10 Minutes To Boulder Shoulders

Gents,
This is a workout that I came across, in the fall 2009 issue# 31 of the Exercise and Health magazine. They called it the “Shoulder On” workout. This workout is different from the shoulder on workout they have online under their workout section. Its 4 exercises long, which takes roughly 3 minutes to do, if you do them altogether. They haven’t quite mentioned the rest in between exercises and how many sets one should do, but after experimenting with the number of repetitions (reps),sets and rest periods, I’ve come up with a really challenging 10 minute combination that is sure to deliver noticeable results.

The Props
All you need is a resistance band (those stretchy rubber like bands you can use instead of weights). If you don’t have a resistance band then I recommend 5lbs or 2.5 kg dumbbells for beginners and 10lbs or 4kg dumbbells for intermediate and advanced levels. If you dont have access to either the band or the weights, then just pick up a couple of heavy books to use as your props.

Number of reps per exercise
Beginners      – 10 reps with the specified weights
Intermediate  – 12 reps with the specified weights
Advanced     – 12 to 15 reps with the specified weights

How we’re gonna do it
You need to do all the 4 exercises one after the other as a circuit with no rest in between exercises. You’re going to do the circuit three times with a 30-45 second rest in between.

The Exercises
Straight Arm Raises. Do both Arms together instead of one at a time.
Dumbbell Military Presses
Lateral Raises
Bent-over rear raises

The exercises being performed in the video examples provided, have all been performed using weights. If you’re using a resistance band, the concept would be the same – you would just press the rubber tubing under your foot and use its handles as the dumbbells. I’m giving a few examples below so that you get the idea of how to use the resistance band.

A Lateral Raise with resistance band
A military press with resistance band. You can do this one standing up as well.

There you have it gentlemen. You can do this workout as a part of your upper body workout routine or just on its own. Its a sure shot winner in my book. Especially if you do it as instructed.
I'll be putting on some more 10 min workouts that you can use to mix and match with this one and make your own full body circuit.
Till then,
stay fit

Apollo