Deltoid training. Tell me your workout!

[dabuffguy]

Already all you bros here, post your deltoid training regimen.

The body part I seem to lack is delts. I wasn't blessed with big shoulders, but not bad either. Not rear delts, but the front and laterals. My back is strong.
I have started to do a full workout specifically for deltoids including:

BB shoulder press 4 sets of 8-10

db press 3 sets of 8-10

Lateral raises 6 sets of 10-12 to a paralell position (or slightly more, to get a full contraction.)

Front raises 4 sets of 8-10, bringing the db well above parallel.


Now, a theory I have is this, and may be the problem of my lacking deltoids. The lateral deltoid muscles are small, and really cant move a lot of weight by themselves, so I use lighter weights for the lateral raises getting a little higher reps and more sets to really pump them up and focus them in the movement. Using heavier weights and stressing out a last rep seems like flirting with injury in the shoulder.

 

[dabuffguy]

bump.

 

[BLAZAY]

as u said light weights, warm up with two ten pound plates, putting your hands the hole of the plate and gripping it palms up, next drop into a squat, now raise the plates sideways, not swinging, but feeling it through. do 20 reps. u will feel this real good if u do it right.

like u said tho. front raises, side raises, maybe pushups.. just stick to fundimentals..

 

[rollinsusmc]

Already all you bros here, post your deltoid training regimen.

The body part I seem to lack is delts. I wasn't blessed with big shoulders, but not bad either. Not rear delts, but the front and laterals. My back is strong.
I have started to do a full workout specifically for deltoids including:

BB shoulder press 4 sets of 8-10

db press 3 sets of 8-10

Lateral raises 6 sets of 10-12 to a paralell position (or slightly more, to get a full contraction.)

Front raises 4 sets of 8-10, bringing the db well above parallel.


Now, a theory I have is this, and may be the problem of my lacking deltoids. The lateral deltoid muscles are small, and really cant move a lot of weight by themselves, so I use lighter weights for the lateral raises getting a little higher reps and more sets to really pump them up and focus them in the movement. Using heavier weights and stressing out a last rep seems like flirting with injury in the shoulder.

have you ever heard of 'sun gods'? it is a great warm up exercise, and can be a great burn out if you hold weights. all you do is raise your arms to your sides and move them in a small, circular motion. it gets the blood flowing, and you can add elevation for the next set. do about 50 small circles.

and as far as new workouts, you can try adding front and side raise with the cable machine. Arnold presses are great with dumbells also, that is a great thing to do as a first exercise in your workout or a 2nd. you will love the 'pump'

 

[MichaelScott]

up

 

[dabuffguy]

have you ever heard of 'sun gods'? it is a great warm up exercise, and can be a great burn out if you hold weights. all you do is raise your arms to your sides and move them in a small, circular motion. it gets the blood flowing, and you can add elevation for the next set. do about 50 small circles.

and as far as new workouts, you can try adding front and side raise with the cable machine. Arnold presses are great with dumbells also, that is a great thing to do as a first exercise in your workout or a 2nd. you will love the 'pump'

Arm circles? Yeah, I have done those for years. I was a baseball pitcher and I did those daily and still do when I warn up.

Cable raises. will have to give those a try.

 

[the_alcatraz]

I switch it up every once in a while, atm here's my workout routine:

1- Behind the neck Shoulder press (or) Machine Press
2- Military press (or) Standing Push Press
3- Dumbell presses (or) single arm dumbell presses
4- dumbell Side laterals (or) cable side laterals
5- dumbell Rear laterals (or) reverse-peck-deck machine

 

[theprofessor]

clean and press until your eyes bleed

 

[dabuffguy]

clean and press until your eyes bleed

So, I did extra preses. I did BB press DB press, and added a mchine press. I honestly felt that the machine was helping me get a real good contraction. On free weights, it is pretty good. But in this machine i tried out at my gym, I really got a contraction. And being it was after my free weight presses, I used a lighter weight and went for 15 reps, instead of 8-10 on the others. I really got a good pump. Then I did 8 sets of lateral raises, and I feel like I finally got a good sloid shoulder workout this time. Other times felt pretty good, but this was better yesterday. I feel an exploding pump is really helpful in getting thos tiny muscles expand and grow.

 

[GUARDIAN]

Standing Military Press to the front for 3 sets all super setted with about half the weight with Standing Behind the Neck presses

Standing Behind the Neck presses for 3 sets all drop setted with about half the weight.

Rear laterals on pec dec for 3 sets (all drop setted twice).

Front Laterals supersetted with Side Laterals

Behind the back shrugs for 4-5 sets with the last as a strip set.

As u can see my concentration is more on the side delt to give more the capped appearance and v-taper.

 

[dabuffguy]

Standing Military Press to the front for 3 sets all super setted with about half the weight with Standing Behind the Neck presses

Standing Behind the Neck presses for 3 sets all drop setted with about half the weight.

Rear laterals on pec dec for 3 sets (all drop setted twice).

Front Laterals supersetted with Side Laterals

Behind the back shrugs for 4-5 sets with the last as a strip set.

As u can see my concentration is more on the side delt to give more the capped appearance and v-taper.

that's what i need work on is the side delts.

what is the advantage of the standing press vs the sitting press for the shoulder it self?

 

[hardrock]

One of the following excercises- db mo, smith mp, machine press. Good warm up, then one all out set to failure, and then 2 rest pause sets.

 

[GUARDIAN]

that's what i need work on is the side delts.

what is the advantage of the standing press vs the sitting press for the shoulder it self?

your back supports your lift to a larger degree when seated. this relies on more shoulder. also when u start to fail u can incorporate your legs a little to do a few push presses. be prepared for a large drop off in weight compared to what u normally lift seated.

 

[rollinsusmc]

Arm circles? Yeah, I have done those for years. I was a baseball pitcher and I did those daily and still do when I warn up.

Cable raises. will have to give those a try.

another thing. depends on if you are going for mass, tone, or strength. this works well for all, but not as much mass. do very high reps with lower weight. pick 4 of your favorite shoulder exercises, and do 4 sets of 30 reps on each exercise. the burn is great!!! and you will be in and out of the gym in less than an hour if you keep the rest times short. it is called the 360 workout.

 

[dabuffguy]

another thing. depends on if you are going for mass, tone, or strength. this works well for all, but not as much mass. do very high reps with lower weight. pick 4 of your favorite shoulder exercises, and do 4 sets of 30 reps on each exercise. the burn is great!!! and you will be in and out of the gym in less than an hour if you keep the rest times short. it is called the 360 workout.

FYI tone doesn't come from high repition lifting. It comes from low body fat and big muscles. The mass building quantity of reps will show greater tone than the "tone" repition quantity. Tone lifting is a myth.

I am going for mass, so 8-12 reps per set.

I do, however, do a last sets of side arm raises at a lower weight for 20+ reps to get that extra pump after doing the regular workout. Good suggestion .

 

[ximor]

High reps have their place. Dont think in black and white when it comes to rep ranges. Oftentimes high reps are perfect for a smaller muscle group such as delts for the ability to increase capillaries in the delt to further increase bloodflow,nutrient delivery,and even ATP. Stagnation will happen if you think only linearly.

To get the body you never had, train like never before.

 

[gjohnson5]

I do clean and press with resistance bands... But yes I do atleast 5 sets to failure. Then I do something similar to the marine with arm circles , overhead claps and 2 other "bodyweight" shoulder movements at very high reps.

My poundages on front and side laterals have went up from doing more high rep work in this fashion

clean and press until your eyes bleed

 

[fortunatesun]

On the side laterals- I think that's one exercise where you want to use controlled movement. I often see guys throwing the weights up but all the tension to your side delts it at the top of the movement. I always pause a beat or two at the stop. I have to use less weight but the muscle grows better.

 

[gjohnson5]

High rep work burns calories...

FYI tone doesn't come from high repition lifting. It comes from low body fat and big muscles. The mass building quantity of reps will show greater tone than the "tone" repition quantity. Tone lifting is a myth.

I am going for mass, so 8-12 reps per set.

I do, however, do a last sets of side arm raises at a lower weight for 20+ reps to get that extra pump after doing the regular workout. Good suggestion .

 

[SouthernLord]

One of the following excercises- db mo, smith mp, machine press. Good warm up, then one all out set to failure, and then 2 rest pause sets.

Lol This works for everything. I am about to finish my first blast and I can't believe how much more dense I look. Especially my Chest and Shoulders. Good stuff.

 

[dabuffguy]

High rep work burns calories...

Yeah, true, but the amount of calories greater burned is insignificant, if any at all.

calories=energy.

Pushing more weight (less reps) requires more energy/calories to push. I know when I do heavier weight, my heart rate goes higher than when doing high rep.


tone comes from a clean diet and cardio, or a low BF%. Maximum hypertrophic lifting allows for greatest tone, because there is the greatest amount of muscle to be seen. Very high rep won't allow for maximum hypertrophy for a lot of muscle groups.

 

[gjohnson5]

Why do people make statements like this without researching and without any data to support it?

Aerobic training burns calories, it doesnt matter if it cycling , jumping rope for doing submaximal reps clean and press. The idea would be to lift 50% 1RM in a manner which increases heart rate. If doing leg or back work , it doesn't take much to increase heart rate doing rep work

The amount of calories burned would depend on the amount of set X reps @ whatever % of 1RM, the length of time spent doing so and the muscle fibers of the individual. Type I muscle fiber uses mainly tyiglycerides as fuel so any extended length of time doing submaximal high repetition work WILL burn calories

Yeah, true, but the amount of calories greater burned is insignificant, if any at all.

calories=energy.

Pushing more weight (less reps) requires more energy/calories to push. I know when I do heavier weight, my heart rate goes higher than when doing high rep.


tone comes from a clean diet and cardio, or a low BF%. Maximum hypertrophic lifting allows for greatest tone, because there is the greatest amount of muscle to be seen. Very high rep won't allow for maximum hypertrophy for a lot of muscle groups.

 

[DannoMight]

I'm fairly blessed in the shoulder dept but I do milk pour laterals where you turn the DB at the top of the movement, and I also have been focusing more on my rear delt with seated/bent over laterals or the rear delt machine. I also rotate between DB abd BB military presses.

 

[dabuffguy]

Why do people make statements like this without researching and without any data to support it?

Aerobic training burns calories, it doesnt matter if it cycling , jumping rope for doing submaximal reps clean and press. The idea would be to lift 50% 1RM in a manner which increases heart rate. If doing leg or back work , it doesn't take much to increase heart rate doing rep work

The amount of calories burned would depend on the amount of set X reps @ whatever % of 1RM, the length of time spent doing so and the muscle fibers of the individual. Type I muscle fiber uses mainly tyiglycerides as fuel so any extended length of time doing submaximal high repetition work WILL burn calories

I never said aerobic training/ high rep training didn't burn calories. Of course it does.

You're not going to burn enough calories with high rep vs. Heavy reps to make a real difference in the overall tone and definition of the muscle. Especially if the high rep range isn't optimal hypertrophic training range. Maximum muscle size, and lowest body fat % is where you get the tone. The diet and cardio are what makes the big difference in tone, not rep range. Go ask 8and20, he'll back me up on this.

And don't assume I haven't researched it, because you disagree. The fact that you disagree with me tells me either, 1 you don't understand what I said, so you misunderstood or 2 you don;t know what you're talking about.


If your idea is that you burn a lot more calories doing high reps, therefore burning fat and increasing tone, yes you are correct in the assumption that burning more calories will increase definition. High rep range doesn't add tone directly, it is through the decrease in body fat, not that muscle "toning up" from a higher rep range. But still, high rep vs heavy rep calorie burning isn't drastically different.

 

[gjohnson5]

You have a very narrow view of exercise.
I cut the rest of the post because the beginning needs discussion

How's this. If high reps doesn't burn calories and build strength enough to be a viable option, I want you to do *edit* Mike Mahler *edit* combat conditioning exercises where he does 500 hindu squats in one set. As you decrease the pace or tempo the muscles have to do more work due to less momentum. The faster pace the less work from muscle ,but increased heart rate. Either way , you build muscle and build conditioning at the same time. This basically is cardio...

To kinda sorta agree with you. If your diet is already 1500 calories over your energy needs , then you're gonna have to burn 1500 calories in some way or simply reduce the calories by 1500. For most people their diets are not that wacked and in that case I would agree that no exercise would make a difference in terms of tone or body fat percentage.

But I disagree that exercise doesn't burn calories or can make a difference in terms of bodyfat percentage over the long term. If the persons diet is reasonable, then I belive it can

I never said aerobic training/ high rep training didn't burn calories. Of course it does.

You're not going to burn enough calories with high rep vs. Heavy reps to make a real difference in the overall tone and definition of the muscle.

 

[robertoblanco]

just recently changed it from:

over head db press 6x8
side laterals 4x8
bent over db raises 2x8

to

over head db press 6x8
over head bb press 4x8
bent over db raises 4x8

 

[dabuffguy]

You have a very narrow view of exercise.
I cut the rest of the post because the beginning needs discussion

How's this. If high reps doesn't burn calories and build strength enough to be a viable option, I want you to do *edit* Mike Mahler *edit* combat conditioning exercises where he does 500 hindu squats in one set. As you decrease the pace or tempo the muscles have to do more work due to less momentum. The faster pace the less work from muscle ,but increased heart rate. Either way , you build muscle and build conditioning at the same time. This basically is cardio...

To kinda sorta agree with you. If your diet is already 1500 calories over your energy needs , then you're gonna have to burn 1500 calories in some way or simply reduce the calories by 1500. For most people their diets are not that wacked and in that case I would agree that no exercise would make a difference in terms of tone or body fat percentage.

But I disagree that exercise doesn't burn calories or can make a difference in terms of bodyfat percentage over the long term. If the persons diet is reasonable, then I belive it can

I didn't say excercise doesn't burn calories or make a difference. See, you misunderstood me. It's the high rep vs heavy rep training that doesn't have a big difference between eachother.

If i did bench at 135lbs for 30 reps, or I did 225 lbs for 10 reps, I am not going to burn so many more calories that muscle tone/body fat would de significantly better.

High rep training by itself burns lots of calories, obviously. So does heavy weight training. The amount of calories burned using a high repetition training will not exceed that of heavy repetition by enough to make a significant difference in tone.

And I totally resent the fact that you say I have a narrow perspective on excercise. That's not true in the least. And how in the hell can you come to that conclusion by this thread?

maximum hypertrophic training (which is almost always a heavier rep training rather than a high rep training) with a good diet and cardio is how you get tone. High rep training is not how you get tone/definition.

 

[the_alcatraz]

It's very important for your shoulder workour to be intense. Supersets, trisets, giansets, dropsets, stripping method, etc...most of the sets have to be at least 8 reps if you're looking for hypertrophy. I do sets of 4 on laterals and 12-15 reps each set.

 

[gjohnson5]

Comments below

If i did bench at 135lbs for 30 reps, or I did 225 lbs for 10 reps, I am not going to burn so many more calories that muscle tone/body fat would de significantly better.

High rep training by itself burns lots of calories, obviously. So does heavy weight training. The amount of calories burned using a high repetition training will not exceed that of heavy repetition by enough to make a significant difference in tone.

Look at the part in bold. If you think 30 reps is high then you DO have a narrow view of exercise as I said. I apologize if you resent what I said , but unfortunately it seems to be true....

Anyway If you go to gym and and base burning calories on one set of bench of 10 - 30 reps , then no. This is just a horrible example. I provided a much better example in the previous post.

maximum hypertrophic training (which is almost always a heavier rep training rather than a high rep training) with a good diet and cardio is how you get tone. High rep training is not how you get tone/definition.

That the opinion of something you haven't tried or studied. It starts with a good diet. We agree there. But your idea of cardio is narrow (sorry)

 

[dabuffguy]

Comments below



Look at the part in bold. If you think 30 reps is high then you DO have a narrow view of exercise as I said. I apologize if you resent what I said , but unfortunately it seems to be true....

Anyway If you go to gym and and base burning calories on one set of bench of 10 - 30 reps , then no. This is just a horrible example. I provided a much better example in the previous post.



That the opinion of something you haven't tried or studied. It starts with a good diet. We agree there. But your idea of cardio is narrow (sorry)

Look man, I started this thread for shoulder training advice, so don't come argue with me about high rep 500+ rep gay ass hindu squats. I know high rep training can burn calories, and you can get tone from that. So does heavy weight training, breathing and blinking burn calories.

Doing 500 rep hindu judo squats isn't going to get your legs beefy like a 10-15 rep set of 350+ lb squats.

I could care less about 500 rep squats. That is not "getting your swell on" at the gym, and if you think so in anyway, that's sad. It's cardio, and I was never talking about cardio. Cardio is not weight lifting. You saying 500 rep squats is a form of weigh lifting is the same as me sayin a 10,000 rep bycycle cardio workout is the same as doing 10,000 rep one-legged leg presses for tone. And I'll be damned if I'm being narrow. I don't give a shit.


I'm not going to even discuss this any further because you clearly don't understand the point I was trying to make. In the context of lifting for maximum size and strength, getting the tone to your muscle will come from doing cardio and low body fat. High rep lifting in your "Un-narrow" view of 500+ reps is not in the least weight training, but is another form of cardio and NOT high rep weight training. And, yes, in the context of maximum strength and hypertrophy, 30 reps is HIGH. End of discussion.

 

[gjohnson5]

Your problem is that you've had heavy weight training ingrained in your head as if it's the only way. There's more then 1 way to skin a cat.
Hell I quads have been over 30 inches and I've never squatted over 450...

The name of the game is progressive overload. Look that term up. Getting the poundages up isn't the only way to achieve progressive overload. You've had conventional methods sledge hammered in your head so hard you can see anything else.

Look man, I started this thread for shoulder training advice, so don't come argue with me about high rep 500+ rep gay ass hindu squats. I know high rep training can burn calories, and you can get tone from that. So does heavy weight training, breathing and blinking burn calories.

Doing 500 rep hindu judo squats isn't going to get your legs beefy like a 10-15 rep set of 350+ lb squats.

I could care less about 500 rep squats. That is not "getting your swell on" at the gym, and if you think so in anyway, that's sad. It's cardio, and I was never talking about cardio. Cardio is not weight lifting. You saying 500 rep squats is a form of weigh lifting is the same as me sayin a 10,000 rep bycycle cardio workout is the same as doing 10,000 rep one-legged leg presses for tone. And I'll be damned if I'm being narrow. I don't give a shit.


I'm not going to even discuss this any further because you clearly don't understand the point I was trying to make. In the context of lifting for maximum size and strength, getting the tone to your muscle will come from doing cardio and low body fat. High rep lifting in your "Un-narrow" view of 500+ reps is not in the least weight training, but is another form of cardio and NOT high rep weight training. And, yes, in the context of maximum strength and hypertrophy, 30 reps is HIGH. End of discussion.

 

[dabuffguy]

Your problem is that you've had heavy weight training ingrained in your head as if it's the only way. There's more then 1 way to skin a cat.
Hell I quads have been over 30 inches and I've never squatted over 450...

The name of the game is progressive overload. Look that term up. Getting the poundages up isn't the only way to achieve progressive overload. You've had conventional methods sledge hammered in your head so hard you can see anything else.

Conventional because it works and it's what I intend to do. I got a little hot, sorry.

See the thread in this section called "CUTTING-rep range?"

 

[gjohnson5]

Intersting the timing of that thread... You got any non-plat alters?
Anyway , yep just saw and disagreed with it

 

[dabuffguy]

Intersting the timing of that thread... You got any non-plat alters?
Anyway , yep just saw and disagreed with it

I keep seeing the word alter. Does that mean "Alias" as in an additional user name? Not me. Have mods check my IP's if you want.

 

[MichaelScott]

i want to read about shoulder workouts

 

[dabuffguy]

i want to read about shoulder workouts

+1

Sorry. Mr Johnson and I went off on a tangent.

Back on topic!

 

[dabuffguy]

BUMP to y'all.

 

[machine316]

do arnold presses at high reps after your barbell press. like 4 sets of 12. and the alcatraz is right, super sets are a must for shoulders.

 

[deathdroprob]

Already all you bros here, post your deltoid training regimen.

The body part I seem to lack is delts. I wasn't blessed with big shoulders, but not bad either. Not rear delts, but the front and laterals. My back is strong.
I have started to do a full workout specifically for deltoids including:

BB shoulder press 4 sets of 8-10

db press 3 sets of 8-10

Lateral raises 6 sets of 10-12 to a paralell position (or slightly more, to get a full contraction.)

Front raises 4 sets of 8-10, bringing the db well above parallel.


Now, a theory I have is this, and may be the problem of my lacking deltoids. The lateral deltoid muscles are small, and really cant move a lot of weight by themselves, so I use lighter weights for the lateral raises getting a little higher reps and more sets to really pump them up and focus them in the movement. Using heavier weights and stressing out a last rep seems like flirting with injury in the shoulder.

Lose the front raises and put some Bent over lateral Rasies in there for the rear delts. Your fronts will be getting heaps from all the pressing.

 

[dabuffguy]

Lose the front raises and put some Bent over lateral Rasies in there for the rear delts. Your fronts will be getting heaps from all the pressing.

Yep, already dropped those. I now have incorporated reverse flies (bent over lateral raises) and barbell and dumbell upright rows. The dumb bell upright rows really get those rear delts nicely too.

 

[ceo]

Lol This works for everything. I am about to finish my first blast and I can't believe how much more dense I look. Especially my Chest and Shoulders. Good stuff.

them one armes dumbell tricep kickbacks on the swiss ball are really working then, huh buddy??

 

[ceo]

you guys would be far better off if you worried about your "weak points" after you had at least 3 to 3.5 lbs of bodyweight per inch of body height. Get more mass, then worry about your lagging bodyparts.

 

[GUARDIAN]

you guys would be far better off if you worried about your "weak points" after you had at least 3 to 3.5 lbs of bodyweight per inch of body height. Get more mass, then worry about your lagging bodyparts.

i am at 3.2

 

[sessa]

I had 0 shoulders until I started working with my trainer last Oct. Mine are still small, but they have improved ALOT!

SO this is what I do.

Start off with seated side laterals. Give them a good warm up, always keeps the palms facing the back. And do them seated because you can't swing.

Then do seated front raises, but have them raise to a A shape. Hold at top for 2 seconds then slowly come down.

You can also drop set all of those exercises.

Now your shoulders should be nice and warm. It is time to do some presses.

Seated Smith Military presses. Since you have pre-exhausted the muscles you won't have to go as heavy and stress out the joints.

Then lastly wide grip upright rows.

What I would do is try out a bunch of peoples exercises that posted on this thread and see what works best for you.

 

[SouthernLord]

them one armes dumbell tricep kickbacks on the swiss ball are really working then, huh buddy??

I am still confused on whether I should pronate at the top or bottom range of motion

Seriously I am approaching the end of my second blast and my shoulders are getting WIDE and THICK. Hammer shoulder press, DB shoulder press, and BB muscle clean and press along with fascia stretching is all I am doing for my shoulders. I am sure all the incline and flat pressing along with the Rack Deads, BB rows, and DB rows are helping to add to my shoulder gains as well. I think a lot of people over complicate training with too much iso and not enough focus on basic heavy compound exercises. By heavy I mean within a target rep range not 1RMs every session.

 

[ceo]

i am at 3.2

Yeah, I know you're ok! You and I have the same look with our shoulders. That sloping look from big traps and not much meat on the shoulders. I envy the guys with good shoulder genetics that get those big boulder shoulders...like galaxy.

 

[ceo]

I am still confused on whether I should pronate at the top or bottom range of motion

Hold your pinky out to remind you to give it that twist and be sure to squeeze at the top!! lolollolol

 

[dabuffguy]

Yeah, I know you're ok! You and I have the same look with our shoulders. That sloping look from big traps and not much meat on the shoulders. I envy the guys with good shoulder genetics that get those big boulder shoulders...like galaxy.

galaxy's delts are just sick.