The 9 Best Bodyweight Shoulder Exercises

Broad shoulders can arguably do more than any other muscles to bolster your physical presence. That’s why incorporating a bodyweight shoulder workout into your routine is a smart move. 

Not only do strong shoulders create a more commanding physique, but they also play a crucial role in upper body strength, posture, and injury prevention. By targeting the deltoids from multiple angles, you can develop well-rounded shoulders without stepping foot in a gym.

If you want to work shoulders without weights, bodyweight movements can be just as effective as traditional dumbbell or barbell exercises. From pike pushups to crab walks, these bodyweight shoulder exercises will challenge your muscles in a different way than you may be used to.

How to Work Shoulders Without Weights

Working out without weights, or bodyweight training, has many advantages—the first of which is you can perform it anywhere. Second, it’s safe. When you train shoulders with free weights, you can progress faster, but you can pay a higher price for sloppy form—namely, injury. Not to mention, the shoulder joints are the most unstable and injury-prone in the body.

With bodyweight training, increasing the difficulty of an exercise can be as simple as adjusting the angle. Raise your feet on a pike pushup and you’ll instantly feel a greater challenge. Bodyweight shoulder exercises, like the crab walk, may look silly—but they’ll work your shoulders just as well as presses. Plus, you’ll have more fun doing them!

Bodyweight Shoulder Workout

Perform the workouts with at least two full days between them, and avoid any other upper-body training in between.

1. Feet-elevated Pike Pushup

Get into pushup position and rest your feet on a bench or box. Bend your hips, raising your butt toward the ceiling so that your torso is vertical. Lower your body to the floor until your head is between your hands. Press back up.

• Sets: 4
• Reps: 12

2. Wide-grip Inverted Row

Set a barbell at hip height in a rack, or set up a pipe or similar object if you’re not in a gym. Hang beneath it and squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull your body up to the bar.

• Sets: 5 
• Reps: 10 

3. Dip

Suspend yourself over parallel bars and lower your body until your upper arms are parallel with the floor.

• Sets: 5 
• Reps: 10 

4. Bear Crawl

Get on your hands and knees, with your hands directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Lift your knees a few inches off the ground, keeping your back flat. Move your right hand and left foot forward at the same time, followed by your left hand and right foot. Continue crawling forward.

• Sets: As many as possible 
• Reps: Walk for 30 sec.

5. Crab Walk

Sit on the floor and plant your hands under your shoulders. Place your feet flat and bend your knees. Extend your hips so they rise an inch or so above the floor—this is crab position. Next, walk forward on your hands and feet, moving your right leg and left arm in tandem and vice versa. Keep your hips low and chest up.

• Sets: As many as possible 
• Reps: Walk for 30 sec.

6. Wide-Grip Pullup

Hang from a pullup bar with hands much wider than shoulder width and palms facing forward. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar.

• Sets: As many as possible 
• Reps: 5

7. Mountain Climbers

Start in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Bring your right knee toward your chest, then quickly switch and bring your left knee toward your chest while extending your right leg back. Continue alternating.

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 30 

8. Side Plank Leg Raise

Lying on your side with your legs straight and stacked on top of each other, place your bottom elbow directly beneath your shoulder. Lift your hips off the ground and once in the side plank position, lift your top leg as high as you can, keeping your core engaged. Lower it back down without letting your hips drop. Do the same thing on the other side.

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 10

9. Pushups 

Begin in a high plank position with your hands placed slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Lower your body toward the ground by bending your elbows, keeping them at about a 45-degree angle from your body. Push through your palms to lift your body back up.

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 10–12

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