Shoulder exercises

You can read many things, many wise quotes on the internet, but there is no sentence containing more eternal truth than the “you can tell everything about one’s expertise by looking at their lateral raises”. What do I mean? It’s simple, the majority of people execute this exercise poorly, veeeery poorly. The funniest thing is when you see personal trainers showing their little apprentices this exercise, and you have to collect all your social skills not to burst into a laugh. But this is only one exercise, however, there is barely anyone who’d have an impeccable shoulder workout at the gym. But not you…at least not from now on!

Don’t forget that shoulders are a relatively small muscle group, therefore it’s silly to have a separate training day for them, it doesn’t make any sense. You can get it done in 30 mins. The cliche is that they have 3 “heads”, therefore you should apply 3 exercises for them, which means 7-8 sets altogether. ….why not 9? You’ll find out.

Instructions

  • watch your posture: the point is to contract your shoulder muscles, not to act like a chicken
  • don’t be afraid of big weights
  • one exercise from the exercise groups, 3 sets: (7-8 sets altogether)
  • rep range: 8-4, or even 6-4 if your execution is good enough

Front delt

This is a huuuge head, and it’s the most developed part of everyone, not because they train it so well, but because it gets load during other exercises like a chest workout. Yeah, so no need to do 3 sets, 1-2 are completely enough, depending only on your needs and abilities.

Yeah, it’s neither a coincidence nor my negligence that there are no other exercises for this part. You may hold the dumbbell vertical, horizontal, but the best is usually between them. As long as you don’t twist your arm during the raises, it’s fine. The angle can vary.

Middle delt

As I have mentioned, this is the hardest to execute, but if you do it well, everyone will be able to spot it from a distance, and there will be only one thing they can say: “WOW!” I’m dead serious, they will say you use steroids!

The golden rule: shoulder is the highest, then elbow, then pinky, and then thumb. Which means that no ridiculous chicken wing movements. Also, it may help if you imagine the axis of the exercise as if your elbow on the top position is a little more behind than in the starting position. If your technique is not the best, just try to lean on the wall sideways, and push yourself away with your elbow…yes, that’ll be the movement you want.

The golden rule: shoulder is the highest, then elbow, then pinky, and then thumb. Which means that no ridiculous chicken wing movements. Also, it may help if you imagine the axis of the exercise as if your elbow on the top position is a little more behind than in the starting position. If your technique is not the best, just try to lean on the wall sideways, and push yourself away with your elbow…yes, that’ll be the movement you want. Nonetheless, the seated position forces your delts in a quite unnatural position, so I’d not include this version too often.

There can be good ones, but the majority of them sucks too much. Don’t overcomplicate it, and if their effectiveness is questionable, go for the dumbbell raises. If you can find one with a rolling padding, then it is usually good too, just forget about the hand part. I have no idea, why the manufacturers put those there. It’s just because the peasants would not buy them otherwise, so the manufacturer won’t go bankrupt. Very sad, but this is how the market works.

Rear delt

Since the previous two heads get load from chest exercises too, this only from back, and it can be embarrassingly underdeveloped in case of many “athletes”. But it’s not a rocket science. You’ll be surprised how big your rear delts will be, and even people on steroids will envy you. Start your shoulder workout with this head.

You can find a bench tall enough or to put some things under it, and it’s ready. Your shoulder should be in a fix position pressed down, so you can minimize the auxiliary muscle involvement. You’ll be surprised how big weights you can actually use.

This is usually a noob-proof exercise, just don’t move your shoulders back while doing the exercise. Sometimes your hand can be on your shoulder’s level, sometimes a bit above, feel free.

The most bestest, but unfortunately, just a few gyms have it.

Why is there no Arnold press included?

Arnold had a miracle genetics and you don’t. Also, Arnold lived in the era where bodybuilding was in its rudimentary phase with lack of scientific knowledge and prevalence of experience-based training philosophy.

Why aren't here any presses included?

Presses are unnecessary, and they still put a huge load on chest muscles, which means that if you train your shoulders on the same day as the chests, it’d just hinder you from channeling all your strength, and if you train them on a different day than the chest workout, it can hinder the chest’s regeneration.

Why isn't the upright row mentioned? Someone told me it's the best!

Well, maybe it’ll be not so pleasant to hear, but I’d no longer trust such a person who tells you such bullshit.

It has begun!

April 5th, 2020|0 Comments

Hey all, it took me almost a year, but my blog-website combo is finally ready to go public. It's still not completely ready though, but I hope that by publishing I'll motivate myself more.