Most people think of weight plates as the things you put on barbells but in these exercises, they are all you need for bigger shoulder muscles.
Weight plates are flat, heavy weights that are usually made of metal. You typically use these to make barbells heavier. In turn, you can do a variety of exercises with this setup.
Most people do not consider weight plates to be shoulder exercise equipment but you can use them for this purpose in a few ways.
Ideally, you have the weight plates with grips that allow you to hold one in one hand. That being said, there are also a few movements that you can do with any type of weight plate.
And even with the optimal weight plates, you want to keep in mind that other fitness equipment tends to be better. The weight jumps with plates are generally not optimal for progressing.
1. Lateral plate raise
This first shoulder exercise is immediately one where you need two weight plates with handles (or regular ones and very strong grip muscles).
Once you have these, take the following steps to do a lateral plate raise:
- Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold one weight plate in each hand with your hand palms pointing toward the center. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched throughout the exercise.
- Slowly move the weight plates outward and up until your hands are at shoulder height.
- Lower the weight plates back into starting position in a controlled motion.
Lateral raises are a typical shoulder isolation exercise that you usually do with dumbbells.
That being said, as you can see, you can definitely also use weight plates or even other equipment options like resistance bands, kettlebells, and other weights.
In all of these variations, you will mainly work the middle part of your deltoids (the main shoulder muscle).
2. Plate around the world
The plate around the world requires a bit more coordination than most of the other exercises but it can be a helpful way to improve endurance (and potentially side) in a variety of shoulder muscles.
You may like to hear that you just need one weight plate. With or without handles.
Once you have that, take the following steps to do a plate around the world:
- Start standing up with your feet shoulder-width apart with the one weight plate you will use held in your two hands at chest height in a similar position as a steering wheel.
- Move the weight plate 1 rotation around your head so that the same side of the weight plate is always facing your head.
- Repeat the same motion in the opposite direction.
Due to the many directions of the movement, the plate around the world exercise engages your anterior, lateral, and posterior deltoid.
Additionally, you will work other muscles around your shoulders like your trapezius and other scapular muscles to some extent.
Lastly, your core muscles have to work a certain amount to keep your upper body in a straight line.
3. Overhead weight plate press
Take the following steps to do an overhead press with one weight plate:
- Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold one weight plate in your two hands at chest height in a similar position as a steering wheel.
- Slowly raise the weight plate over your head until your arms are slightly less than stretched. Throughout the movement, the angle of the weight plate will shift. At the top of your movement, it will be in a horizontal position.
- Lower the plate back into starting position in a controlled motion.
The overhead press variations with a barbell and dumbbells are some of the most popular exercises to grow shoulder muscles.
You can also do this exercise with one or two separate weight plates to work similar muscles.
Overhead presses will mainly focus on the front and middle parts of the deltoids. You work your triceps and trapezius a lot too.
4. Front weight plate raise
Take the following steps to do a front plate raise:
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold one weight plate like a steering wheel. In starting position you just let the plate rest against your body. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched throughout the exercise.
- Slowly move the weight plate upward until your arms are horizontal.
- Lower the plate back into starting position in a controlled movement.
The front plate raise is an isolation exercise that focuses on the anterior (front part of the) deltoids.
5. Weight plate wood chops
Weight plate wood chops can be a good exercise for people who want to combine their oblique and should muscle training. Take the following steps to do this exercise:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold one weight plate like a steering wheel. In starting position your upper body is turned to one side with the weight plate at about hip height. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched throughout the exercise.
- Move the weight plate diagonally upward to above your shoulders at the opposite side of the starting side.
- Lower the plate back into starting position in a controlled movement.
- Do a set of repetitions with one side and then a set of repetitions where you start with the weight plate on the opposite side.
Make sure you keep your back straight and don’t twist too far during the exercise to avoid any injuries.
As you can see from its name this exercise is meant to simulate the movement you go through when chopping wood.
This will mainly be challenging for your oblique muscles but you engage your shoulder muscles to some extent too.
6. Weight plate squat press
A good shoulder exercise does not necessarily only work your deltoids. With the weight plate squat press exercise, you will also engage your leg muscles.
Take the following steps to do one weight plate squat press repetition:
- Start standing up with your feet shoulder-width apart with the one weight plate you will use held in your two hands at chest height in a similar position as a steering wheel.
- Lower your hips by bending your knees. How far depends on different factors like knee health and experience. Ideally, you want to go with your hips to knee height or lower. You keep holding the weight plate in the same position throughout the first part of the exercise.
- Push yourself up again with your legs until they are stretched.
- Slowly raise the weight plate over your head until your arms are slightly less than stretched. Throughout the movement, the angle of the weight plate will shift so that at the top of your movement it will be in a horizontal position.
- Lower the plate back into starting position in a controlled motion.
You can describe the weight plate squat press as a combination of a squat and an overhead plate press.
This makes it so you also work your quadriceps and to some extent glutes and hamstrings on top of the front and middle deltoid, tricep, and trapezius engagement.
Keep in mind that your leg muscles are relatively strong. Weight plate squat presses alone may not be enough to see a lot of growth.
7. Pike pushups with elevated feet
Most of these shoulder exercises implement weight plates as something you move with your muscles. You can also get creative and use the weight plates as an elevated platform to enable decline pike pushups.
Keep in mind that you do need some balance for the pike pushup. Not all weight plates stack in a way that is stable enough for pike pushups.
That being said, if you do have suited weight plates, take the following steps to do a decline pike pushup:
- Stack weighted plates on the ground to the height you desire. Make sure this stack is stable before starting the actual exercise. Some weight plates do not stack in a stable way and should not be used for this exercise.
- Get into a position with your back to the weighted plate stack and your hand palms on the ground. Your feet should be right before the stack.
- Put your feet on the stack while keeping your hands in the same position. Make sure your upper body is more or less in a straight line. Your arms should be slightly less than stretched.
- Slowly move your upper body downward by folding your elbows until your head hovers just above the ground.
- Move your body back up into the position of step 3 in a controlled motion.
Just like decline pushups focus on different muscles than incline pushups, the angle of your pike pushups will determine what part of your shoulder muscles will need to work the hardest.
In a vertical position, you work your front deltoids, middle deltoids, triceps, and trapezius. Similar to shoulder presses but upside down.
8. Plate press out
The plate press out is another exercise example where you only need one weight plate. With or without handles.
Take the following steps to do a standing plate press out:
- Start standing up with your feet shoulder-width apart with the one weight plate you will use held in your two hands at chest height in a similar position as a steering wheel.
- Push the weight plate away from you horizontally, so in a straight line forward, in a controlled motion until your arms are stretched.
- Return the weight plate to your chest.
Plate press outs will mainly work the front parts of your deltoids but you may get a tiny amount of upper chest muscle engagement too.
To make sure you don’t drop the plate involuntarily, you likely want to start plate press outs with light weights and build up from there.
9. Weight plate shrug
To do weight plate shrugs you really want weight plates with handles. Once you have these, take the following steps to do a plate shrug:
- Stand up straight with a weight plate in each hand. Your hand palms should point to the center. Let gravity do its work on your arms so they point downward. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched throughout the exercise.
- Raise your shoulders as far as you can in a controlled manner.
- Slowly lower your shoulders again.
Shrugs do not look that impressive but they can be a good exercise to work the upper parts of the trapezius. This is the muscle between your shoulders and neck.
10. Plate bent-over reverse fly
This next weight plate shoulder exercise is another example where you want models with handles. With these, take the following steps to do a plate rear delt lateral raise:
- Stand up straight with a weight plate in each hand with your hand palms pointing to the middle. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched throughout the exercise.
- Bend your knees slightly and tilt your upper body forward until it is at about a 45-angle degree with the ground. Let gravity do its work on your arms so that they point vertically to the ground and keep your spine straight.
- Slowly raise your hands out to the side and up until the weight plates are at shoulder height.
- Move the weighted plates back into the position of step 2 in a controlled motion.
The rear delt lateral raise, also known as the bent-over rear delt fly, is an exercise you can do with weight plates to work out your rear (posterior) deltoids.
Strengthening this part of the deltoids can help you avoid things like hunched shoulders.
Especially if you already do a lot of chest workouts adding this shoulder exercise with or without weight plates to your routine may be worth it.
