Broad, round shoulders are key to creating a powerful, athletic upper body and creating the coveted V-Taper physique.
Unfortunately, it’s one of the muscles so many men fail to properly train, due to the difficulty of evenly building all 3 heads of the shoulders.
IFBB Pro Jordan Wheeler from Blue Star Nutraceuticals here, and today I’m going to run you through the most effective shoulder workout you’ve ever performed to pack on mass and maximize strength in your shoulders.
And the best part - all it requires is dumbbells.
So hit that subscribe button (http://bit.ly/BlueStarYT) and give this video a thumbs up, and then get ready to turn those boney, square arm holders into some round, cannonball shoulders!
Let’s get to it!
In order to build shoulders that fill out your T-shirt and perform just as good as they look, you need to incorporate exercises that train all 3 heads of the delts (front, lateral and rear) and ensure you vary weight and reps to maximize both strength and size.
So make sure you follow this strategic workout exactly how it’s laid out so that you get the greatest possible results.
For this workout, you’ll perform 6 exercises in linear fashion.
You’ll start performing 2 heavy, compound exercises for 5 sets of 5 reps using 85% of your 1 Rep Max.
For exercises 3 and 4 you’ll perform 4 sets of 10 Reps @ 75% of your 1 Rep max
And for exercises 5 and 6, you’ll perform 4 sets of 12 reps or higher using 70% of your 1 Rep Max.
Because this is done in a linear fashion, you’ll perform all sets of exercise 1 before moving on to exercise 2, and continue on in this fashion until all 6 exercises are complete.
You’re only allowed up to 60 seconds rest between sets to catch your breath and rehydrate with AminoFast™ before continuing on to the next set.
You should complete the entire workout in under 1 hour 15 minutes - if it’s taking you longer than that, pick up the pace!
As always, the workout is listed for you in the description below.
Now let’s get to work!
Exercise #1: 1-Arm Bent Rear Delt Row [5x5 @ 85% 1RM]
Grab a dumbbell, keep your torso parallel with the floor and pull with your elbow, bringing it up away from your body to limit involvement from the lats and maximize engagement of your rear delts. Perform all reps on one side, then switch sides. Go a bit heavier with these and really overload those rear delts here.
Exercise #2: Standing Dumbbell Push Press [5x5 @ 85% 1RM]
Plant your feet about shoulder width apart, slight bend in the knees, keep the core braced, squeeze the glutes, drive through the heels and use some momentum to power the dumbbells up overhead - be sure not to clang them together at the top then control the weights back down and repeat. Think power and explosiveness with these.
Exercise #3: Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise [4x10 @ 75% 1RM]
Grab a pair of dumbbells stand leaning slightly forward - raise the dumbbells straight out to your sides keeping your palms facing down and reaching out like you're trying to stretch your arms to the wall. The slight lean forward will help ensure you keep tension on your side delts and eliminate your front delts from taking over if you begin leaning back to get the weight up as you start to fatigue.
Exercise #4: Fixed-Arm Overhead Front Raise [4x10 @ 75% 1RM]
Grab a pair of dumbbells with a neutral grip and lock your arms at 90 degrees with both arms pointing in front of you. Press the weights up until just overhead, keeping your arms bent at 90 degrees then lower back down under control. Focus on squeezing your front delts to raise the weight up rather than pushing with your arms.
Exercise #5: Leaning 1-Arm Lateral Raise [4x12+ @ 70% 1RM]
Grab a squat rack or machine with one hand to support you, then lean away holding a dumbbell in your opposite hand. Raise the dumbbell up to your side until parallel with the floor, trying to keep your arm as straight as possible and your palm facing down, then control the weight back down. By leaning into the raise, it helps isolate your side delt more and increases the active range of motion for greater development in your shoulders. Perform all reps on one side, then switch sides.
Exercise #6: Chest Supported W-Raise [4x12+ @ 70% 1RM]
Use a seal bench, or incline bench to support your chest and let the dumbbells hang straight down on either side. Raise your arms up to your sides, while keeping your elbows bent and your thumbs pointing up. Your arms should form a W shape at the top. This allows you to pull your upper arms back further behind your back than regular reverse flyes and places your shoulders in external rotation for a greater contraction in the rear delts. Control the weight back down under control and repeat.
And that’s a wrap!
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