My Favorite Muscle: Shoulder

I'm no muscle expert (my goal is be just that one day though), but I have been told that growing your shoulder muscles is one of the hardest things to do. I might have subconsciously taken that as a challenge when I first heard that because shoulders are what I work out the most.

Just this morning, Mike was telling me that my shoulders have grown so much (he might just be flattering me). He said he felt like his shoulders weren't growing as fast as mine. I asked him how many shoulder work outs he does a day (four). Then I told him how many I do a day (ten). I LOVE shoulders. I love watching their movement and I am quite proud of mine.

The lighting isn't the greatest in either of these, but you get the point. The top picture was taken in April of this year and the bottom picture was taken this week. Sometimes pictures don't even fully show how much I think my shoulders have grown. I'm slightly bragging, but I can't explain how much time and sweat I've put into my shoulders.

I'd previously mentioned throwing some of my work outs up on my blog, and I thought this would be a good time to tell you some of my favorite shoulder work outs.

*Cable Face-Pulls (3 sets of 12)

*Dumbbell Upright Row (can also be done with cable) (3 sets of 12)

*Rear Delt Flyes (I do mine on the machine, but they can be done with weights) (3 sets of 12)

*Bent-Over Shoulder Flye (I do this one for one minute straight. I'm still working on strengthening this part of my shoulder)

*Bench Barbell Raise (when I first tried this one, I couldn't use ANY weight at all. My shoulders just weren't used to moving this way. Now I can use a 10 lb weight!) (I also do this one for one minute straight)

*Weighted Chicken Wing (I have no idea what this is really called. I made the name up myself haha) (3 sets of 12)

*Alternating Shoulder Press (3 sets of 12)

*Twist Dumbbell Front Raise (3 sets of 12)

*Reverse Cable Flyes (this has been one of my favorite shoulder work outs for a long time) (3 sets of 12)

*Front Dumbbell Raise (3 sets of 12)

You can search most of these names on YouTube and they'll bring up THOUSANDS of tutorials on how to do them. Someday my goal is to start filming some little videos, but I think I'm awhile away from that. If there are any that you do have questions on though, I could definitely film a video for one or two. 

If you try any of these work outs and love them, I would love to know about it!

To finish it all off, here's another fun transformation picture of me.

When I found the picture on the left a couple days ago... I didn't even know how to feel about it. That picture was June 2014. I don't remember ever realizing that I was getting kinda overweight, but I do remember how AWFUL I felt. I was the farthest thing from healthy. That's the best part of where I'm at now. I don't have a six pack or a thigh gap (don't really want a thigh gap), but I feel so much healthier. My body and mind are in a much better place. I hope to continue improving on my self-love and my overall health. I am so proud of myself. It may not show all that much, but you have no idea how much work I've been putting into myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Now my goal is to start helping others.

I love you all & thank you so much for following along on my journey and constantly motivating me.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! XOXO