You don't need a ton of weight to make a big difference for these important muscles.

Aching, stiff shoulders can be a major impediment to your strength training routine—not to mention your overall quality of life. But big weight exercises alone aren't going to be your fix to build up strength; there are some more targeted movements you can use to shore up the muscles around your joint to bulletproof your upper body. It’s time to go the extra mile for your shoulders.

Physical therapist Daniel Giordano, DPT, PT, C.S.C.S. of Bespoke Treatments has walking through a quick series of exercises that target all the muscles surrounding your shoulders (sometimes referred to as the "shoulder complex") to make them as strong as possible. This will help with any aches and pains you get in your joints, and better yet, you’ll be working towards a “a better foundation for your heavier lifts,” according to Giordano.

You'll need an adjustable bench and some light dumbbells to take on the series. Check out the video with Giordano and personal trainer Vaughn Gray, NASM-CPT, to see each move in detail, and read on for a brief overview.

Make sure your chest is flat on an incline bench, keeping your head in the neutral position without any cervical extension (this to help you avoid putting pressure on your neck). You should be holding light dumbbells in each hand, with your arms hanging straight down. Depress the shoulder blades, then retract them and move your arms backward into an “A” position, with your arms at your sides. Pause here for three seconds. Do five to eight repetitions on each side and increase the reps as you get stronger.

This is the same basic motion as above, but you come into a “T” position with your arms by lifting your arms out horizontally. When you lift out into that “T” shape, hold for three seconds and then come down back to your starting position. Do this for five to eight repetitions and increase this as you get stronger.

Start in the same beginning stance with your chest flat on the bench, holding dumbbells in each hand. Raise the dumbbells so that your upper arms are parallel to your torso and your elbows are bent, with the weights right in front of your chest. Lift the weight out into an externally rotated position, then pause for three seconds before moving your arms back down. “This exercise will work his mid-back muscles and also start to really incorporate those external rotators of the shoulder, taking pressure off of the shoulder, building that foundation to get you stronger on your heavy lifts,” said Giordano. Do five to eight repetitions with light weights and then increase the repetitions as you build strength.

Start out in the same spot as the first two exercises, but lift your arms straight up above your head in a “Y” position, taking care that your hands are a little wider than shoulder-width apart. “We want to make sure that he's staying in that scaption plane, so that the lower trapezius muscle starts to work," explains Giordano. “These exercises will humble you because they are extremely hard. Start light. Don't start with a heavy weight until you learn how to do this." Again, do five to eight repetitions and then increase the weight and increase the repetitions as you get stronger.

Start on the bench in the same position as the other moves, the row the weight back, squeezing your shoulder blades while you keep them depressed (so don’t elevate them). Aim for five to eight repetitions to start and then increase the weight. You can try to increase the repetitions, too.

“This group of exercises is a great way to strengthen the shoulders,” says Giordano. “But remember, this can also be used as a warm-up for your next high-volume heavy lift at the gym.”

Perri is a New York City-born-and-based writer; she holds a bachelor's in psychology from Columbia University and is also a culinary school graduate of the plant-based Natural Gourmet Institute, which is now the Natural Gourmet Center at Institute Of Culinary Education. Her work has appeared in the New York Post, Men's Journal, Rolling Stone, Oprah Daily, Insider.com, Architectural Digest, Southern Living, and more. She's probably seen Dave Matthews Band in your hometown, and she'll never turn down a bloody mary. Learn more at VeganWhenSober.com.

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