When it comes to building muscle with nothing but your own bodyweight, some body parts are definitely easier to hit than others.

Training your chest is relatively straightforward – there are enough push-up variations to keep even the most distracted athletes busy. Training your back really just necessitates finding somewhere sturdy enough to perform pull-ups and rows.

But building a bigger set of shoulders? That can be a little trickier.

The obvious solution is to take the movement you’d perform with weights – pressing something vertically overhead – and flip it on its head. Literally. Handstand push-ups are about as close as you’re going to get to an overhead press using nothing but your own bodyweight.

The problem is that handstand push-ups are, well… really hard. They can take time to learn, require a decent amount of strength before you can even begin practising them properly and, for many people, simply getting upside down presents enough of a challenge.

Of course, as we’ll come to, that difficulty is also exactly what makes them such a potent shoulder-builder.

Thankfully, though, handstand push-ups aren’t your only option. By manipulating your body position, leverage and range of motion – and getting a little creative – you can still hit all three heads of your delts without touching a dumbbell.

These are your best bets.

If you want to replicate a heavy overhead press without any weights, this is it. Handstand push-ups force your shoulders and triceps to press a huge percentage of your bodyweight vertically – and the fact they’re so difficult is precisely what makes them such an effective muscle-builder.

• Kick up into a handstand against a sturdy wall, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes to create a rigid body position.
• Bend your elbows and slowly lower your head towards the floor.
• Once it gently touches down, press the ground away explosively until your arms are fully extended.
• Add a cushion or raised target beneath your head to shorten the range while building strength.

Don’t dismiss these as simply a progression towards the exercise above. By pushing your hips high and getting your torso closer to vertical, pike push-ups shift work away from your chest and onto your shoulders, making them fantastic delt-builders in their own right. They also happen to be one of the best stepping stones towards a full handstand push-up.

• Begin in a push-up position before walking your hands back and pushing your hips high into the air.
• Keeping your legs relatively straight, bend your elbows and lower the top of your head towards the floor between your hands.
• Pause just above the ground before pressing hard through your palms to straighten your arms.

Once regular pikes become too easy, get your feet off the floor. Elevating your lower body shifts even more of your weight over your hands, increasing the demands on your delts while bringing your torso closer to the vertical position of a handstand push-up.

• Place your feet on a sturdy box, chair or bed and plant your hands on the floor.
• Push your hips upwards until your torso is as vertical as possible.
• Bend your elbows and lower your head towards the floor under control.
• Press explosively back to straight arms, keeping your hips high throughout.
• Increase the height of your feet as you become stronger.

You might not yet be strong enough to press your entire bodyweight upwards, but you may well be strong enough to control it on the way down. Negatives allow you to overload your shoulders eccentrically while getting accustomed to the position and strength demands of a full handstand push-up.

• Kick into a wall-supported handstand with your arms locked out.
• Brace hard before slowly bending your elbows and lowering your head towards the floor, fighting gravity for as long as possible.
• Aim for a controlled descent rather than simply collapsing.
• Once your head reaches the floor, bring your feet down, reset and kick back up for your next rep.

Part push-up, part moving stretch, the Hindu push-up takes your shoulders through a large range of motion while simultaneously working your chest and triceps. It’s not as delt-specific as a pike or handstand push-up, but it earns its place as a versatile, kit-free pressing movement.

• Assume a push-up position, then walk your hands backwards until your hips are high in the air.
• Bend your elbows and lower your nose towards the floor before sweeping your chest forwards between your hands.
• Press the ground away as you straighten your arms and drop your hips towards the floor.
• Reverse the movement smoothly and repeat.

You don’t necessarily have to perform reps once you’re upside down. Simply supporting your entire bodyweight overhead forces your shoulders to work isometrically while developing the stability and confidence you’ll need for more advanced handstand work.

• Kick up into a handstand against a wall and lock your arms straight.
• Push the floor away aggressively, elevating your shoulders towards your ears.
• Brace your abs and squeeze your glutes to keep your body rigid.
• Hold for as long as you can maintain a strong position before bringing your feet safely back to the floor.

If kicking upside down feels like too much of a leap, wall walks offer another route. You’ll gradually shift more of your bodyweight onto your shoulders as you climb, while your core works overtime to keep your body controlled.

• Begin in a push-up position with the soles of your feet against a wall.
• Walk your feet upwards while simultaneously walking your hands backwards towards the wall.
• Continue until your chest is close to the wall and your body is almost vertical.
• Pause, then carefully reverse the movement, walking your hands forwards and feet down until you return to the floor.

They won’t pile mass onto your delts like handstand push-ups, but shoulder taps train your shoulders to stabilise your body while your base of support constantly changes. Your core gets a serious anti-rotation challenge at the same time.

• Assume a strong push-up position with your hands beneath your shoulders and your feet slightly wider than usual.
• Lift one hand from the floor and tap the opposite shoulder.
• Return it to the ground and repeat on the other side.
• Keep your hips square to the floor throughout, resisting the temptation to rotate from side to side.

Most kit-free pressing movements hammer the front of your shoulders. To build a more complete set of delts, you need to find a way to pull. A low bar, sturdy table, rings or suspension trainer allows you to shift the emphasis towards your rear delts and upper back.

• Position yourself beneath a secure horizontal bar or handles and grip slightly wider than shoulder-width.
• Keep your body rigid and pull your upper chest and face towards your hands, driving your elbows out and backwards rather than tucking them into your sides.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades and rear delts hard at the top before slowly lowering yourself back to straight arms.

The side plank turns your bottom shoulder into the supporting structure for almost your entire upper body, building isometric strength and stability while simultaneously hammering your obliques.

• Lie on your side with your supporting hand directly beneath your shoulder and your legs extended.
• Press through your palm and lift your hips from the floor until your body forms a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders.
• Reach your free arm towards the ceiling and actively push the floor away with your supporting arm.
• Hold briefly before lowering under control.

There aren’t many genuinely equipment-free ways to target the backs of your shoulders, which makes the reverse plank a useful addition. It won’t replace heavy rear-delt rows, but forcing your arms to support you behind your body provides a different stimulus to the endless pressing that dominates bodyweight shoulder training.

• Sit on the floor with your legs extended and place your palms behind you, fingers pointing forwards or slightly outwards.
• Press hard through your hands and drive your hips towards the ceiling until your body forms a straight line.
• Pull your shoulders back, squeeze your glutes and actively push through the floor.
• Hold the position without allowing your hips to sag.

This one is that daddy when it comes to building Death Star delts with nothing but your own bodyweight.

A standard handstand push-up is already about as close as bodyweight training gets to a heavy overhead press, but the floor cuts the movement short. Elevating your hands allows your head to travel below them, adding significantly more range of motion and bringing the movement closer to the deep bottom position of a full barbell press – while making your delts work considerably harder.

• Kick into a wall-supported handstand with each hand planted securely on a sturdy raised surface.
• Brace your core and slowly bend your elbows, lowering your head between your hands and below their level.
• Descend as deeply as your strength and mobility allow before pressing the ground away explosively, returning to locked-out arms overhead.