need help with shoulder workout

nike103103 · 03-02-2006, 08:32 PM

I am having trouble getting a good shoulder workout. My shoulders are my weakest part on my body. since i have been lifting i have been able to increase weight for every body part except my shoulders. They are so weak. Since they are weak I cant find a good weight to use either one will be to heavy and I cant keep good form and only get 2 or 3 reps and the next weight is to light and I get alot of reps. I was wondering whaty I should do to increase my strength so I can go up in weight and build some meat on these bones. I just did delts tonight and this is what I did

Smith machine military press 3 sets

rear delts with dumbells 4 sets

rear delt rowing machine 3 sets

front raises with dumbells 5 sets

side raises with dumbells 5 sets

shrugs about 6 or 7 sets

And it doesnt even really feel like I worked out unlike all my other body parts when I am done with those I can really move them and am sore the next day but not with delts any help would be greatly appreciated thanx

AHTTG · 03-02-2006, 08:36 PM

Real military press is key. And you don't need so much rear delt. Try something simpler, I've had success with this:

Military Press 4 sets(bar or dbs)
Side Lateral 4 sets(cable or dbs)
Rear delt Machine 3 sets

If you really want you can do Barbell AND dumbell press. Just grip wide with the barbell and twist your hands on the dumbell press.

Gabe · 03-02-2006, 08:42 PM

Clean and press my friend. clean.....and press.

dont forget to eat.

and dont worry about not feeling like you've worked your shoulders. I have never ever had sore delts after a shoulder workout. But i still got some impressive shoulders.

PhoenixBuff · 03-02-2006, 08:58 PM

Get away from the Smith Machine. Go with Dumbell Presses - this is a great mass movement. Good luck!

TN_WORKOUT · 03-02-2006, 09:13 PM

I do seated military press (to the front)
smith machine press (behind the neck)
lateral raises

What's wrong with doing sets of 3 reps? Just do 5 (or more) sets.

FarEastBeast · 03-02-2006, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nike103103

I am having trouble getting a good shoulder workout. My shoulders are my weakest part on my body. since i have been lifting i have been able to increase weight for every body part except my shoulders. They are so weak. Since they are weak I cant find a good weight to use either one will be to heavy and I cant keep good form and only get 2 or 3 reps and the next weight is to light and I get alot of reps. I was wondering whaty I should do to increase my strength so I can go up in weight and build some meat on these bones.

And it doesnt even really feel like I worked out unlike all my other body parts when I am done with those I can really move them and am sore the next day but not with delts any help would be greatly appreciated thanx

Delts are a surprisingly difficult muscle group for some people to get a feel for for. I know - I'm one of them! I went through probably every problem you've described above. For awhile I even listened to some e-trainer who said you don't need direct shoulder work - big mistake. Anyway, here's my advice: go back to your low weights and make sure your form is perfect on dumbbell lateral raises. Keep repping and you'll know your form is good when both shoulders are burning. A lot of people say burn doesn't mean anything, fine, but it does mean you're working the target muscle - you can actually feel it burning! Do enough reps and you'll probably even be sore the next day. Then you know you got it. OK, once you have that down, you can use those to pre-exhaust your delts for the pressing movements. What this does is two-fold: it will maximize shoulder work relative to triceps, and, it will allow you to use lighter loads (and thus better form) but still get a good workout.

I suggest three sets each of the following:

Dumbbell laterals
Front raises OR db rear laterals (depending on which is weaker - if both are weak, rotate from workout to workout)
Arnold presses
Military presses

If you're still having a problem handling heavy enough loads on the presses with good form, machines can help, but don't rely on them, get back to free weights and then use machines once-in-a-while for variety. Also, once you get to "feeling" your delts, you can ditch the pre-exhaust and start with heavy presses. Good luck.

nike103103 · 03-03-2006, 06:21 AM

Thanx for all the info next week I will do real military presses with free weights and not with the smith machine and let ya know how it works thanx

ShreddedShruggin · 03-03-2006, 06:47 AM

I'm going to be honest, I didn't really read your entire post. All i looked at is the routine, and it looks like too much volume. My apologies in advance if I didn't contribute **** to this thread.

-Shruggin

Mike750 · 03-03-2006, 07:07 AM

I have been doing the following:
DB side lateral raise - 3 sets 12-8 reps
Db military press seated- 4 sets 12-8 reps
db rear laterals- 3 sets 12 reps
superset w
cable side laterals 3 sets 15 reps

Then shrugs.

I would agree you had too much volume (especially rear delts which get a lot of work with back day)

I'm not sure abot anyone else here, but I get some days where the burn is so bad it will not let up between sets and I end up looking like a mental patient wlking around holding my shoulders and swinging back and forth from the pain.

Not really, but it is bad enough that I can't get comfortable and only sometimes I can lean on a preacher bench in a way that sort of relaxes them, but then I have to get back to the workout by the time I get it alleviated a bit.

There's a guy at my gym that called it "lactic acid residual", but I've never heard of that.

G-3 · 03-03-2006, 08:09 AM

Booooourns! Smith machine's should be banned...
Anyway, looks like you're overtraining your shoulders. Try doing 3-4 exercises for shoulder day.

I like to do BB press first, stretch for 1 set, then 12, 10, 8, 6, then a drop set for 5 sets back to back decreasing the weight by incriments of 20 for 10 reps each. I usually start with a weight I can comfortably get 12 reps out of. Like

160lb 10 reps, 140lbs 10 reps, 120lbs 10 reps, 100 lbs 10 reps, 80lbs 10 reps.

Some people hate drop sets, but it worked for me to breach a plateau.

After my press I go on to raises, 3 sets each of front lat, side or rear.

If all else fails check SEARCH DiamandDelts Deltology 101 or something like that.

bulkin_ up · 03-03-2006, 01:55 PM

WTF??? are you guys serious? there is nothing wrong with using the smith machine...I use it alot, especially for shoulder presses, and there isnt anything lacking about my delts, thats for sure. Sure db presses are great to, but don't stay away from the smith machine. Jesus i hate when people say that.