The best exercises for shoulder mass. Mass shoulder workout

Broad shoulders and a narrow waist are the dream of any athlete, because exquisite proportions are now more important than shapeless muscle mass. And it would seem that pumping up your shoulders is quite simple: do the base to failure and you will have deltas like cannonballs. After all, it's not a shin. But with the training of the deltoid muscles, this scheme fails. To pump up voluminous 3D shoulders, you need to train them in a special, technical, thoughtful and original way. But how exactly to do this and how to pump up your shoulders in width, according to scientific research, read in this article. The most interesting about training and sports nutrition on our telegram channel

Introduction

My story today is another article about the research conducted by the guru of modern bodybuilding named Bret Contreras. I have already talked about how science advises, and, and today it is time to learn about mass shoulder training, and what exercises are best suited for this.

To be honest, Contreras' previous findings were far from unambiguous, but the results of his research regarding shoulder training simply amazed me. But if you haven't heard of his experiments yet, let me remind you.

In 2010, Bret Contreras, a well-known American fitness trainer, scientist, writer and experimenter, conducted research on the most effective exercises for each muscle group. As equipment, he used a medical device, an electromyograph, which determines the electrical muscle activity of contraction of muscle fibers.

That is, Contreras took and found out which exercises make our muscles work to the maximum and are, accordingly, the most effective for muscle growth. The results of his research were simply shocking. Many exercises that were considered unequivocally the best, Contreras smashed to smithereens, others, extolled to the skies. According to his results, the best exercises now are:

• For chest -
• For biceps - pulling up on the horizontal bar with a narrow reverse grip
• For triceps - extension of the arms on the upper block with a rope handle

But let's get back to shoulder mass training. Back in the days of the "golden" era of bodybuilding, athletes knew that the deltoid muscle consists of not three, but seven separate muscle bundles. They perform flexion and extension, adduction, horizontal dilution and adduction, internal and external rotation.

This means that the basic shoulder exercises that we are trumpeted at are clearly not enough to develop all the individual segments of the deltoid muscle. The meager set of exercises that ordinary gym goers perform is the main reason they don’t have the desired 3D shoulders, which are inherent only to bodybuilding stars.

Output: to give the shoulders the shape of a ball, you need to swing not three deltoid beams, but all seven, so the range of exercises for the shoulders should be wide and varied.

This was an introduction, and now I propose to move on to the main part of the story and learn how to build shoulders wide , and what exercises the rebel Contreras considers to be the best for this. So…

The best exercises for the front delt

The anterior delta is rarely a lagging muscle group; the posterior and usually lag behind. The difficulty in developing these beams is in the inability to isolate each of them and make them work solo. But there are no such problems with the front delta, because it takes an active part in all chest exercises. Heavy presses put a lot of stress on the front bundle, and it grows effortlessly. But if, nevertheless, the front delta lags behind in development, science calls the three best exercises for this muscle segment.

Bench press from behind the head

Let me tell you right now, this is not a typo. At first, I myself did not believe that this basic exercise for the middle delta turned out to be the best for its front bundle. But Bret Contreras claims that there is no other shoulder exercise that works the front delt as actively as during the press from behind the head. And imagine my disappointment when I realized that by trying for years to even out the skew in the backlog of the middle beam from the front one, I thereby only aggravated it.

The thing is that even sitting on a bench with a horizontal back, during the bench press, we will definitely lean back, thereby removing the load from the middle, weaker delta and shifting it to the front, stronger one. And given that most standard bench benches (for some reason I don’t understand) have a slight slope back, pumping up the shoulders in width with such an exercise becomes very problematic.

It turns out an unpleasant picture: the bench press from behind the head is a complex and traumatic movement that “kills” elbows and. And instead of pumping up the shoulders in width, it gives them thickness, forcing them to visually “move out” forward. Question: so in FIG it is generally needed?

I remember reading an interview with one of our professional bodybuilders who came to the USA and worked out for a year under the guidance of Charles Glass. His surprise knew no bounds when it turned out that the coolest trainer in bodybuilding openly dislikes the classic bench press because of the head with a barbell and recommends doing it in a bench press machine, sitting with his back to the gym. The bench of such simulators is located at an angle, the bench press trajectory is forward, but at an angle. At the same time, the load from the front delta is removed, and on the middle and back, on the contrary, it increases.

The same Aleksey Shabunya, the famous Belarusian bodybuilder, openly admits that he rarely does the bench press from behind his head, because he feels severe discomfort from it. He, spitting on all the canons of shoulder training for mass, prefers breeding with dumbbells, as the best exercise for the middle delta. And most importantly, the question of how to pump up the shoulders in width does not torment him at all, Alexey is the owner of really voluminous and powerful 3D shoulders.

Bent Over Chest Press

This anterior delt exercise came as no surprise to me. Even without knowing about the results of research by Bret Contreras, I realized a long time ago that this exercise is not for the upper chest, but for the front delta.

Incline Bench Press is not an exercise for the chest, but for the front delta

The load on the chest during the bench press at an angle, according to the indicators of the electromyograph, increases by only 5%, but on the front delta by all 40%.

Output: in order to pump up the upper chest, this exercise is not suitable, but for the front delta - that's it.

Army press

This classic pushing movement for the development of the shoulder girdle takes the third line of our hit parade, proving once again how the stereotypes of traditional bodybuilding are far from real life. The military press is a really cool exercise for the front delta, but in terms of its effectiveness it is much inferior to the previous movements.

But oddly enough, I do a military press quite often, but not for the shoulders, but for the chest. Rather, for a very small, but extremely important muscle segment called the subclavian muscle. It is she who is the most difficult section of the upper chest to build, without which the upper section of the pectoral muscles looks unfinished.

I do the military press at the very end of my chest workout, because the front delts are already tired and will no longer be able to get involved in the work. Thus, most of the load will fall on the small, impregnable, but extremely important subclavian muscle. Unlike the traditional military press technique, I perform this exercise by pressing my elbows as close to the body as possible and straining the pectoral muscles at the same time.

Output: the classic bench press from behind the head turns out to be the best exercise not for the middle, but for the front delta. And excessive enthusiasm for this exercise contributes not to expansion, but, on the contrary, to narrowing of the shoulders.

The best exercises for the middle delt

The middle bundle of the deltoid muscle is responsible for the visual width of the shoulder girdle and the creation of the very V-shaped silhouette that is currently so valued. Therefore, the bulk of shoulder training is always spent on pumping the middle delta. However, the results of the Conteras study show that the exercises that we considered the most effective for the middle beam are not. The best, many times overtaking movement for shoulder width growth, is an extremely rare exercise in our gyms:

Horizontal pull of the upper block with a rope handle

And here I was shocked for the second time, because I saw how professional bodybuilders do this exercise, but I thought that it was aimed at developing the muscles of the upper back, namely the trapezium. But science says the opposite: performing horizontal traction of the upper side, but with the obligatory spreading of the arms to the sides, is many times more effective than all other exercises for the middle delta.

Rope Handle Horizontal Row - Best Medium Delt Exercise

The second important aspect of the high return of the rope handle horizontal pull is that the trajectory of this exercise does not have "dead" zones. The middle delta is actively involved in the work and does not relax for a moment. I regularly do this mid-delt exercise during my shoulder mass workout, and I can say that it really engages previously unaffected segments of the deltoid muscle, making the shoulders like cannonballs, round and large.

I just want to add that I (perhaps because of my high growth) feel the work of the deltas better when I stand not directly to the simulator, but leaning back a little. Thus, the trajectory of this exercise on the middle delta from horizontal turns into an inclined one, turning off the muscles of the body from work.

Leading the arm to the side on the lower block

But I knew about the effectiveness of this exercise for the middle delta for a long time, intuitively feeling its high performance. I, as expected, at every workout of the shoulders to the mass, do the usual dilutions with dumbbells to the sides, but only in order to tire them and the trapezoid, which is necessarily impudently included in the work. And when the shoulder muscles are thoroughly tired, I turn to the main dish of my deltoid feast. I begin to carry out the abduction of the arm to the side on the lower block.

I can say with all honesty that in no other exercise for the middle delta I do not feel such a high involvement of this segment in the work. And it is very difficult for an ordinary visitor to the gym to find the answer to the question of how to pump up the shoulders in width, without doing this isolating exercise for the middle delta.

The secret of the high return of this movement lies in the extended trajectory of movement. Outwardly, moving the arm to the side on the lower block resembles the same movement with a dumbbell. But due to the low location of the simulator block, already in the initial phase of the movement, the middle delta is in an unusually stretched position, which is maintained constantly during the movement.

This is a really cool exercise, I also like its variability, since it can be performed in two versions:

1. The cable of the lower block is located in front of the body. In this case, the front (if I may say so) part of the middle delta is included in the work.
2. The cable of the lower block is located behind the body. Then the posterior part of the middle delta and the posterior deltoid bundle itself are more actively involved in the work.

Leading the arm to the side on the lower block is also interesting in that by changing the position of the body (standing straight or tilted), you can constantly load your shoulders in different ways, including all new, previously relaxed muscle bundles. Of course, my deltas are not yet far from ideal, but after I began to perform this exercise, their shape has improved significantly.

Bent Over Dumbbell Breeding

After reading about this exercise as one of the best for the middle delta, I sinfully thought that Bret Contreras must have mixed something up by drinking too much tequila from a scientific fatigue. For breeding with dumbbells in an incline is the best exercise for the back delta, but not the middle one.

I think our fitness guru himself was a little taken aback when he received such results, but the fact remains: breeding with dumbbells in an incline, in addition to the back ones, I also load the middle bundles of the deltoid muscles quite heavily. But under certain conditions:

• The hands should be arranged in one line, and not be parallel, as we are used to. A prerequisite is that the little finger should look up.
• The breeding itself takes place not only to the sides, but also a little forward.

At the next shoulder training for mass, I included such dilutions with dumbbells in an inclination in my set of exercises and honestly tried to catch the moment when it was the middle beam that would be included in the work. I felt unusually strong and sharp in the rear delta, and I think that such breeding with dumbbells in an incline is a really cool way to pump them. But I cannot say that this movement is aimed at increasing the muscle mass of the middle deltas. Sorry Contreras, but here my average deltas do not agree with you.

The best rear delt exercises

The posterior deltoids are an extremely small, but extremely important muscle segment that allows you to make the shoulders like balls, round and proportionally developed. But the whole problem with training the rear delt is that it is extremely difficult to work it out in isolation, excluding other parts of the deltoid muscle from work.

And the results of scientific research actively confirm this, since the best exercises for the back delta are still the same:

1. horizontal pull of the upper block
2. breeding dumbbells in an incline in the variation described above

In other words, these two movements build muscle mass equally well, both in the middle and in the rear delt. And although there are many other exercises for the development of the posterior beam (the same reverse dilutions in the chest simulator), but according to the indicators of the electromyograph, they are all significantly inferior to these movements in terms of the number of muscle fibers involved in the work.

This strange situation is slightly diluted with another exercise on the rear delta, which Bret Contreras called the third in its effectiveness. This is a horizontal pull-up on a barbell bar or in a Smith machine. But only you need to pull yourself up not to the belt, but to the head. In this case, the load on the rear deltas becomes maximum.

Horizontal pull-ups - a rare rear delt exercise

In my opinion, this is a technically difficult movement, it is quite possible to replace it with a rear delta exercise similar to it in biomechanics. Namely, the thrust of the bar in the slope. But you just need to stand strictly parallel to the ground and pull the bar to the shoulder girdle. I occasionally do this rear delt exercise, but I do it exclusively on my favorite Smith machine.

To summarize all of the above about the most effective exercises for the back delta, it turns out that it will not work to isolate it 100%. In any case, the middle bundle of deltoid muscles will also be included in the work.

Output: you need to start training your shoulders with these two exercises, trying to load the back beam to the maximum. Only purposeful specialization in the development of this segment will make it possible to make 3D-shaped shoulders.

Conclusion

If I had shoulders like cannonballs, I would read about such unconventional research results and just laugh and continue training my shoulders for mass the old fashioned way. But I still have to work and work on my deltas. Therefore, I am constantly looking for new methods of their training.

Although the effectiveness of some of the exercises described by Bret Contreras raises questions for me, nevertheless, the lion's share of the information voiced by him has become extremely useful for me. In any case, the two most effective shoulder exercises, the horizontal pull of the upper block and the dumbbell raise in an incline, have firmly established themselves in my training arsenal. I recommend to try!

And in conclusion, I propose to look at the non-traditional shoulder workout of the charming Dana Linn Bailey, Internet star and part-time Miss Olympia 2013 in the Women’s Physique category .

I want to hope that my story will be useful for you and help you make a breakthrough in the training of the deltoid muscles, increasing them in volume and significantly improving their shape. May the crowd be with you. And strength!

(3 ratings, average: 5,00 out of 5)

Today we will talk about how to make shoulders wide. From this article you will learn how a shoulder workout should be built.

Some talk about the effectiveness of bench presses, others rely on swings. What is the most effective shoulder training? How to train shoulders?

Mass shoulder workout

It is by training with basic exercises that you will develop the strength and mass of your deltoids. They will get stronger and in swings you will be able to take big weights. Any presses - whether standing or sitting - are priority exercises than swings.

The first and most important exercise in shoulder training for you should be the bench press (I recommend studying the technique in detail). Highlights when doing the bench press:

• The position of the body is straight, in the lower back there is a slight deflection, look forward.
• The width of the legs, as before the jump, shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent.
• Grip - shoulder width or slightly wider
• At the bottom, the forearms are parallel to each other.

One of the important rules for compiling a training split (more details) is to perform more complex, strength exercises at the beginning of a workout. Start your shoulder workout with bench presses. It doesn’t matter if it’s a barbell or dumbbell bench press, standing or sitting - the nature of the load is important. It should be strong, basic. Why is it important to follow this rule?

• Basic exercises work effectively to implement the principle of load progression. Those. they allow you to work safely with heavy weights and increase the weight of weights to create more and more training stress.
• By doing the basic movements at the beginning of your shoulder workout, your muscles are still fresh and able to work well.
• The shoulder joint has a unique design. He is very mobile, but pays for it with his fragility. With the wrong approach, he is very easily injured. The need for a warm-up leading up to basic exercises warms up the joint and lubricates it with joint fluid, which protects it from injury.

Another basic, pressing movement is the barbell press from behind the head. The exercise well isolates the work of the middle and anterior bundle of the deltoid, but all the work takes place in a limited amplitude. In its lower part, the front beam works, in the upper (20-30 cm of amplitude) - the middle beam. Thus, you will have to work in partial repetitions if your goal is a medium beam, which, by the way, forms the width and sphericality of the shoulder.

This exercise is traumatic, due to its unnatural movement. At the lowest point, the shoulder joint has to twist back in order to bring the barbell behind the head. Therefore, in the bench press from behind the head, you should always work in a limited amplitude and strictly adhere to the correct execution technique (learn the technique of pressing from behind the head).

If you have contraindications to bench press standing from the chest or because of the head, then your option is either standing. This exercise has a number of advantages over the bench press.

Firstly, this is the absence of a neck, which, because of the head, cannot be straight down to the shoulders. The joints in the dumbbell press are in a comfortable state and can choose any convenient position for the exercise.

Secondly, the amplitude of movement of dumbbells is greater than in barbell presses. And the greater the range of motion, the more work the muscles do.

However, due to the lack of a neck, the hands have to exert more effort to hold the heavy dumbbells. A large number of stabilizer muscles are included in the work. The load on the deltas is a little scattered between the whole muscle group of synergists. This is neither good nor bad.

This exercise develops the functionality of the upper body, and muscle groups that are not involved in barbell presses. By including both barbell and dumbbell presses in your advanced shoulder training, you develop the shoulder girdle in a complex way.

Do not forget that the progression of loads in dumbbell presses should also be observed. You should have a range of dumbbells with a small step of weights at your disposal for effective training. There will be no sense in doing only one weight of dumbbells!

The second most important exercise for the deltoid in your training plan is the pull of the bar to the chin. In terms of biomechanics, it is similar to mahi, i.e. pulls the projectile towards the body. However, it is more basic (two joints work) and safer. Which is very important.

The pull to the chin remarkably works out the middle and posterior bundle of the deltoid, being by and large the main exercise for increasing their mass and the entire posterior hemisphere of the shoulder. Check out .

Main points of implementation.

• The grip is wider than the shoulders.
• The body is slightly tilted forward.
• The movement occurs with the elbows - forward and up.
• At the top, the elbows should not be higher than shoulder level.
• The shoulders are lowered throughout the range of motion so as not to include the trapezoid.

By progressing in the row to the chin, you will be able to use more working weights in the presses and swings. The strength of your muscles will increase, and with it their volume. It is also important that the work is done by the back of the shoulder, which is sorely lacking in load in other exercises, as a result of which, for many, the rear and middle deltoid bundles lag behind.

If your goal is a beautiful body (you are a pure bodybuilder) - traction to the chin is your native exercise, of course not forgetting the presses. If you're more of a lifter, focus on heavy bench presses.

Your shoulder-to-mass workout should consist of one or two presses and chin rows. In the first year of training, forget about swings. This is a technically difficult movement and very traumatic. This is due to the inability to feel the contractions of the target muscles, incorrect execution technique and a warm heart, requiring you to pull huge dumbbells, which in the swings will not lead to anything good.

Inclusion in the training of the shoulders swings with dumbbells

Mahi is an isolated exercise. With the help of them, you accentuate the muscles of the shoulders. They are ideal after performing heavy basic movements, because. allow you to accurately finish off the desired muscle bundles.

What is special about dumbbell swings?

• Any swings are performed with a small weight, which allows you to strictly adhere to the execution technique.
• The wrong execution technique makes training your deltas completely useless and dangerous.

Our shoulder muscles are made up of three heads. The front is designed to raise your hands in front of you. The middle one takes her hands to the sides. The back takes the hands back. Each head can be accentuated with dumbbell swings while standing or tilted.

In all swings IMPORTANT lower your shoulders down in order to turn off the trapezius muscle from work. How to properly perform dumbbell swings while standing on the middle delta, read.

It is worth saying that it does not make much sense to train the anterior head of the deltoid muscles separately with swings, unless it is completely behind. The front head is excellently loaded in, standing barbell presses, seated or standing dumbbell presses, in general, in a huge number of exercises.

If you still want to work out the front beam with the help of swings, use the same rules as in the swings for the middle delta.

• The movement goes with the twist of the little finger up.
• At the top, the elbows should not be higher than the shoulders.
• Shoulders are always down.
• Mahi in front of you is more convenient to perform alternately with one hand, then with the other.

To work on the back delta, do dumbbell swings in an incline. The principles are the same as in the standing swings on the middle beam, only the body has an inclination forward at an angle of about 45 °. The whole movement is based on the abduction of the elbows to the sides and up.

In the swings, it is very important to calm your ego and not chase the scales. Once you take on inadequate weight, all shoulder training goes down the drain. The chest, legs, back work - everything except the deltoid. These are very small muscles that are difficult to isolate. They require precise coordination of movements, perfected technique and the use of adequate weight.

Another type of swing in front of you on the front bunch of deltoids are swings when you hold one heavy dumbbell (either a short barbell or an EZ bar) with both hands. This option outlines the front beam remarkably and makes it easier and more convenient for you to follow the basic rules when training your shoulders.

Place your feet as if you are preparing to jump. Tilt your body slightly forward, drop your shoulders. Performing swings in front of you, try at the top point, as if pulling the dumbbell forward, giving it to someone. This will force the front beam to work to its fullest.

At the bottom point, reduce the amplitude, do not lower the projectile so low that the front delta turns off and rests. Do not pause at the bottom point, but linger at the top for a second. The front delta will simply burn, and you will feel it in such a way that you will remember for a few more days, feeling pleasant.

Any swings work great on tired muscles, at the end of a shoulder workout. The weight that you use in the swings is small, which means that it is not the shoulder joint that receives the load, but the muscles. The task of the swings is not a power work for destruction, but to finish off the deltoid by pumping as much blood as possible into them. And working also in a highly repetitive nature, you will be able to include in the work those muscle fibers that have not been finalized in the basic movements.

There is one very important thing to understand. For the harmonious development of the front and back of the hemisphere of the shoulder, you need to perform both bench presses and traction. At a more advanced level, with developed shoulder arrays, add swings.

Shoulder workout program

The main task in constructing the program is the harmonious development of all three beams. Those. The shoulder training program includes bench presses, deadlifts, and, at an advanced level, swings.

1. General warm-up(how to do it right)

about 10 minutes

1. Standing Barbell Press or Standing/Seated Dumbbell Press

2-3 sizes 10-15 repetitions

3-4 workers 6-12 reps

1-2 sizes 10-15 repetitions

3-4 workers 8-12 reps

These two exercises are already enough for the harmonious development of your deltas. If you do not have the time or opportunity to train deltas deeper, then this is the necessary and sufficient minimum that gives wonderful results.

1. Standing dumbbell swings or tilted dumbbell swings (on the middle or back delta)

1 size 12-15 repetitions

3 working 12-20 reps + 1 set to failure

Get in shape every day and build muscle with the right pre-workout meal that will increase the amount of macronutrient in the body, and an effective shoulder workout in the men's gym that promotes the growth of the rear, middle and front deltoid muscles.

This time we will slightly change the concept of the approach to training shoulders for mass. First, we will prepare the right nutrition for pre-workout intake, and then we will start doing a set of delta exercises.

It is important what you eat before your workout. Eating before class should fill you with energy, and not counteract it, no matter what exactly you are going to download. You need enough carbs and protein to keep your muscles healthy while you exercise.

What you need from a pre-workout meal is the energy derived from it, which should keep you going for a long period of time, especially while lifting heavy weights. We do not need fast carbohydrates - we need something that will help during the workout.

Good Food for Great Muscle Growth

Proper nutrition is the basis for building massive muscles, not only in the shoulders, but in any muscle group, while using simple, everyday foods to be able to motivate yourself and achieve your goals.

Eating for good looks isn't just about following a daily routine, it's about getting out of your comfort zone. To create something new. And it's great!

Today we will cook a grilled salmon burger (the original recipe uses expensive fish, but you can take any cheaper one that is suitable for minced meat on a cutlet). So, before we go to the hall, we go to the kitchen. Keep in mind that my weight is approximately 100 kg, so what I eat may not have the desired effect on you if you weigh 80 or 70 kg. You can slightly change the recipe by reducing the amount of ingredients.

You can choose any other to your taste.

• 471 - calorie
• 43 grams of carbohydrates
• 35 grams of protein
• 18 grams of fat
• Cooking time - 25 minutes
• Servings Per Container - 3 servings

Ingredients

• 450 grams of wild salmon
• Half a cup of breadcrumbs
• 30 grams of low-calorie Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 wholemeal burger buns

Time frame

• Preparation: 15 minutes
• Preparation: 10 minutes
• Total time: 25 minutes

1. Heat a grill or skillet over medium heat on the stovetop.
2. Place the salmon (or other fish fillets) in a food processor and process until minced. Don't grind the salmon too long or it will turn into a paste.
3. Transfer the salmon to a large bowl and stir in the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan and olive oil. Mix to obtain a homogeneous mass.
4. Divide the mixture into three equal portions and shape into patties. Salt, pepper and put on the grill. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, making sure the salmon is golden brown before flipping it over.
5. To form the burgers, cut the bun in half and top with the Dijon mustard, arugula, cooked salmon patty, onions and tomatoes on the bottom half. Top with additional arugula and mustard before topping with the other half of the bun.

Daily cooking for daily success

This salmon burger recipe makes three servings. You can take one to your pre-workout lunch and eat the other two during the day or tomorrow morning.

One of the most difficult tasks you will face during the long-term achievement of the goal is the daily monotonous preparation of food. Don't let this lead you astray. Learn by improving yourself in choosing the best. Routine will not be able to break you!

Find out more about that in a short time.

Any time you can cook a meal in a complex way to save time later, even if it's just one dish, do it! Having a choice of meals when you need to stock up on urgent energy for the upcoming workout is just what you need every day. The right food gives you the right energy and keeps your body fit and strong.

Now that you've made your burger, it's time for action. It has all the necessary proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Eat it, let it sit for a while, and head to the shoulder gym.

We recommend eating an hour before going to the gym, but only you know how your body works, so if you need more time, you're right. Just be sure that you have enough energy received an hour or two before training.

Shoulder training program in the gym

You are ready, you are strong. Now it's time to start massaging your shoulders. We'll start with Iron Arnie's dumbbell press, then lateral dumbbell swings, partial lateral dumbbell swings, dumbbell front swings, and finish with dumbbell side raises from a seated position and pulldowns. It's time to put the energy in the right direction!

Arnold dumbbell press
Mahi dumbbells to the sides 3 sets of 15 reps
Mahi dumbbells to the sides Execute as partial previous exercise. 3 sets of 8 reps.
Mahi dumbbells in front of you You can use pancakes instead of dumbbells. 4 sets of 15, 15, 12, 12 reps.
Lifting dumbbells in an inclination to the sides 4 sets of 12, 12, 10, 10 reps.
Shoulder block pull 3 sets of 15 reps.

The goal of this workout is to use high rep training to build large shoulder muscles.

The Arnold press can be done either sitting or standing, as you wish. The standing position is great for working out the core muscles. This exercise develops both the middle and anterior bundles of the deltoid muscles at the same time. It is because of this that Arnold has such gorgeous shoulders, so you know that it works.

As for dumbbell swings. The technique for everyone is very straight forward: keep your back straight, your core tense and you don’t have to perform movements with jerks and cheating to make them easier to perform. I prefer to perform in a partial amplitude, because it adds an element of tension, from which the muscles begin to work.

When your shoulders are fully prepared, it's time to move on to the back of the deltoids. The workout ends with you lifting the dumbbells to the sides from a sitting position and pulling the block to the rear delts. When doing each exercise, think about spreading your arms wider and not squeezing your shoulder blades too much.

Now you have a great lunch, a great deltoid mass training program - another successful day.

Rob Smith is a Bodybuilding.com vlogger, professional fitness expert, and food enthusiast.

Making big shoulders is a goal for bodybuilding beginners as desirable as it is. The voluminous muscles of the shoulders make the back wider and give the upper body a V-shape. Do not forget that heavy basic exercises on the back effectively pump the arms (biceps, triceps and shoulders). It is the “base” that will provide you with a large mass.

When doing isolated shoulder exercises, you will use much lighter weights and increase them more slowly than with basic exercises. But isolation alone is not very effective if the goal is muscle growth.

How often do shoulder exercises?

If you go to the gym, then you do not need to allocate a separate workout for the shoulders. 2 exercises are enough - one basic with a barbell and the second isolating with dumbbells. It may be necessary to allocate a separate workout for the shoulders if you have been bodybuilding for a long time, noticed that your shoulders are “lag behind” and want to pay more attention to them.

The deltoid muscle of the shoulder consists of three bundles:

• front beam - responsible for raising the arm in front of you
• lateral beam - takes the hand to the side
• back beam - takes the hand back

To work out the deltas, basic (involving many different muscles) and isolating (the maximum load falls on the muscle being worked out) exercises are used. Shoulder press exercises are considered the best and most effective.

The most effective shoulder exercises

Basic shoulder exercises

Barbell press up from behind the head and Barbell press up from the chest

video - bench press up from the chest

The bench press is one of the best exercises for building mass in the deltoid muscles of the shoulders.

Bench press up from behind the head

The main work is performed by the lateral and anterior bundles of the deltas.

Technique:

• sit on a bench, put the barbell on your shoulders;
• chest forward, shoulder blades together;
• the grip is slightly wider than the shoulders - at the lower point of the forearm are perpendicular to the floor;
• squeeze the barbell over your head until your arms are straightened, while your head leans slightly forward;
• slowly lower the bar to the base of your neck and repeat.

If you want to reduce the load on the spine, do the exercise while sitting on a bench with a back.

Barbell press up from the chest

The bench press from the chest shifts the load on the front beams of the deltas.

Technique:

• while lowering the bar to the chest, bring your elbows forward a little;
• press the bar up in the same way as with the press from behind the head - do not lean back or forward, the arms with the bar are in the same plane with the body - perpendicular to the floor.

EZ-bar pull to the chin

video - EZ-bar thrust to the chin

The chin row is best performed with a curved EZ bar or dumbbells. This takes the extra stress off your wrists and will keep them in a more natural position during the exercise.

Technique:

• take the barbell with a grip slightly narrower than the shoulders;
• slightly bend your arms at the elbows;
• pull the bar up with the help of the muscles of the shoulders, trying to involve the biceps and triceps as little as possible;
• the shoulders are always above the forearms, the goal of the exercise is to raise the shoulders to parallel with the floor or slightly higher, and not to touch the chin with the barbell.

Isolated shoulder exercises

Breeding arms to the side with dumbbells while standing

video - spreading arms to the sides with dumbbells while standing

Breeding hands with dumbbells while standing is an isolating exercise for the middle bundles of the deltoid muscles.

Technique:

• stand straight, arms slightly bent at the elbows;
• raise the dumbbells through the sides until the shoulders are parallel to the floor;
• the elbows need to be turned up (they will look at the ceiling), while turning the wrists and hands so that the little finger at the top point of the movement is higher than the thumb;
• lower your arms slowly and repeat the exercise;
• arms are slightly bent at the elbows.

Remember, in this exercise, your goal is not to raise the dumbbells as high as possible, but to bring your shoulders into a position parallel to the floor.

To ensure that the maximum load falls on the shoulders, do not swing the body and do not perform the movement due to inertia.

Breeding dumbbells to the sides on an incline bench

video - breeding dumbbells to the sides on an incline bench

Technique:

• lie on an incline bench face down;
• slightly bend your arms with dumbbells at your elbows;
• raise your arms up through your sides until your shoulders are parallel to the floor;
• do not throw your hands down, keep muscle tension.

Seated Dumbbell Press

video - sitting dumbbell press

The technique for performing the exercise is similar to the bench press.

Arnold press

The Arnold press is one of the most effective shoulder exercises that targets the anterior deltoids.

video - Arnold press

Technique:

• take the dumbbells in your hands with your palms facing you;
• bend your elbows and press your shoulders to the body (do not spread your elbows to the sides);
• squeeze the dumbbells up, rotating your wrists at the moment when the elbows are at the level of the chin;
• lower the dumbbells down by rotating your wrists in reverse order.

Lifting dumbbells in front of you

Most of the load falls on the front deltas.

video - lifting dumbbells in front of you

Technique:

• starting position - standing, hands with dumbbells should be on the front surface of the thighs;
• grip - palms facing you;
• raise your arms in front of you, slightly bending them at the elbows;
• the goal is to raise the shoulders to parallel with the floor;
• you should not lift the dumbbells with a jerk or help yourself with the help of the torso - this will reduce the load on the deltas.

During the warm-up before training, be sure to do exercises on the shoulders with a light, “warm-up”, weight and. This will save you from shoulder injuries, which are very common among those involved in bodybuilding and strength sports.

Hello, fans of sports, a beautiful body and a healthy lifestyle .. We have already trained hands together, worked out with dumbbells, on the horizontal bar. Of course, all these activities involved the shoulders. However, in such a way as to purposefully work out this muscle group - we have not talked about this yet. So that's what I propose to do today. Change clothes, warm up - we are waiting for a shoulder workout for the mass.

I will say right away: you can perform many exercises on your own, at home. But specialized sports equipment, which is in abundance in the gym, will also come in handy today. But let's get it right.

Work on the shoulders, believe me, is far from easy. For their pumping, as a rule, two sets of exercises are used: basic and isolating. The first is necessary for mass training. The second, in turn, is for relief. Naturally, we will start with the first set. Therefore, I hope that you have already warmed up enough and are ready for the lesson. So, let's get started: basic shoulder training.

How to bulk up

Well, I propose to start training with pull-ups on the horizontal bar. To focus on the shoulders, on the deltoid muscle, on the crossbar, it is necessary to perform exercises with a wide grip. Try to pull yourself up, reaching with your chin to the horizontal bar. It turns out? Fine! Now try to pull yourself up behind your head with the same grip. Well, how? Can you feel the heat spreading through your muscles? So you are doing everything right. Here, as always, the exercises should be performed without jerking, without throwing yourself down when descending - only smoothly. Do a few sets and move on to the barbell.

Basic training with a barbell is quite diverse. But this does not mean at all that you need to do everything at once. Quite the contrary: choose a few exercises that suit you and work on them. But remember that it is advisable to periodically exclude something, add something, since the shoulder muscles tend to adapt to monotonous loads, but we do not need this. Speaking of loads: do not chase a lot of weight - choose the optimal one and increase it gradually, slowly. So, what do we do with the barbell?

Also, when working out muscles for volume, pay special attention to a balanced protein diet. In order not to bother much with this, I get quality proteins and always provide the muscles with the necessary amount of protein.

One of the most popular basic training with this tool is the so-called "army bench press". Like this? Yes, this is just a regular bench press overhead in a standing position. Look: we put our feet shoulder-width apart, take the bar a little wider than the shoulder girdle, put it on the chest and push it strictly vertically up. This press can also be done from a seated position, but this is a slightly different exercise, but also suitable for our purpose.

Another basic training is. I think what is the difference in performance, you do not need to explain. In the same way as in the previous press, this one is performed both from a standing position and sitting.

There are also basic exercises with dumbbells. I suggest you try the dumbbell bench press while sitting. It is performed as follows: we sit on a bench. The back is straight, the shoulders are even. We take our inventory and lift it from the shoulder in turn with the left-right hand. You can work in this way with both hands at the same time. Try to use only the muscles of the shoulder girdle and arms - do not push the weight up with your whole body. If it doesn't work out otherwise, take less weight. I recommend this exercise with dumbbells for girls, with the only difference being that you choose the appropriate weight.

To achieve the desired result, try to perform 4 to 7 sets of each exercise. As you can see, half of the workout you can do at home. But for the best effect, alternate self-study with workouts in the gym. I usually train my shoulders on back day with basic exercises like .

Well, we’ve gained volume, now let’s get to the relief.

How to make shoulders embossed

Bodybuilding involves not only increasing muscle mass, but also the relief of muscles. Therefore, in order to emphasize the beauty of your muscular shoulders, it is necessary to conduct an isolating workout. Most of these exercises, firstly, can be performed independently without visiting the gym, since here we will need mainly dumbbells, and secondly, I recommend this training also for girls who want to have a slender figure and athletic toned body. Shall we start?

Why do we need dumbbells. So this is how: with them we do raising the arms in an inclination, raising the arms while standing and lifting the dumbbells in front of us. By the way, all these exercises also perfectly train the hands, as well as the strength of the blow. Remember, we have already talked about this. The illustrations will help you to carry out the training correctly, and to remember what you suddenly forgot. So, look at the photos and try to repeat.

It turns out? I'm sure yes! The main thing is to work smoothly, spread your arms only with the help of the muscles of the shoulder girdle and, mainly, the triceps. We do not drop our hands sharply, we hold the weight. Fulfilling this important condition, the achievement of the desired result, believe me, is much more visible.

We will not repeat ourselves - you yourself already know well how to do it right. Do this and move on to the next lesson.

Do you remember? We did something similar when and hand endurance. You can vary this exercise by swinging your arms in front of you. Alternate: five times left-right, five times up-down. In general, you remember.

A wonderful exercise that we need today is also the barbell pull to the chin. Do this: stand, feet as always, shoulder-width apart. Hold the barbell at waist level. Now slowly, with one hand and shoulders, we pull it to the chin. Then slowly lower. Believe me, after it the delta is a fairy tale!

Basically, that's the whole workout for today. Isolating loads also do 4-7 sets and, of course, do not forget to breathe properly. And imagine how, having already worked out all the muscle groups well, you go to the beach (after all, summer is in full swing in the yard) and catch the enthusiastic, sometimes even envious glances of sunbathers. In general, this is what I wish you in the next couple of months. Well, health, of course. Practice - everything will work out!