Best Shoulder Exercises for Big Delts

Do you need huge, round delts that pop? This article will demonstrate to you the best shoulder activities and kind of shoulder workouts to get you there.

Concerning abdominal area preparing, the shoulders are regularly undertrained. They commonly have a tendency to fall behind arm and midsection advancement, and can stay extremely adamant, declining to change whatsoever.

I know in light of the fact that I used to have this issue. Anyway I don't any longer, and in this article, I'm going to impart to you how I at last developed a few shoulders I could be pleased with.

On the off chance that you take after my recommendation in this article, and consume legitimately, your shoulders will become in both size and quality.

Thus, we should first investigate the life systems of the shoulders so we comprehend what we're attempting to accomplish in our shoulder workouts.

Developing the Shoulder Muscles

Your shoulders are involved three noteworthy muscles known as deltoids, and here's the means by which they look:

Deltoid-Divisions1

It essential to create each of the three leaders of this muscle bunch, on the grounds that if one is slacking, it will be terribly self-evident.

Much of the time, the average and back deltoids require the most work in light of the fact that the foremost deltoids do get prepared to some degree in a decent midsection workout. The other two heads don't, then again.

We should utilize my own particular build as a sample. Initially, look at the accompanying picture taken around 4 years back:

best-shoulder-works out

I didn't look terrible, however examine my left shoulder and how little it looks contrasted with the center of my arm (the center of my bicep and triceps). Here's an alternate shot from the same time period that reveals to it much more:

shoulder-workout

As should be obvious, my arm and midsection totally overwhelmed my shoulder. Remember that I was preparing shoulders at that time–i was doing a considerable measure of sets as an issue of a conventional jock schedule (a great deal of confinement work, 10 – 12+ reps, Drop Sets, Super Sets, and so on.).

Not long after I took these pictures, I started changing the way I prepared and consumed, and after around a year of this new style of consuming and preparing, I resembled this:

best-bears workout

Truly a change, obviously (I was excited), yet we should concentrate again on that left shoulder in light of the fact that's regardless it slacking. The average head specifically needed size–it didn't project enough to adjust the extent of my triceps.

I continued working at it, notwithstanding, and here's a shot of me taken a couple of months back:

shoulder-works out

In any case I think my shoulders require some more work, however I think you'll concur they have enormously enhanced and are genuinely relative to my arms, midsection, and back.

The advancement you're seeing in the above pictures was attained with shoulder workouts focused around the preparation exhortation that I'm going to impart to you in this article.

So we should get to how to best workout your shoulders…

Shoulder Training 101

The two greatest missteps a great many people make in their shoulder workouts are:

1. Concentrating on the wrong shoulder works out.

Numerous individuals concentrate excessively on machine and confinement works out, which are not the way to building huge, round delts.

2. Concentrating on high-rep preparing.

This mix-up will stunt the development of any significant muscle assemble in the body, however its especially unfavorable in terms of shoulder advancement.

These two focuses go against what quite a few people hear and expect about shoulder preparing. Specifically the presumption that on the grounds that the deltoids are littler muscles, they react better to high-rep preparing. This is false, and I clarify why in my article on muscle hypertrophy (muscle development).

Numerous individuals likewise concentrate on the wrong shoulder exercises–usually segregation practices that don't allow enough dynamic over-burden without gambling harm. Actually, in the same way as all significant muscle gathers in the body, the truth is shoulders react best to overwhelming, compound weightlifting.

"In any case hold up a moment," you may be considering. "Addition SHREDDED FITNESS MODEL HERE does a ton of high-rep disengagement shoulder practices in his shoulder workouts, and he has stunning rock shoulders…  What gives?"

The answer is steroids. I know, that may sound negative, yet its actual.

When somebody is on enough medications, accomplishing muscle development is brain numbingly straightforward: he sits in the rec center for a couple of hours consistently doing rep after rep after rep, practice after activity, and his muscles get greater and greater. For this situation, concentrating on high-rep preparing is really a good thing.

Moreover, the shoulders (alongside the upper arms, traps, and upper midsection) are truly thick in androgen receptors, which are exceptional sorts of proteins in cells that react to specific hormones in the blood (counting anabolic hormones like testosterone). That is the reason these parts of the body–the shoulders, upper arms, traps, and upper chest–grow immediately when fellows get on steroids, and can achieve freaky levels of size.

That said, you can even now construct an incredible set of delts without medications. It simply requires some investment, and it takes the right approach to shoulder preparing. Also the right approach as an issue weightlifter is extremely straightforward:

1. Concentrate on lifting substantial weights in your shoulder workouts.

In the event that you need your shoulders to get huge and solid, you'll need to concentrate on the 4 – 6 or 5 – 7 rep range.

2. Concentrate on the shoulder practices that securely consider sufficient dynamic over-burden.

We'll speak all the more about this in a moment, yet these are activities like the Military Press, different sorts of Dumbbell presses, the Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise, and then some.

Preparing volume and recurrence is additionally essential. Like "perfect" rep ranges, ideal preparing recurrence is a hotly discussed subject. How the money adds up is it comes down to workout power and volume.

The lighter the weights and less the sets for every workout, the all the more regularly you can prepare the muscle bunch. What's more, as an issue, the heavier the weights and more noteworthy the sets for every workout, the less regularly you can prepare the muscle bunch.

I've attempted numerous diverse parts and recurrence plans, and what I've discovered works best is in accordance with a broad audit on the subject directed via scientists at Goteborg University:

At the point when preparing with the best possible power (concentrating on lifting substantial weights), ideal recurrence is by all accounts around 40 – 60 reps performed each 5 – 7 days.

This applies to the shoulders as well as to each other real muscle aggregate too. In case you're a progressed weightlifter (3+ years of fitting preparing added to your repertoire), you can most likely push this up to the 70 – 80 rep range, yet any more than that and you will be gambling overtraining.

Okay, how about we now take a gander at the best shoulder practices for muscle development.

The Best Shoulder Exercises

My rundown of most loved shoulder activities is really short and straightforward. These are the activities I've used to drastically enhance my own particular shoulders, and that will do likewise for yours.

1. Situated or Standing Military Press

Barbell pressing is the best approach to manufacture your shoulders on the grounds that despite the fact that it concentrates on the front head, it additionally includes the other two, and it permits you to push overwhelming weight without gambling harm.

I favor the Seated Military Press in light of the fact that the standing variety requires a considerable amount of offset and lower back solidness to perform, and as I squat and deadlift overwhelming consistently, I don't feel I need any more lower back preparing.

Here's the way to legitimately do the Seated Military Press:

The key point here is I'm cutting the weight down to my midsection in a controlled way. Don't stop at 90 degrees for alarm of your shoulders–so long as you hold your elbows under the bar and fight the temptation to flare them out, you'll be fine.

Here's the means by which to do the Standing Military Press accurately:

2. Situated Dumbbell Press

The dumbbell variation of the press is additionally an incredible activity for building general quality and size. Here's the way its carried out:

3. Arnold Press

The Arnold Press is a variety of the customary Dumbbell Press, and uses an expanded scope of movement to further over-burden the front deltoid. Here's the manner by which to do it:

4. Dumbbell Front Raise

The Dumbbell Front Raise is a viable activity for focusing on the foremost deltoid. In the middle of this and the presses, you needn't bother with all else for this front leader of the muscle bunch. Here's the way to do it:

5. Side Lateral Dumbbell Raise

The Side Lateral Dumbbell Raise is the best practice for building the average (center) deltoid. This head is normally immature when contrasted with the foremost on the grounds that individuals have a tendency to concentrate on midsection and shoulder pressing.

Here's the way to do it:

As your shoulders get stronger, you'll think that it harder to keep up fitting structure when attempting to lift both dumbbells all the while. A successful approach to get around this without conning is to do a hanging variation of the activity:

6. Back Dumbbell Raise

The (back) deltoid is the most diminutive and weakest of the three heads, yet at the same time needs some adoration on the off chance that you need to have a "three-dimensional" bear that doesn't fall level in the back.

The Rear Dumbbell Raise is a straightforward and viable activity for building this back head. Here's the means by which to do it:

You can likewise do a standing variety of this activity:

7. Back Lateral Barbell Row

The Rear Delt Barbell Row is an alternate incredible activity for focusing on the back deltoids. Here's the manner by which to do it:

Remember–progression is the Key to Muscle Growth

That is it on the activities.

The key, in any case, isn't simply doing the above activities. It's advancing on them. That is, expanding the measure of weight you can push about whether.

In the event that you don't get stronger, you won't get greater. Anyway on the off chance that you do chip away at building your quality on these activities, and you consume enough nourishment to develop, your shoulders will get greater and stronger.

The Ultimate Shoulder Workout

A decent shoulder workout prepares every one of the three leaders of the muscle, and concentrates on substantial weights. Much the same as whatever other muscle gathering, shoulders can advantage from higher rep work, however you need to underline the overwhelming weightlifting on the off chance that you need them to develop.

While I go over all that you have to program your leg workouts in Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger (and furnish you with a whole year of workouts that can, when joined with legitimate sustenance, help you put on 20 – 25 pounds of muscle in your first year of weightlifting), I need to abandon you with a shoulder workout that will demonstrate the viability of what I've examined in this article.

What I need you to do through the following 8 weeks is perform the accompanying shoulder workout once every 5 – 7 days:

Situated or Standing Military Press: Warm up and 3 sets of 4 – 6 reps

Dumbbell Side Lateral : 3 sets of 4 – 6 reps or 6 – 8 reps on the off chance that you can't keep up fitting structure with 4 – 6

Back Dumbbell Raise: 3 sets of 4 – 6 reps or 6 – 8 reps on the off chance that you can't keep up fitting structure with 4 – 6

Discretionary (on the off chance that you have a feeling that you have some juice left): Dumbbell Front Raise: 3 sets of 4 – 6 reps or 6 – 8 reps in the event that you can't keep up legitimate structure with 4 – 6

That is it–just 9 – 12 overwhelming sets for your whole workout. In case you're a progressed lifter, or you feel you have all the more in you toward the end of the workout, you can do the last 3 sets, however don't accomplish more than that or you will probably end up overtrained sooner or later.


Once you hit the top of your rep range for one set, you move up in weight. For instance, if push out 6 reps on your first set of the Military Press, you add 5 pounds to each side of the bar for your next set and work with that weight until you can press it for 6 reps, and so forth.

Rest 2 – 3 minutes in between each set. This will give your muscles enough time to fully recoup their strength so you can give maximum effort each set.

I guarantee you that if you combine that shoulder workout with a proper nutrition plan, you will be very happy with how your shoulders respond.

By Michael Matthews

I’m Mike Matthews and I’ve been training for nearly a decade now. I believe that every person can achieve the body of his or her dreams, and I work hard to give everyone that chance by providing workable, proven advice grounded in science, not a desire to sell phony magazines, workout products, or supplements.

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Best for Boulder Shoulders

Everyone wants delts like Phil Heath, but if you don’t have the genetics to build boulder shoulders, we now have scientific proof showing which exercises are best for getting—and keeping—them. 

Researchers wanted to record the EMG activity of the three portions of the deltoid (anterior, middle, and posterior) in eight different exercises. Subjects performed the free-weight bench press, Smith machine shoulder press, pec deck, reverse pec deck, free-weight lateral raise, cable-crossover lateral raise, incline lat

pulldown, and seated row. Here’s a breakdown of the most effective exercises.

ANTERIOR DELTOID

EMG activity of the anterior deltoid did not differ significantly between Smith machine shoulder press, free-weight bench press, or pec deck. However, the researchers found that muscle activation of the front deltoid was greater in the Smith machine shoulder press than in the free-weight lateral raise, cable-crossover lateral raise, reverse pec deck, seated row, or incline lat pulldown.

MIDDLE DELTOID

The researchers noted that the EMG activity of the middle deltoid did not differ significantly among the free-weight lateral raise, cable-crossover lateral raise, reverse pec deck, or seated row. They reported that the free-weight lateral raise resulted in greater EMG activity of the middle deltoid than the shoulder press, incline lateral pulldown, bench press, or pec deck.

POSTERIOR DELTOID

According to the researchers, the EMG activity of the posterior deltoid was greatest during the reverse pec deck, incline lat pulldown, and seated row, and did not differ significantly among these exercises. They also reported that the reverse pec deck resulted in greater activation than the cable-crossover lateral raise, free-weight lateral raise, bench press, shoulder press, or pec deck.

To sum it all up, the research concluded that it’s best to use several different exercises to build impressive shoulders. The best exercises for the anterior deltoid were: the Smith machine shoulder press, free-weight bench press, and pec deck. The best exercises for the middle deltoid were: the free-weight lateral raise, cable-crossover lateral raise, and reverse pec deck. For the posterior deltoid, the best exercises were: the reverse pec deck, incline lat pulldown, and seated row. - FLEX

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Dragon's Training Tips

QUESTION

I noticed in one of your pre-Olympia videos at FLEXonline that you stop your dumbbell side laterals halfway up. Why do you do that?

ANSWER

I do side laterals the conventional way, too, getting full reps. But the half reps are a favorite of my trainer, Neil Hill. There are only so many ways to work the medial delts, so the half reps are a method of doing something difFerent with side laterals and working just the bottom sections of reps. You can go a little heavier with these. Focus on bringing the dumbbells out as far as possible with your arms perfectly straight, stop at about the halfway point, and keep your delts tense the whole time. The key is to make sure your arms don’t relax at your sides at the beginning of reps. You want to keep constant tension on the medial delts.

QUESTION

When you first started getting press, all anyone talked about were your legs. How were you able to get your upper body in balance with your lower body?

ANSWER

I never wanted to be known for just my legs. Having a balanced physique has always been really important to me. As with anything else, you have to work at it. My legs, especially my calves, grow easily when compared with my chest or back. So there was a time when I barely trained legs at all, and I focused instead almost entirely on my upper body. Rarely training a body part over an extended period does two things. First, that area isn’t going to grow. Depending on how much you train it and with how much intensity, it may even shrink. Second, it allows you to mentally and physically focus more on the other areas. If you don’t have to go through a hard leg workout on Monday, you’re going to be able to give more to your chest workout on Tuesday.

Depending on your own strengths and weaknesses, you may want to train your strongest areas less and your weakest areas more. Maybe your legs are weak and your back is strong. So you might try hitting legs twice a week and back only once every other week. You need to be really honest about your strengths and weaknesses to keep everything in balance. Unfortunately, people tend to train their strongest areas the hardest and neglect their weaker areas, and that only makes things worse. So sometimes the best way to change this is to just not train your strengths for a while until things get back in balance. - FLEX

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Close-Grip vs. Wide-Grip Upright Row

OPENING ARGUMENTS

Upright rows have long been a staple exercise for shoulders. After all, shoulder presses and upright rows are the only multi-joint movements for the shoulders. While shoulder

presses are a pushing exercise that include mainly the three deltoid heads and the trapezius, upright rows are a pulling movement that target the same muscles.

• DEFENSE: The upright row is typically done with a close grip (about half of shoulder width) because it allows the elbows to raise higher than the shoulders for maximum range of motion (ROM).
• PROSECUTION: Going with a wider-than-shoulder-width grip on upright rows is beneficial for two main reasons, it prevents the elbows from going too high, which can promote rotator cuf injuries, and it involves more of the middle head of the deltoids, which provides the real mass with roundness and width.

EVIDENCE

Researchers from Memphis University measured muscle activity of the front, middle, and rear deltoids, as well as the upper and middle traps during upright rows performed with a close grip (half of shoulder width), a shoulder-width grip, and a two-times wider-than-shoulder-width grip. With the two-times shoulder-width grip, the muscle activity of both the middle deltoid and even the rear deltoid increased by more than 20% compared with the close grip. Also, the wider grip increased muscle activity of the upper traps.

VERDICT: Wide-grip Upright Rows

Doing the upright row with a wider-than-shoulder-width grip is the best option to target the deltoids and the traps.

SENTENCING

Add the upright row, using a twice-than shoulder-width grip into your workouts somewhere in between shoulder presses and raises. This will allow you to focus more on the middle delts and even hit the rear deltoids, as well as the traps. Also consider doing upright rows in this manner on the Smith machine, as well as with dumbbells.

FLEX

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How to Improve Weak Deltoids and Broaden Your Shoulders: : By Tom Venuto

 Q: Tom, I need some help. I am very narrow shouldered and I can't seem to get any muscle size in my deltoids as my triceps seem to take over. I have a large chest which makes me look even more out of proportion. Do you have any suggestions for exercises or workouts that would isolate and build size in my shoulders? I especially need width and my rear deltoids are non existent. Thanks

A: Your shoulder width is partly determined by genetics. The width of your shoulders will ultimately be determined by your bone structure. However, regardless of your genetics in the clavicle department, you can always develop much wider shoulders with proper training. Larry Scott was known for not being particularly genetically gifted in the width department, but he made the most of what he had and it didn't stop him from becoming the First Mr. Olympia.
The deltoids are a spectacular muscle and an extremely important one to develop, especially the side deltoid, which gives you more shoulder width. When your shoulders get wider, it creates an optical illusion of a smaller waist. By adding muscle on your side delts and also your reducing waist size, you can completely transform your body's appearance and symmetry.
To prove the point to yourself, try this little test at home: Put on a t-shirt and evenly stuff some tissue under your sleeves on both sides of your shoulders. Now look in the mirror. It is stunning how much even a half an inch of additional width on your shoulders can improve your aesthetics.
Unfortunately, for some people, the deltoids can be stubborn and they don't grow without extremely hard work. You can count me in that group - I have to really blast em' to get them to respond. Stubborn deltoids must be prioritized and they sometimes need to be "coaxed" into growing by using some advanced bodybuilding techniques.
The most basic size builder for shoulders (deltoids) is the over head press, in any one of its forms, preferably using free weights:
1) Military press (overhead barbell press)
2) Dumbbell press
The standing overhead press is the better total body strength exercise, as it demands activation of the core and involvement of the entire body. Bodybuilders usually prefer the seated version, as it stabilizes you and allows you to concentrate more on developing the deltoids by excluding some of the core involvement.
Machine presses are good for variety, but don't neglect the free weights. Work very, very hard on the barbell and dumbbell presses as your primary movements.
Presses alone can build a good foundation of muscle size and strength so that's usually where a beginner starts. In a full body or 2 day split routine, if you could pick only one exercise, it would be an overhead press. Once you're out of the beginner stage, it pays to add multiple exercises that work each aspect of the deltoid.
Physique athletes design programs by looking at the deltoid in three parts:
1. front deltoid
2. side deltoid
3. rear deltoid
Some people include the trapezius, (traps) with shoulder workouts (usually shrugs), others train traps on back day, but that's a separate discussion. Keep in mind that over-development of the traps can actually detract visually from the appearance of width in your shoulders. Don't overwork your traps unless you're especially weak in that area, or if you simply want that thick, dense look in the neck and traps (some guys like that look, most women don't).
Assuming that you're training on a split routine where you have time for multiple exercises, you would pick one exercise for each section of the deltoid. Here's an example of a traditional bodybuilding program for deltoids using all free weights to work all three heads of the deltoid muscle:
1. Seated barbell military press
2. Dumbbell side lateral raises
3. Bent over dummbbell lateral raises (rear deltoid)
3 sets of 8-12 reps each
These exercises do overlap. For example, Military presses strongly work both the front and side deltoid. In fact, you can't completely isolate any one section of the deltoid, but you can shift emphasis onto front, side or rear delt depending on your choice of exercise and exercise technique.
Overhead presses are a compound exercise, so other muscle groups, including the upper chest and triceps, are working as well. In a press however, the triceps are considered an assistance muscle or secondary mover. The deltoid is the prime mover that is receiving most of the load.
The dumbbell side lateral raises take the triceps out of the movement, so that's why laterals are considered a deltoid isolation exercise. This is the exercise that helps you develop shoulder width, specifically the much sought-after round "cap" on the side of your deltoids.

Well-developed side deltoids are an absolute must for figure or fitness competition and this "cap on the shoulders" look requires specialized physique training

A highly developed side deltoid has a roundness to it that looks like a half a coconut was slapped on each side of your shoulders. Well-developed side deltoids are an awesome sight to behold.

The side deltoid is a very desirable section of the muscle to develop, even for women. If you look closely at the top fitness and figure women today, you'll see extraordinary side deltoid "cap" development. They work very hard at that because well-developed side deltoids improve your symmetry and make your waist look smaller. Creating an optical illusion is what bodybuilding training is all about.
For rear deltoids, the most popular exercise is the bent over dumbbell lateral raise. It can be done standing or seated on the edge of a bench (which can relieve pressure from the lower back that may occur during the standing variation). The standing bent over version must be performed with strict form and proper body position to avoid back strain. An alternative is the rear delt machine, which is performed seated vertically.
Once you have this basic framework for a total multi-angular deltoid training program, there are many ways you can take it to the next level to emphasize width and specialize on rear deltoids. I could go on for pages with shoulder training techniques, but here are some of my favorites.
1. Prioritize your deltoids in a split routine.
To maximize your deltoid development in all three sections, front, side and rear, train your delts in a split routine with no other major body parts. For example, by having a shoulders and triceps day (shoulders and a small/minor body part), you can pour all your energy into training the deltoids first without having to worry about training your whole body or other major body parts.
2. Prioritize your rear deltoids by training them first.
3. Use drop sets.
Adding some intensity techniques can help stimulate muscle growth in stubborn body parts and drop sets (aka descending sets) are a particularly effective intensity technique to use with shoulder training. On the last set of each exercise - side laterals and bent laterals - do a drop set. If you're using 30 pound dumbbells on your laterals, you would simply do a regular set, then when you can't complete another rep, drop to the 25's, then repeat with the 20 pounders. Usually two weight drops does it, but some people do more than two drops or even run all the way down the rack.

Strict, straight-arm version of the lateral raise

4. Use mechanical advantage supersets (aka the "strict to loose" technique)
You can also extend a set by manipulating mechanical advantage, rep speed and technique. One way is to superset two forms of the same exercise, the strict version first, followed by the looser version second. The side lateral raise can be performed many different ways. The straight arm version is much more difficult because of the long lever arm and mechanical disadvantage. Do it slowly with a hold at the top and it becomes even stricter. lower only 3/4 of the way down and it becomes stricter still. When you reach failure on the strict version, you can continue by switching to the bent-arm side lateral raise and or by speeding up your reps.
5. Add some high rep pump work.
Getting a pump is considered by some people to be a side effect of bodybuilding training and not a goal to be sought in itself. Indeed, it's a mistake to drop all the heavy, low to medium rep work for high reps. However, that doesn't mean high reps don't have their uses. Muscle development can be enhanced by finishing an exercise or workout with a maximum pump set. This develops different muscle fibers and enhances capillarization which can eventually create a more polished look to the physique, when combined with low body fat.
6. Add some high tension work.
The deltoid muscles are unique in the way they seem to respond extremely well to high tension training methods. One such technique is the isometric hold. An isometric contraction is where a muscle contracts without shortening or lengthening, to hold your body in a fixed position. For example, if you hold the side lateral raise in the top "iron cross" position, you will find it extremely challenging, yet very rewarding, as it helps bring out additional muscle development you might not have seen if you only did conventional repetitions. Co-incidentally, have you ever noticed the exceptional side deltoid development on gymnasts?
Okay - with these techniques added in, your souped-up, turbo-charged shoulder width and rear delt specialization program might look like this:
(NOTE: This is an advanced-level program)
1. Bent over dumbbell lateral raises (rear deltoid)
2 sets 10-12 reps
1 set 10-12 rep max to failure with strict form (straight arms hold 1 second at top), then continue with as many reps as possible with loose form (faster with bent elbows)
2. Seated barbell military press
4 sets of 12, 8, 6, 4 reps (ascending weight, descending reps)
1 set of 20 reps
3. Dumbbell side lateral raises
set a: regular reps 8-12 reps to failure (12 rep maximum as heavy as you can go)
set b: straight arm laterals, 5-6 reps with 5 second isometric "iron cross" hold at top and slow negatives, followed by as many regular reps as possible, faster tempo
set c: regular reps, triple drop
Here's one final suggestion for rounding off your deltoid routine
Most beginning and intermediate trainees not only neglect the side and rear deltoids, they also overtrain their chest relative to their upper back. They do far more horizontal pushing like bench pressing than horizontal pulling like rowing.
It's important to balance out the volume of pushing and pulling to avoid muscle imbalances and injury. A nice side effect of doing more rowing is the additional stimulation you get for your rear delts. If you do horizontal pulling exercises on your back day, your rear deltoids will get worked again indirectly - especially if you choose rowing exercises with a wide grip and your elbows flared out wide and pulling high.
Also try the rope pull to the face, again with elbows flared out to the sides. Although this is an upper back exercise, it also hits the rear deltoids quite strongly.
Feel free to pick and choose from these techniques and apply them wherever you see fit. You may find some of these techniques helpful for other body parts as well.
Be sure to drop me a note in the training forums and let me know how these methods worked out for you.
-Tom venuto
Most people do presses first on their shoulder day. Generally that's an ideal approach if your goals include more strength as well as hypertrophy. However, if your rear deltoid development is lagging behind your front and side delt development (and this is very common, since most people blow off rear delts or just do a couple half-hearted sets at the end), then it pays to re-arrange the order of exercises. This is called the "priority training principle." Priority training simply means training your lagging body parts first, even if it goes against traditional training "rules."

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Marvelous Deltoids

John Brown, Shawn Ray, Dorian Yates, Chris Cormier and Ronnie Coleman are merely a handful of hall-of-fame-caliber athletes who, either personally or by example, taught me how to build my current physique.

Those guys taught me that the shoulder complex needs three types of movements:

movements by the arms to separately contract the three (anterior, medial and posterior) deltoid heads; vertical presses that require the stabilization of overhead free weights, to spread muscle-building stress over the shoulder girdle; and shrugs, to build the traps into a volcano of muscle that erupts out of the shoulder beam and forces the deltoids even wider.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I alternate seated dumbbell presses and barbell military presses in successive workouts. Both are indispensable basics for thickening the shoulders and widening the front-to-back measurement, from clavicles to scapulas.

Dumbbells allow me more freedom to involve the deltoid caps. By arcing the movement, I can put more mass onto the top of my delt caps than I can with the lifting motion of dumbbell lateral raises. I’m pressing with more upper-body muscles; whereas, for lateral raises, I’m lifting with only my deltoid heads. Presses don’t isolate as much, but they pump larger areas of my shoulder girdle.

Problematic with any pressing exercise is the temptation to relax the movement at the bottom before the upward push. To avoid this, I maintain continuous tension by lowering the dumbbells only to about earlobe level and the barbell to about chin level, slowing the pace as I go, tightening it, then “looping” smoothly into the press and exploding hard once it’s on the way.

SQUEEZE PLAY

If I started my workout with presses, I’ve already pumped my medial and anterior delt heads, so before I deplete any more energy on those, I want to give the rear heads a good thrashing. For incline rear-delt dumbbell lateral raises, I guard against letting my arms drop down to rest. I resist the negative, stopping the movement before bottom-dead center, while the stress is still on.

For the lift, I push outward and upward, so my lateral and rear delt heads do more of the lifting than my traps and lats.

The dumbbells are kept level, with even a pronation bias, if possible, to build a cramping squeeze in my rear delt heads. The more range of motion I can get for these — i.e., the higher the lift — the fuller the pump. Heavy loose reps don’t work here; rear delts have to be squeezed and compressed.

There is no “bottom” of the movement: full muscle bellies require continuous tension, so I come down to about a half inch above the end of the tension arc before powering the weight back up for the next rep. Maintaining tension is also safer; it avoids the snap transition from momentary relaxation to full power, and it keeps pressurizing the pump.

SHOTS TO THE MIDDLE HEAD

I really pound the medial heads with two different dumbbell lateral raise movements in alternating workouts: seated with straight sets and up-the-rack pyramided sets. The seated position permits a stricter movement, but because my body is stabilized, I can still apply a lot of power. Again, I keep the dumbbells level, perhaps even slightly pronated (so the back ’bells are somewhat higher), and raise them as far out to the side and as high as possible, squeezing the contraction at the top and fighting the descent. I also stop the movement before the bottom, maintaining continuous tension.

This year, Ronnie Coleman made me add his up-the-rack dumbbell laterals and they’ve substantially increased the size and hardness of my deltoids. These are performed nonstop through four rapid pyramided sets of 25 reps, 15, 12, then eight reps, after which I take a 45-second to a minute rest, and then repeat. I go through each of these four-set sequences four times for a total of 16 sets.

I’ve tried all sorts of reps, but my fullest pump comes from reaching failure in the eight- to 12-rep range. I’ve always taken great pride in training very heavy, but “heavy” is still the most weight I can power up with every last grit of strength I have, for at least eight reps. Depending upon how I feel that day, the weight might change but never the reps. Always, I get at least eight.

PYRAMID SCHEME

The trapezius is a vast inverted pyramid of muscle, but it needs to be worked from two different directions. Front barbell shrugs pull the entire trapezius complex upward and forward, thickening it all the way from its widest border near the rear delts to its lowest insertion in the center of the back. For dumbbell shrugs, the movement is straight up and down, which puts a nice peak on the top of my traps. As usual, the shrug is explosive, the negative is resisted hard and continuous tension is maintained throughout the set — I never relax at the bottom of the rep.

TRAP TACTICS

Many, if not most, bodybuilders consider the traps to be part of the back, for no more logical reason than that they appear to be part of the back; they’re integral, also, with the shoulder girdle in lifting it and helping to contract the rear delts. To me, the shoulder complex consists of the shoulder beam, the three different deltoid heads and the traps. The traps, however, cannot be pumped to maximum capacity in the same workout with the other shoulder components. Too much energy would be expended before all of the muscles could be completed; therefore, I save traps for back day, when they have full strength. FLEX

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shoulder workout that took Juan "Diesel" Morel to the next level. f

Don’t bother suggesting anything to Juan Morel to make his workout easier. As a matter of fact, don’t even think about it. The native New Yorker has no desire to simplify his gym time and will even look to make it harder on himself to push it to the limit—with each and every rep.


Take the way he performs one of the staple movements for deltoid development, making sure to include behind-the-neck presses in his repertoire but choosing to do them standing instead of seated.

“I’ve been performing them like that since I first started training,” says Morel. “I just prefer picking the weight up from the floor rather than off a rack. It feels more hardcore that way to me. “I don’t want to be bothered with anything that seems too easy.”

This one exercise being done in that fashion is a microcosm of Morel’s entire workout routine, which consists of six days on and one off. Each and every body part is worked twice per week, with shoulders hit every Tuesday and Friday. But what makes it even more interesting is that Morel will do a two-a-day split with back on those same days, doing shoulders in the morning on the former and the afternoon on the latter.
MOREL'S TRAINING SPLIT

MONDAY: CHEST(AM), BICEPS & TRICEPS (PM)

TUESDAY: SHOULDERS (AM), BACK (PM)

WEDNESDAY: QUADS (AM), HAMSTRINGS (PM)

THURSDAY: CHEST (AM), BICEPS & TRICEPS (PM)

FRIDAY: BACK (AM), SHOULDERS (PM)

SATURDAY: QUADS (AM), HAMSTRINGS (PM)

SUNDAY: OFF

 But even working two large body parts like shoulders and back on the same day does not deter Morel from continuing the trend. “Honestly, I am so used to doing it like that and know no other way,” he says. “Ninety percent of the time, I’ll get a two-hour or longer nap in between workouts and that will give me even more energy to get that second one in as strong as the first.”

When you have the type of V-taper that Morel has, it is important to utilize your shoulders to accentuate it as much as your waistline and lat spread. “The more you cap out the delts, the more exaggerated the V-taper look is,” he said. “It gives me a great shoulder-to-waist ratio.”
DIESEL'S DELT WORKOUT

DUMBBELL (OR BARBELL) SEATED PRESS: 4 SETS, 8-12 REPS

STANDING SIDE LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISE 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS superset with REAR LATERAL FLYE: 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS

STANDING SIDE LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISE 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS superset with REAR-DELT MACHINE (FLYES): 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS

STANDING BARBELL BEHIND-THE-NECK-PRESS: 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS


 The first exercise that Morel will perform for his delts are presses, but he makes sure to keep things from getting stale by switching between the barbell and dumbbell variety and by doing these seated. On the days that he uses a barbell, ‘Juan Diesel’ will go heavier on one of his press movements (coupled with the standing) and lighter on the other. An example of a heavy day would be Morel starting off with two sets with 100-pound dumbbells and then going up to 130s and 150s.

When it comes to the dumbbell versus barbell argument, Morel casts a vote for both but has a specific reason why he prefers one slightly over the other. “I honestly think that they are both equally needed to obtain great shoulder development, but if I had to choose which I feel is superior, I would go with the barbell,” he says. “I believe that you can build more mass with them.”

Now that his shoulders are warmed up and ready to go, Morel will get a good stretch by doing three sets of standing dumbbell side lateral raises, supersetting them with bent over rear-delt flyes. On these movements, Morel emphasizes strict form and going slowly by using 20-pound dumbbells and going up in only 5-pound increments.


Morel will repeat the important sidelateral movement for three more sets and then jump on the rear-delt machine for the supersets. Again, he will sacrifice a heavier weight to ensure that the form is maintained by sticking with the lighter dumbbells. When he jumps on the machine, a little more resistance is added with 175 pounds being keyed on the rack, with 190 and 210 to follow.

Saving the standing presses for last gives a fatigued Morel the opportunity to push himself to the limit by having to keep proper form while executing a movement that requires impeccable balance. This is the type of exercise—with added emphasis on how and when it is done—that separates the men from the boys.

But with that in mind, it would be foolish to pack on the plates and risk serious injury. So Morel starts of with 135 pounds and that allows him to have complete control over the speed (or lack thereof) of the repetitions. He will then add a pair of “quarters” for set number two before moving up to two plates for the last set of the routine.

Seeing him today, it is almost laughable to think of a time when Morel’s shoulders were considered one of his weaker body parts. “When I started bodybuilding, I had droopy shoulders, no caps, and they weren’t big at all,” he recalls with a sheepish half-smile. “I started training them really hard and focused on a lot of lateral movements and made excellent progress in a year.”

The shoulder movements that Morel does today are not unlike the ones that he performed when he began making those gains. “I’ve been doing the exact same exercises for as long as I can remember,” he says. “I believe that if something works, you don’t change it.” Or make it any easier on yourself. - FLEX

But even working two large body parts like shoulders and back on the same day does not deter Morel from continuing the trend. “Honestly, I am so used to doing it like that and know no other way,” he says. “Ninety percent of the time, I’ll get a two-hour or longer nap in between workouts and that will give me even more energy to get that second one in as strong as the first.”

When you have the type of V-taper that Morel has, it is important to utilize your shoulders to accentuate it as much as your waistline and lat spread. “The more you cap out the delts, the more exaggerated the V-taper look is,” he said. “It gives me a great shoulder-to-waist ratio.”

DIESEL'S DELT WORKOUT

DUMBBELL (OR BARBELL) SEATED PRESS: 4 SETS, 8-12 REPS

STANDING SIDE LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISE 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS superset with REAR LATERAL FLYE: 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS

STANDING SIDE LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISE 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS superset with REAR-DELT MACHINE (FLYES): 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS 

STANDING BARBELL BEHIND-THE-NECK-PRESS: 3 SETS, 10-12 REPS

- See more at: http://www.flexonline.com/training/shoulders/squared-away?page=2#sthash.dgidnQJh.dpuf

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