Can You Reduce Broad Shoulders?
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Can You Reduce Broad Shoulders?

You cannot spot reduce your shoulders. But focusing on the right strengthening exercises can help you avoid bulking up.
Can You Reduce Broad Shoulders?
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Updated on August 12, 2025
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There are many muscle-strengthening exercises you can do to increase the size and width of your shoulders to make them appear broader.

But, unless you're overweight or have been strength training your shoulder muscles for a while and change that routine, shrinking your shoulders is nearly impossible. That’s because our shoulder width is largely determined by our bones.

3 Strategies for Making Your Shoulders Appear Less Broad

You can't make a body part smaller — be it your abs, legs, or butt — by exercising it or eating certain foods.

 Fat covering muscles and bones doesn't melt away when you work the area.
An example: A study published in 2013 showed that participants who did up to 1,000 leg presses on one leg three times per week for 12 weeks experienced no change in the fat on that leg compared to the one that wasn't exercised.

Where in your body fat is broken down and metabolized at any given moment varies. It's dependent on the genetically predetermined way your body stores and loses fat. You can't direct your body to remove fat from your shoulders only.

It’s also worth pointing out that strong shoulder muscles are important for daily activities, like pushing things, pulling things, and lifting things over our heads.

 Regularly strengthening these muscles can help promote healthy aging and help you avoid injury.

If you do, however, want your shoulders to appear less bulky, here are some strategies that may help.

1. Focus on Lighter-Weight Shoulder Exercises

You can build broad shoulders by growing the muscles (like your deltoids) with exercises like lateral raises, military presses, push-ups, front raises, and rear deltoid flies.

 If you've built a lot of muscle mass in your shoulders, shifting your workout program to lift lighter weights and less often should help decrease the size of these muscles.
But it’s important to not cut out training your upper body though. Overall body health requires you to strength train all the major muscle groups, including the chest, shoulders, and back, at least twice a week.

2. Increase Lower-Body Exercises

Focusing on building muscle and definition in your lower body may shift the appearance of your body to appear more balanced if you have a broad upper body.

Squats, deadlifts, and lunges that build the muscles in your legs and backside are all part of a healthy, comprehensive training plan.

3. Lose Excess Weight

Though your shoulders are mainly bone, muscles, and connective tissue, there is also body fat. The amount of body fat will vary based on your size. If you are overweight, weight loss may help your shoulders reduce in size along with the rest of your body.

Adopting healthy eating habits and following a regular exercise routine that includes regular cardiovascular exercise and strength training are main tenets of nearly every healthy weight-loss plan.

Reduce your intake of sugary soft drinks and refined grains, such as white bread or pasta.

 Design your meals and snacks so they contain moderate portions of lean proteins, whole grains, and plenty of vegetables. Choose plain yogurt, fresh fruit, and nuts or seeds as snacks instead of processed foods.

The Takeaway

  • Strong shoulder muscles are important for activities of daily living, including pushing, pulling, and lifting things over your head.
  • Shoulder size is largely determined by your bone structure, which is unchangeable.
  • Decreasing heavy weight-bearing shoulder exercises and focusing on light-weight shoulder strengthening exercises can help you maintain or build strength while minimizing muscle growth.
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Reyna-Franco-bio

Reyna Franco, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.

In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.

Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.

She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.

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Andrea Boldt

Author

Andrea Boldt has been in the fitness industry for more than 20 years. A personal trainer, run coach, group fitness instructor and master yoga teacher, she also holds certifications in holistic and fitness nutrition.

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Resources
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