Blast your Delts!

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Shoulder Training

Here is a nice little shoulder exercise that you could benefit from by incorporating into your workouts. Be warned, it is intense and may take some getting used to. That said, you will make great gains in shoulder width for all that pain.

Warm Up

As usual, the best way to start any exercise routine is to start with a basic warmup, this way you help prevent injuries to the muscles and delicate joints involved. One method of stretching out your shoulders is to grab a stationary bar and pull to the front and back. Stretch slowly to help accustom your muscles to the lifts which will follow. If you don’t like conventional stretching, then I would suggest doing one or more light sets before starting your workout; or pyramiding the weight up as you do subsequent sets. This will help you shoulders get used to the lifts, without straining them during the initial light sets. This will aid flexibility and help prevent injuries. Once you have completed your warmup sets, be sure to increase the weight to ensure a quality workout. The following exercises listed below are a few which I have selected which will help you hit all three heads of the lateral deltoid. Once you are finished, you should feel your delts blasted.

Seated Dumbbell Press

Grab two dumbbells and press them straight up overhead. Go slowly all the way down, lowering the weight in a controlled manner with proper emphasis on form throughout the entire range of motion. Try to keep your body stationary and feel your shoulders doing the work, in order to gain the most muscle and strength possible from the movement. I would suggest two or three sets of dumbbell press before going on to the next exercise.

Dumbbell Lateral Raises (Seated or Standing)

Dumbbell lateral raises emphasize the side (lateral) head of the deltoid. Keep your palms facing down throughout the exercise. Gradually turn the pinky side of your hand up as you raise the weight. Do another two to three sets of this exercise, and consider drop sets, or partial reps to really hit the shoulders beyond the point of failure.

Dumbbell Front Raises

Dumbbell front raises are a great exercise to hit your front (anterior) deltoids. Dumbbell front raises hit the same part of the deltoid as front raises such as military press, and dumbbell press, however, many say that incorporating dumbbell front raises into their workouts helps to sharpen the tie in between the front part of the shoulders and the upper chest, and as a result makes your extreme upper body look much more full and developed.

Training the Rear Deltoids

To train the rear deltoids, you can do bent over dumbbell laterals, or do the same movement on the cable machine. If you find this is hard on your lower back (lumbar region), you should consider using a rear - delt machine. Using this machine, you are in the seated position, and you thereby take stress off your lower back. Once again, only two or three sets is necessary.

Barbell Shrugs

There is always some argument over whether to include trapezius training on back day or shoulder day, and many agree either is fine. If you are going to include trapezius training as part of your shoulder routine, I would suggest some heavy barbell shrugs. Use a shoulder width grip, and raise the barbell up using only the power of your traps. Pretend you are trying to shove your traps into your ears, to ensure you go through the entire range of motion. Remember form over weight is always important, and it is even easier to use heavy weight with improper form for barbell shrugs. Do the weight you can handle, and don’t try to show off. When you find your shoulders getting wider and wider in the workouts which follow, you will thank yourself for using strict form. As always, only one or two sets is necessary.

Always train with maximum intensity and use as much weight as you can providing you can complete 6 to 12 reps with perfect form throughout the entire range of motion.

If you have any further questions or concerns involving your shoulder training, feel free to e - mail me any time, and I will try to help you as much as I can to achieve the goals you’re looking for!