shoulders

[mcnasty75]

i need a excersize that hits the back of the shoulders. the front of my shoulders look awesome but the back looks alittle lacking. i already do military press. so whats the best excersize for the backs of the shoulders???

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

shoulders or traps?

deadlift for traps. I row with arms and ROM at 90 degrees from the torso for rear delts. Kinda like a reverse fly.

 

[BiggT]

I am serious when I say this. Deadlifts and rows, if you do them right and get good at them, it's all you'll need.

 

[Protobuilder]

Heavy barbell row to the lower chest or upper abs, with a semi-wide grip. Done explosively.

And get good at pullups.

 

[mcnasty75]

I do deadlifts and barbell rows already.and i go super heavy 5x5 style. anything else???

 

[Kabeetz]

I do deadlifts and barbell rows already.and i go super heavy 5x5 style. anything else???

You could probably add like 3x8 rear delt flys at the end of the week if you do like a separate arm day the day after your squat/bench/row trips.

You might also want to do BTN instead of standard pressing or inclines on the 2nd day of the 5x5, should hit the rear area a little more.

I do rear delt flys but as part of shoulder rehab.

Keep in mind you're not gonna have giant protruding rear delts at your current weight no matter what, so just keep eating and keep growing.. not too disimilar to your arm question awhile back or the other ones you've asked. These things take time man.

 

[mcnasty75]

what about lat side raises with dumbells 3x8????

 

[ZGzaZ]

what about lat side raises with dumbells 3x8????

While it may be a good suggestion to feel the exercise on that part of the body, it's not going to help him build much/any mass. Deads/Rows/Shrugs should be all you need.

 

[Cynical Simian]

Feel free to throw in some higher-rep isolation work, but make sure your deads/rows are going up. Just "going heavy" isn't going to prompt a lot of growth if you're just keeping the workload the same and not providing a progressive stimulus.

 

[AAP]

Standing high cable pulls. Use a rope attachment on the pulldown machine, but stand behind the machine as opposed to sitting. Pull the rope all the way back until your hands are besides your ears and the middle of the rope is about touching your nose.

Reverse shrugs.

 

[Nathan]

Bent-over rear DB raises.

I also like attaching a rope to the cable machine (adjust it so that it is higher than you and you are pulling an a downward angle). You then focus on using your rear delts to bring your elbows back and out. I can get a really good pump in my rear delts using this one, but you can't use too much weight and you form has to spot on. I tend to crouch a bit, put one foot forward and then lean back into it.

 

[AAP]

Bent-over rear .

Ok that is all I had to read before I knew where your mind went.

 

[Nathan]

Ok that is all I had to read before I knew where your mind went.

Shit, you do the pull things too? Right on. They do the job pretty well eh?

 

[FrankFartwater]

Right AAP....Standing face pulls are a great way. Dumbell shrug and clean is also a good exercise. I also agree that the heavy rowing will lead to some strength, but hypertrophy might mean isolating with bent over laterals....twist them opposite of the way you do when doing side laterals. Side laterals it's pinkey up, rear laterals it's pinkey down to really isolate.

 

[Protobuilder]

Right AAP....Standing face pulls are a great way. Dumbell shrug and clean is also a good exercise. I also agree that the heavy rowing will lead to some strength, but hypertrophy might mean isolating with bent over laterals....twist them opposite of the way you do when doing side laterals. Side laterals it's pinkey up, rear laterals it's pinkey down to really isolate.

Overall, how much mass do you really think rear laterals w/ pinky twist will add? He won't be able to move much past 25 lb. DBs. Compare that to pullups or decent rows . . .

 

[blut wump]

Isolation work should be done in addition to not as a replacement for the heavy compound work.

For long-term hypertrophy you want to build good overall body mass.

For short-term pump, swelling and hypertrophy that needs contant maintainance, since it'll be out of proportion to overall development, you hit isolation work.

 

[silver_shadow]

Right AAP....Standing face pulls are a great way. Dumbell shrug and clean is also a good exercise. I also agree that the heavy rowing will lead to some strength, but hypertrophy might mean isolating with bent over laterals....twist them opposite of the way you do when doing side laterals. Side laterals it's pinkey up, rear laterals it's pinkey down to really isolate.

you're kidding right?! you're telling someone that a compound exercise will get him "some strength" and an iso exercise will cause hypertrophy?! don't base the "feeling" of hypertrophy on the t3h burn from an iso exercise.

 

[Protobuilder]

I'm no bodybuilder so I'm willing to listen to someone who knows WTf they're talking about and not just blabbing about pump and "8-12 for hypertrophies!" But all the 20 lb. dumbbell flies in teh world won't build big shoulders. Build the foundation w/ progressive rowing and chins. Follow with some rear laterals or something. But w/out the former, the latter won't do much, IMHO. Could be wrong . . .

 

[BiggT]

Here's what I tell people. Stop doing lateral raises of all sorts for 6 weeks while you progressively train an overhead lift and either bench/incline/decline, all barbells. Then add in 3-4 sets of 8-15ish reps on flat/incline/or decline dumbells and deadlift and row (row CORRECTLY, not the glorified jump shrug/air hump maneuver most guys do) and eat to grow and I'll eat my words if you don't like what you see.

Lateral raises imo are a total waste of gym time.....follow up push presses with incline d-bells, and row and deadlift.....I can't even be diplomatic and say something like compund first, iso to finish, or lateral raises have a place as a supplement, they don't....if lateral raises were never invented, the gym would be a better place, lol....but then there would still be the Swiss ball.

The 'compound lifts make you bulky, iso defines' is such voo doo hirse shit.....eating like a douche bag makes you fat, and thats about all that does make one fat.

 

[Protobuilder]

All I know is, behind-the-neck works smokes the hell out of my lateral delts, down deep to the bone.

 

[gjohnson5]

I am looking into this Prilepin principal that I was informed about
One problem I'm seeing that that once you do heavy back, heavy shoulders and then heavy bench , my shoulders are dead. So I think switching to german volume training or some other high rep scheme can add mass while trying to restore CNS back to being able to lift heavy weight. I think saying lift heavy all the time is just not doable.

http://macroweb.webair.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77385
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=05-011-training

 

[Protobuilder]

Fair enough. But that has to do w/ rep ranges, not exercise selection.

 

[gjohnson5]

I understand. The idea was to build a thick back and I was just stating some alternatives (and reasons why) to the posts where people said

Heavy rows/shrugs is all you need

 

[Protobuilder]

I'm not as opposed to isolation exercises as I used to be, and I think there are various reasons why and when they're useful. As w/ most things, a balance is needed. I think people tend to get excited about "isolating" and "feeling" and "exhausting" each head of each muscle that they miss the big picture: building mass and getting stronger. Period. There's a time and place for everything I supposed, but most people looking for training answers tend to follow the rabbit hole and wind up shotgunning 6 diff't isolation exercises (none of which go heavier than 35 lbs) and wonder why they can't gain 10 solid pounds of muscle.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

I will say that lateral raises have actually done a good bit for the width of my delts. I cant OHP high poundages because of shoulder pain though, so I'm like a child walking into a movie halfway through...

 

[T-Cake]

i need a excersize that hits the back of the shoulders. the front of my shoulders look awesome but the back looks alittle lacking. i already do military press. so whats the best excersize for the backs of the shoulders???

Bent over rows (with weighted bar or dumbbells)
Seated rows

I do military press on the Smith machine because it allows me to add more weight with a "spotter". If I did them with dumbbells, I know it'd help me stabilize my core but that's what good mornings are for. If you need more weight and aren't using Smith yet... maybe give that a shot.

Also, if you think muscles aren't showing in back shoulders, you can always do some cardio on the rowing machine to burn off some fat. I found this -- combined with my heavy lifts -- leaned out my upper back nicely and I have great definition now.

 

[eric22]

What kind of weight do you use? How about reps sets and reps and finally do you more worried about trying to increase the weight or very strict form?

They havent done jack for me so I am looking for ideas. I need shoulder width

I will say that lateral raises have actually done a good bit for the width of my delts. I cant OHP high poundages because of shoulder pain though, so I'm like a child walking into a movie halfway through...