move into wide push-ups. For a wide push-up, place your hands a bit outside shoulder width.

After the wide push-ups move immediately into the hammer push-ups. Place your hands closer together, as per the normal push-up, but this time place them as far in front of you as is comfortable and doable.

Remember to always go all out and give it everything you’ve got so you can get those boulder shoulders. You have 20 seconds to get through all three types of push-ups, so try for about 5 reps per type.

30 Seconds: Jump Rope Run In Place

The run in place is exactly what it sounds like. You’ll jump rope as you are running in place, alternating one rope rotation with one leg lifted. Each time the rope passes under you, the lifted foot should be returning to the ground and the other should be coming up. If you want the jump rope that we always use, the Crossrope, you can get it here with a 10% discount.

Always, ALWAYS, go all out with your jump rope. Pushing your body to the limit is what will force it to lose any excess body fat and make for the best shoulder workout. The magic happens only at the extremes.

After the jump rope run in place, repeat the alternating push-up styles before hitting the regular bounce again. Repeat all of this again from the top (Regular Bounce, Push-ups, Run In Place, and Push-ups). That’ll be one circuit. Rest for 1 minute after every circuit.

Recap: Ripped Shoulder Workout

  • 30 Sec – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
  • 20 Sec – Alternate Between Reg/Wide/Hammer Push-ups
  • 30 Sec – Jump Rope Run In Place
  • 20 Sec – Alternate Between Reg/Wide/Hammer Push-ups
  • 30 Sec – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
  • 20 Sec – Alternate Between Reg/Wide/Hammer Push-ups
  • 30 Sec – Jump Rope Run In Place
  • 20 Sec – Alternate Between Reg/Wide/Hammer Push-ups

Rest 1 Min Between Circuits. Complete 4x Total (or 5 for advanced).

For each movement, try to blast it even harder and go even faster than the previous round. Always challenge yourself to operate only at the highest possible level when doing high intensity training coupled with bodyweight exercises.

If you can’t do the push-ups yet, just drop to your knees and start from there. Your shoulder muscles will grow stronger much faster than you think, and you will see a difference and get the strength you want and need in no time. Those big shoulders are not that far away, champ.

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