Bodyweight training has many advantages, the first of which is you can do it anywhere.
Second, it’s safe. When you train shoulders with free weights, you can progress faster, but you pay a higher price for sloppy form—namely, injury—and then there’s the fact that 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 instantly feel a greater challenge. You can also have more fun; moves like the crab walk may look silly, but they’ll work your shoulders just as well as presses, and you’ll have fun doing them.
DAY 1
EXERCISE 1
FEET-ELEVATED PIKE PUSHUP
4sets
12reps
60-90 secrest
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.
EXERCISE 2
WIDE-GRIP INVERTED ROW
5sets
10reps
—rest
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.
EXERCISE 3
BODYWEIGHT DIP
5sets
10reps
—rest
Suspend yourself over parallel bars and lower your body until your upper arms are parallel with the floor.
DAY 2
EXERCISE 1
FEET-ELEVATED PIKE PUSHUP
—sets
6*reps
—rest
*Perform exercises 1A-1C as a circuit. Rest 90 sec at end of circuit. Complete circuit as many times as possible in 10 mins.
EXERCISE 2
WIDE-GRIP PULLUP
—sets
5*reps
—rest
*Perform exercises 1A-1C as a circuit. Rest 90 sec at end of circuit. Complete circuit as many times as possible in 10 mins.
EXERCISE 3
CRAB WALK
—sets
30 sec*reps
90 secrest
*Perform as a circuit. Rest 90 sec at end of circuit. 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 above the floor. Walk forward on your hands and feet.