Shoulder Dumbbell or Plate Circles

This exercise provided courtesy of Billy Polson, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
This shoulder exercise warms up and strengthens the shoulders using simple circular motions. You can use a dumbbell or a small weight plate, but either way the challenge is to keep the motion small and controlled.

Muscles Worked
Shoulders

Starting Position
Holding small dumbbells in each hand at your side, stand with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart. Lift the arms holding the dumbbell until your arms are at shoulder level and are perpendicular to your body. Keep your arms straight; do not bend the elbow (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. From the starting position, begin making small forward circles with your arms, using that shoulder as your focal point.
2. Do 15 forward circles, then reverse the motion and do 15 backwards circles.