Shoulders are a tough muscle group to target with bodyweight movements. The shoulders come into play as stabilizer muscles for all upper body bodyweight movements. However, some movements work the shoulders better than others.

Here are some of the top shoulder exercises you can do with just your bodyweight:

Hindu Pushups/ Dive Bombers

Hindu Pushups and Dive Bombers were made famous by a guy named Matt Furey. The hindu pushups got their name because Mr. Furey claimed they were one of the three bodyweight movements used by Indian wrestlers back in the day.

Hindu pushups are a great movement, especially if you want to isolate your shoulders. They also work great because they hit your chest from three different angles at once: upper chest, middle chest, and lower chest.

Pretty cool.
The Dive Bomber is a tougher variation of the Hindu Pushup.

Decline Pushups

Decline pushups are simply a variation of the pushups where you place your feet on a surface and your hands on the floor to perform the pushup.

The higher the surface, the more stress you will place on your shoulders.

Shoulder Press Pushups

Shoulder press pushups, also known as elevated pike pushups, are a cross between decline and handstand pushups.

Place your feet on a bench or sturdy surface. Keep them straight. Instead of the diagonal position of your body as in the decline pushup, you want to keep your upper body perpendicular to the floor.

This way you place maximum stress on your shoulders. Keep your legs straight as you drop your body towards the floor, and push up.

Dips

Dips are a great chest and triceps builder. They’re also tough on the shoulders.

To target your shoulders, lean forward more, and do short reps.

Handstand Pushups

The best shoulder movement out there using just your bodyweight is the handstand pushup.

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