The Shoulder Workout to End All Shoulder Workouts

I hate flashiness, but here it goes -

DO YOU WANT SHOULDERS OF STEEL?

TIRED OF WASTING HOURS IN THE GYM?

READ ON TO DISCOVER THE BEST EXERCISES AND WORKOUT ROUTINE FOR GETTING THOSE CAPPED OFF DELTOIDS YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED ABOUT!

Now, with that wonderful bit of unapologetic marketing out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks.  

You, likely I hope, have not spent many a sleepless night fretting about the size of your shoulders.  If you have...., well, let's just not go there.  

However, if you, like me, would like to stop wasting precious time in the gym, getting no where for all the hard work you've done, listen up!

.....or, rather, read on.....

WHY GROWING BIG SHOULDERS IS SIMPLE

Once upon a time, I bought into the whole muscle building magazine trap.  I truly believed that the articles in said magazines were pure gold.  All I needed to do was follow the routines laid out by the authors, and, boom!  I'd be "ripped" or "swole" or whatever else the kids are saying these days.

In truth, however, many of the routines you'll find in magazines, and across the interwebz, are absolute junk!

In most cases, unless your taking pharmaceuticals (e.g. - steriods), you likely will not be able to keep up with the volume and the intensity prescribed by the authors of mainstream muscle building articles.

Whether this revelation is welcome relief, or the last thing you wanted to hear, this statement is the truth.

BUT....

There is still hope.  If you use the exercises and the routine I lay out in this post, and if you have your nutrition in line (Read This), and if you're persistent, YOU WILL SEE RESULTS.

THE BASICS OF SHOULDER ANATOMY

When many people think of the shoulder, they often don't realize that it actually consists of three distinct "heads" - the anterior deltoids (also called the front delts); the medial deltoids (also called the side or lateral delts); and the posterior deltoids (also called the rear delts).

Often times, people misconstrue the shoulder press as a "catch all" exercise for the shoulders, but in reality, the shoulder press (though it is an excellent exercise) really only targets the front delts, and the side delts to a lesser degree.  Because of this misconception, the side and the rear delts often get neglected.  Though exercises like rows and chins will certainly hit the rear delts to a certain extent, in my experience, and the experience of many others, rows and chins are not enough to optimally stimulate the rear delts.  A similar situation rings true for the front delts.  While some people certainly can get away with using only bench presses for their anterior shoulder development, most people need direct work.  Oh...and the poor medial delt; just like the poor middle child, the medial delt goes oft ignored and neglected.  The case of the medial delt is quite a shame, really, because it actually has the greatest potential to add width to your physique.  In other words, a good shoulder routine does not exclude exercises which target the medial delts.

And let's not forget the rotator cuff...

The rotator cuff (which is really a number of muscles) facilitates the internal rotation, abduction, and adduction of the shoulder.  While working this muscle group will not give you the much sought after "broad shouldered" look directly, neglecting to work this muscle group could potentially hamper your results. Having a strong rotator cuff is necessary for keeping your shoulders healthy so that you can have a strong base upon which to build those manly (or womanly, women can want strong shoulders too; and, by the way, if you are a woman, you will not grow massive shoulders) shoulders you've so desperately sought after.

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

Now, to get to the point of this article....

An effective shoulder routine will not only contain the right exercises to target each component of the shoulder, but it will also prescribe the best frequency, volume, and intensity for optimal results.  

While you can certainly grow muscle using a variety of methods, I've personally had the greatest success working in the 4-8 rep range, using 75-85% of my 1 repetition max.  Moreover, I recommend using up to 4 sets per muscle group (in this case each particular shoulder head), hitting them with a frequency of every 5-7 days.  

I know what your saying - "but so-and-so said this, that, and the other!"

I say - "So what?!"

"So-and-so" may, more likely than not, be taking steriods and/or be an elite athlete.  You, likely, are neither of these things.

For the average guy or gal just looking to put on an appreciable amount of muscle for the purpose of looking good at the beach, the volume, frequency, and intensity I mention above will more than do the trick.  

Some people try to complicate things with unnecessary fluff, only to give up in the long term because the plan they followed wasn't suited for them as a lifestyle.  DON'T MAKE THAT SAME MISTAKE!

Rather, do this - 

THE ULTIMATE SHOULDER WORKOUT

1.  SHOULDER PRESS -  4 work sets of 4-8 reps:  

• Warm-up with 1 set of 8 reps at 50% of your target work weight, then do 1 set of 6 reps at 50%, 1 set of 3 reps at 75%, and finally 1 set of 1 rep at 90%.  Rest 1 minute between warm-up sets, and rest 2 minutes before beginning your first work set.

• The military press/shoulder press/overhead press is one of the best exercises you can do for your front delts.  Leave front raises for the sissies.  Any of the following varieties will work - Seated Shoulder Press (Video), Standing Shoulder Press (Video), Seated Dumbbell Press (Video), Standing Dumbbell Press (Video), or Dumbbell Arnold Press (Video).

2.  LATERAL RAISE - 4 sets of 4-8 reps, or just 6-8 if you have trouble with form:  

• Do 1 light warm-up set of 8 reps at 50% of your target work weight.

• The Lateral Raise (Video) is a great exercise for targeting the medial delts.

3.  REAR DELT RAISE - 4 sets of 4-8 reps, or just 6-8 if you have trouble with form:

• Once again, this is a great exercise which you can do either Seated (Video) or Standing (Video).

4.  EXTERNAL ROTATION - 4 sets of 6-8 reps:

• REMEMBER! - Do Not Neglect Your Rotator Cuff!  

• Lying External Rotations (Video) or Upright Rows with External Rotation (Video) are great options.

Once you can get the top number of reps for a given exercise, add 5-10lbs of weight, and work with that weight until you can reach the top number of reps again.  For optimal results, rest about 3 minutes between work sets.

THERE YOU HAVE IT!

That's it, that's all you have to do.  Do this workout every 5-7 days, and make sure your nutrition is in line, and I promise you results.  The key, here, is to get progressively stronger over the long haul.  There are no quick fixes, but, with hard work and persistence, you'd be surprised at what you can accomplish!

So what are you waiting for?  GET TO IT!