How to build big, round shoulders.

[SexyBack1]

Now that we covered the back training during the last article, lets talk about another important body part.

The Shoulders

During my years of working out I've heard people say "my legs are too big", "my back is too big", "my arms are too big" but I've never heard some one say "my shoulders are too big". There are two reasons for that. First, the deltoids are such stubborn muscles to grow. 2nd, there is no such thing as too big shoulders. Matter of fact I wish I had two basket-balls as shoulders .

As I mentioned in the previous article a novice shouldn't complicate his workout at all. All you need as a novice or even at the beginning of the intermediate stage is to stick to the basic movements, progress and profit!

But for an intermediate trainee or someone who is making the jump to a more serious training regimen you need to understand that the deltoids are composed of three different heads: the front(anterior), the middle(medial) and the rear(posterior). Hitting those heads while performing a combination of compound and isolation exercises is necessary to achieve full development.

-Compound Movements

Dumbbell Seated Shoulder press : My favorite Shoulder movement of all time the absence of Bar allows full ROM while Arms are inline with shoulders thus creating no moment-arm this movement will target your front(anterior) and middle(medial) heads respectively.

Behind The Neck Shoulder Press: Such an excellent movement only issue about it is some people find it uncomfortable to perform if you have shoulder/rotators cuff problems stay away from this movement but if you can perform it without any trouble u might find it VERY beneficial. This movement will target your middle(medial) head mainly and to be honest I credit most of my shoulder gains to this movement among with Seated DB Shoulder Press.

Push press: Same as a regular standing overhead press but you start with a slight leg drive. Could be used as a great movement to burst through plateaus on a regular overhead press or performing couple extra reps without having to cheat using your pecs(by bending your torso) which forms huge pressure on the lower back.

Up-Right Row: This movement targets middle(medial) head of the deltoids with minor assistance from the anterior head, biceps, and traps. Using a closer grip puts more emphasis on the traps, while wide grip will hit the lateral heads more. Just like BTN Press this movement isn't for everyone some people will find rotator cuff/shoulders issues while performing it, if you are one of them then don't do it. I only perform this exercise using a wide grip and stop when you reach the middle of your pecs, feels pretty comfortable that way. You can go up to your chins if you can/want tho. You can use DB or BB to perform this exercise, another great variation of this exercise is doing it using a rope on a low cable pulley.

Face Pull: This movement targets your rear(posterior) head of the deltoids, traps and your back's typically weak scapular muscles, which stabilize your shoulder joints. Important note to keep in mind while performing this exercise is to use moderate weight. Never go heavy, other wise you will end up doing cable rows instead of face pull.


-Isolation movements

Front Raises: This exercise is an isolation movement for your front(anterior) deltoids. If you're training your chest and shoulders as you should be, there's probably no need for the Front Raises. You should only do this movement if you feel that your front(anterior) deltoids is lagging.

Rear Deltoids: When it comes to deltoids many lifters are imbalanced front to back. We spend time developing the pecs and anterior delts nowhere near the same amount of time spent on the backside. for this particular reason I highly recommend performing a rear-delt isolation movement. Such as lying/seated rear-delt raises, reverse pec-dec or Incline bench supported rear-delt raises.

Lateral Raises: This is a great isolation movement for the middle(medial) head of the deltoids.
when performing this exercise keep in mind:
Stop when your body forms a T any higher than that and you are bringing in the traps.
Don't just jerk the weight up otherwise the pressure will transfer to the traps.
Don't lock your elbows, but maintain a slight bent during the exercise.

Shrugs: Traps are such an important muscles they aren't just what you see between your shoulders and neck these are known as the upper traps. Your traps go down to your back therefor hitting them directly is necessary for a full back development, Shrugs are the movement to for it. There are many variations of shrugs. behind the back, front and DB shrugs. when it comes to shrugs when your hands are forward you add emphasis to the back of the trap, when your hands are behind put more to top of your trap for this particular reason a shrug movement performed on an incline bench will hit your rhomboid. Grip width is another element to take into account. Using a wide grip will put more pressure on the outer traps while a closer grip will put more pressure on the inner trap(where your traps meet your neck). Most important note to keep in mind while performing a heavy shrug is Don't roll your shoulders. Use a straight-line ROM rolling your shoulder will risk causing injury specially under such a heavy weight.

The Workout
As mentioned earlier hitting the 3 heads of the deltoids is necessary to archive full development
my shoulders day usually look like this:
- Pressing movement using a BB or DB.or both.
- Face pull.
- Lateral raises/upright Rows.
- Rear Delt Raises.
- Shrugs.

The Grips
You will find a lot of thoughts on this but IMO Use the grip that feels more natural and comfortable to you. When it comes to shoulders safety comes first. If you injured your shoulders you are unlikely to perform most upper body movements, which is the last thing you want.

Last but not least
You need to understand that there is no one size fits all. Everyone's body mechanics are slightly different therefore the body response to each exercise will vary. You need to keep experimenting to find out what works best for you.

[SexyBack1]

Bump

[MrDink]

genetics.

face pulls

heavy ohp

smooches.

[dopamine72]

Thanks bro my shoulders have been lacking I really need to work on my overhead press strength. My max is only around 250 strict. And I can only rep the 100 pound dumbbells over my head for about 12.

[LaCosaNostra90]

Thanks brah. You might get more hits if you post in a section where there are no FA virgin non lifters. (exercises)

[SnackzTheGreat]

Solid thread. Repped

[SexyBack1]

Thanks bro my shoulders have been lacking I really need to work on my overhead press strength. My max is only around 250 strict. And I can only rep the 100 pound dumbbells over my head for about 12.

Pretty weak.

Thanks brah. You might get more hits if you post in a section where there are no FA virgin non lifters. (exercises)

thanks man. My last article about back workout here helped alot of people actually "according to their reports" so iam more than glad to post this here

[7thbrah]

The reason most ppl have ****ty delts is that their form sucks on lateral raises and they use traps too much(weight is obv too heavy) and they dont go all the way down on shoulder presses(again they use too heavy weight and only go to ears). To chest for BB and to top of shoulders for DB. KEYS For Delts growth

[SexyBack1]

The reason most ppl have ****ty delts is that their form sucks on lateral raises and they use traps too much(weight is obv too heavy) and they dont go all the way down on shoulder presses(again they use too heavy weight and only go to ears). To chest for BB and to top of shoulders for DB. KEYS For Delts growth

Well said brah

[Razgreeze]

Now that we covered the back training during the last [b][url="http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=151735013&"]

Behind The Neck Shoulder Press: Such an excellent movement only issue about it is some people find it uncomfortable to perform if you have shoulder/rotators cuff problems stay away from this movement but if you can perform it without any trouble u might find it VERY beneficial. This movement will target your middle(medial) head mainly and to be honest I credit most of my shoulder gains to this movement among with Seated DB Shoulder Press.


Up-Right Row: This movement targets middle(medial) head of the deltoids with minor assistance from the anterior head, biceps, and traps. Using a closer grip puts more emphasis on the traps, while a wide grips will hit the lateral heads more. Just like BTN Press this movement isn't for everyone some people will find Rotators cuff/shoulders issues while performing it, if you are one of them then don't do it. I only perform this exercise using a wide grip and stop when you reach the middle of your pecs, feels pretty comfortable that way. You can go up to your chins if you can/want tho. You can use DB or BB to perform this exercise, another great variation of this exercise is doing it using a rope on a low cable pulley.

good night sweet rotator cuff

[Mikelawton]

ive dislocated my shoulder before, but ive done the behind the neck shoulder press and i actually feel less stress than I do on regular OHP. you think i should still stick with front rather than behind neck?

[SexyBack1]

good night sweet rotator cuff

i have performed both movement for years safely but I totally agree and already mentioned it in the article they could be really tough for some people if they are, they shouldn't be done.

[Rambosmum]

Delts been lagging also... Thanks for info brah... raped

[Nonsense916]

i can confirm i do all the exercises posted in op

[NonSmoker]

looking forward to your chest edition. mine sucks teh cawk

[NUHusky14]

Wow, someone who actually uses the bb.com forum to discuss bodybuilding.


repped.

[SexyBack1]

ive dislocated my shoulder before, but ive done the behind the neck shoulder press and i actually feel less stress than I do on regular OHP. you think i should still stick with front rather than behind neck?

usually it is the other way around in term of stress, but I say go with what you feel.

[TheNateC]

Subbed.

I love shrugs and lateral raises.

My only issue with heavy shrugs, is I lose my grip before my traps give out. If I could hang on longer, I'd get more out of it. Have to decrease weight. Sigh.

[SexyBack1]

i can confirm i do all the exercises posted in op

I can confirm you have great shoulders from your avi.

[SexyBack1]

Subbed.

I love shrugs and lateral raises.

My only issue with heavy shrugs, is I lose my grip before my traps give out. If I could hang on longer, I'd get more out of it. Have to decrease weight. Sigh.

use straps.

[Seldini]

Good stuff OP, loved the back training thread.

[SELCOUTH]

Behind the neck press actually hits the anterior head more than the lateral head. EMG studies show this in the link below


http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...trap_exercises

[SexyBack1]

Good stuff OP, loved the back training thread.

Thanks man

[SexyBack1]

Behind the neck press actually hits the anterior head more than the lateral head. EMG studies show this in the link below


http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...trap_exercises

Thank you for the link man but considering I remember a mention of an EMG study which indicated that flat bench press hits the upper chest harder than incline, I would take what they say with a grain of salt.

[TheUsual]

Loved your last post (with back), as the same with this post


Relevant: My favorite shoulder workout w/ analysis

[dannyg2127]

You do a lot of super sets and drop sets for shoulders OP?

[SELCOUTH]

Thank you for the link man but considering I remember a mention of an EMG study which indicated that flat bench press hits the upper chest harder than incline, I would take what they say with a grain of salt.

That isnt what it says here: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...ceps_exercises

[silkyjohnson11]

My shoulders are lagging. I do chest and shoulders on the same day. I always either incline or flat bench first and the go to overhead press. Do you think the problem is I do them on the same day?

[dodgerblue7oh2]

Straps..

Subbed.

I love shrugs and lateral raises.

My only issue with heavy shrugs, is I lose my grip before my traps give out. If I could hang on longer, I'd get more out of it. Have to decrease weight. Sigh.

[Glutes4DaSloots]

Why hit traps on shoulder day? Traps are a pulling muscle, not a pushing muscle. (Not calling you out, legitimately curious)