By request, I have endeavored to write a complete and
concise article on training shoulders. While you do
not see a lot of shoulder training in my current BC
articles, that's because as I noted in them we train
shoulders a lot in weightlifting class, along with
biceps, so I don't need to. However, before then I
did train shoulders quite a bit, and I can tell you
that the time I saw my shoulders swell THE most was
during weightlifting class while I was in wrestling
and even more afterwards when I didn't have to worry
about weight and diet. In weightlifting class we only
did one exercise that made my shoulders sore, then
hang clean and the power clean and jerk. These are
not only great for the shoulders, they are taxing on
the whole body, much like squats, and can give a great
workout in just 3 sets of 8-12 reps. But, though I
had great success with them, I knew skinny guys who's
shoulders didn't get much bigger, though they worked
hard on cleans and jerks. I realized that was because
I could naturally handle a lot more weight on the
movement and put more stress on my shoulders. This is
also a reason I bench so much, strong shoulders. So,
I have pulled together my own knowledge and the
feedback of the rest of you shoulder handicapped
people, along with books and articles, to try to help
everyone with their shoulder development.
First off, what do you train shoulders with? If
their a weakness, they should be given as much
individual attention as possible, but they shouldn't
be first in the week because you need them for
everything else. Could you split the shoulders up?
Quite possibly. You might train side and rear delts
after back, since they are already warm and pumped
from rowing movements, and train front delts after
chest. This would allow you to concentrate on that
one area, without neglecting other body parts. If you
trained the entire shoulder in one day, after chest or
back, the last part of the shoulder might be neglected
because, well, it's last and you never have the focus
or drive on the last exercises(s). When I am out of
school weightlifting, that's what I'm going to try.
Still further, you could do as I used to and relegate
shoulders to Friday, after everything else, and do a
total shoulder routine. If you still have the
motivation by Friday to train a lagging body part
harder than your other body parts, you can go for it.
Otherwise I recommend splitting it up. As
bodybuilders, I realize it is hard to incorporate the
clean and jerk, so I'm not going to write on it, it's
mainly for powerlifters/olympic lifters anyway.
Ok, for a total shoulder workout, and if your front
delts don't get very sore or fatigued from doing
chest, and if you can't seem to get a lot of intensity
going on your shoulders because you can't use much
weight (which is the description most of you gave me
who needed advice) then I recommend supersets of the
deltoid heads to accumulate lots of blood and lactic
acid into the area. I also recommend staying in the
8-12 rep range, for the same reason. Here's what a
good routine looks like:
Dumbbell Front Press for 3 sets of 8-12 supersetted
with Bent lateral raises for 3 sets of 8-12. Don't
take more than a minute of rest between superset or
you defeat the purpose. And only take a minute if you
really need it. After this you have your choice
between dumbbell shrugs (I have heard are the best
trap exercise there is, but I don't have personal
experience), upright rows (work traps along with the
rest of the shoulder) or barbell shrugs. One of the
supersetted with lateral raises for 3 sets of 8-12,
failure on each set, should have your shoulders
hurtin'. Finally, finish 'em off with Arnold Presses
for 3 sets of 8-12. This is a lot of volume, and is
pretty intense, so if your gonna do it all at once in
one workout be sure it's on a day when you'll feel like
it. I prefer dumbbell presses though I experimented
with barbell press some and liked it. Dumbbell press
gives you more range of motion and brings in more
stabilizers, while also being easier on my back.
Now, if you wanna split the shoulders up, it's a lot
easier to work part of the shoulder intensely in two
sessions than the entire shoulder. I recommend, on
back day, either before or after back you do this:
Bent lateral raises: Run the rack from the heaviest
you can do for six down 4 times. So if you start at
20s you'd do something like
20sx6 drop to 15sx7 drop to 10sx10 drop to 5sx12
That's just an example. Your weights and reps may be
higher or lower. After you do these you can move on
to regular lateral raises, in the same manner, but
after you run the rack wait 3 minutes and do a
finishing set at the middle weight you did when you
ran the rack. So, I start out at 30s, and go down to
15s, I do the 25s when I feel strong or 20s otherwise
or when I just wanna do high reps and really hurt.
After this I don't recommend trying upright rows for
the traps because your shoulders will be too fatigued
and will likely give out before your traps do.
Dumbbell or barbell shrugs to finish for 3 sets of 8
to 12 is good. Then, on chest day, front dumbbell
presses for 3 sets and Arnold Presses for three sets
is all you need. The front delts shouldn't be
stressed as much since their stronger on most people,
and get worked more. Also, the side and rear delts
are harder to target and bring into proportion, so you
need more intensity-increasing techniques.
The proper execution of a dumbbell press: hold a
dumbbell to either side, palms facing forward, the
dumbbells just touching your front delt. Press them
straight over your head not from the elbow but from
the shoulder, minimize triceps involvement. At the
top pause but do not lock out, simply pause a moment
and bring them back down under control, touch your
front delts, and back up again.
The proper execution of an Arnold Press: hold a
dumbbell to either side with your palms facing you, in
a smooth motion press the weights overhead while
rotating your wrists so your palms are faced outward.
Similar to dumbbell press but activates the shoulder
in a different way, incorporating the side delts more
than the regular db press.
The proper execution of a lateral raise: take a
dumbbell in each hand, probably around half your
dumbbell press weight, and let them touch together in
front of you. Lift the weights to either side and
turn your wrists "as if pouring water out of a
pitcher" in Arnold's words so that the back of the
dumbbell is higher than the front. Stop at a point
slightly higher than your shoulders. Do not rock and
do not swing, keep the weight always under control.
The proper execution of a bent lateral raise: stand
with a dumbbell in each hand and bend forward about 45
degrees, or a little more, the further you bend over
the more rear delt involvement. Let the dumbbells
hang in front of you, palms facing each other. Lift
the weights to either side, turning your wrists as in
a lateral raise so that your thumb is a little lower
than your index finger.
The proper execution of a barbell shrug: pretty self
explanatory, grasp the barbell and, without jerking,
bring your traps into your ears, hold and squeeze, and
control it down. The dumbbell shrug is similar but
with dumbbells.
The proper execution of an upright row: grasp the
bar in a medium narrow grip, which is a little closer
in than where your hands naturally fall, let it hang
in front of you and pull it to the underside of your
chin, and controlling it down again.
In all exercises there is a measure of cheating. If
there was absolutely no cheating, you wouldn't be
pushing yourself quite to your max. A little movement
of the body is quite an allowable and usually
beneficial thing at the end of a set when your trying
to totally fry the muscle. So stay perfect as long as
possible, but when your pushing yourself sometimes you
have to cheat a little to add that extra stress.
That's shoulder training, and when I get outta
weightlifting I'll be doing something similar to this.
I'm happy to report my arms have grown almost an inch
since I started my BC journal, my chest an inch, my
legs 2 inches, my bench 15 lbs., and my squat about 45
lbs. I have also gained about 15 lbs. of bodyweight,
which is a little more than I planned on gaining. I
am going to start altering my diet a little, not quite
so much junk food. Anyway, hope you guys got a lot
outta this article! E mail with questions, later.
- Alton
beautifuldisaster420@yahoo.com
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