Cannonball Delts

Shoulder day is one of my favorite days to train and I take shoulder training very seriously. If you want an impressive physique, you can train your chest, arms, and back all you want, but it’s your shoulders that will tie it all together. What other muscle will make you look so good from any direction? The lateral delts will give you width, the front delts meet your chest, and the rear delts meet your back, giving you thickness and width in your frame.

The first thing you need to do is warm up properly and in doing so I like to grab a small weight plate like a 10 pound and warm up the rotator cuffs – extending my elbow out to the parallel side I hold the plate and just move my straight forearm in front of me for 10 light reps for 2 sets with each arm; then i hold the 10lb plate and keep my elbow right to the side of my body and just move my forearm from right to left back and forth for 10 reps two sets on each side.

After a good warm-up I start with the muscle-building exercise of the shoulder press. I do one of two different presses: The first would be a front press on the seated Smith machine. I start with a 45lb plate on each side and go from my chin to full extension for 12 reps. Then on the second set I add another 45lb plate on each side for a set of 10 reps, the third set I add a 25lb plate on each side for 10 reps and the last set I do 3 plates on each side and complete 8 repetitions.

Every two workouts I mix the press with a seated dumbbell press. I start my first set with 80lb dumbbells for 12 reps. On the second set I do 10 reps with 90-pound dumbbells, on the third set I do 10 reps with 95-pound dumbbells, and on the fourth set I do 8 reps with 100-pound dumbbells.

Presses are great and hit the shoulders all the way and are the mass builder, but they don’t really get me pumped or really excited in the gym – you need lateral raises to get the blood flowing.

The next exercise is the front raises and I have 2 ways to do this exercise as well and I’ll start with the first one and that would be dumbbell front raises. I like to start by holding 25lb dumbbells and lifting both arms from my side of my body. and directly in front of me for 12 slow reps. The second set I grab the 30lb dumbbells and do another 12 slow reps, the third set I go up to the 40lb dumbbells and do 12 reps one at a time with each arm alternating each arm. The last set is 45-pound dumbbells, one at a time, burning each arm with another 12 reps. It is very important not to swing your body or gain momentum by swinging the weights, make sure you slow down and let the muscle work, so I like to do it sitting down. .

I also like to do small barbell front raises with the same weights and reps, except when I do this I stand with my back to a wall for support. Once again, without swinging or swinging, let the muscle do the work.

Are you ready to look great? Then you have to do the lateral raises. Side lats can be performed with dumbbells or a low cable. You can raise two side arms to the sides of your body from a standing position and I prefer to do this exercise one arm at a time. Most of the time I use the low cable and stand with the weight stack tension at the lowest starting position with 30lbs on the stack and lift my arm straight out to my side and come back down with the cable very close from the front of my body and my arm stops at the front of my thigh and comes back up with continuous tension on the pulley. Alternating arms I do 4 sets of 30lbs for 12 reps, 40lbs for 12 reps, 50lbs for 10 reps and 60lbs for 8 reps.

Shoulders hitting grab the rear delts and I stand inside the cable crossover machine and with each hand holding the lower pulley handle (right hand holding the left pulley handle and left hand holding the lower pulley handle). right) I lean forward with my knees bent and look forward with any luck in a mirror to see my form. Raise each arm out to the side of your body as you lean forward to do this, called rear delt cable crossovers. This needs to be an exercise performed slowly with no body momentum with a very slight bend in the elbow come out to the side of your body with each pulley handle squeezing the rear delts at the top of the movement maintain endless tension in the muscle . Do 3 sets of 12 reps and use 30lbs each arm on the first set, 40lbs on the second set, 45lbs on the third set.

Last exercise of the workout and my shoulders are booming. I like to do vertical rowing. On my upright rows I prefer to use a bar and a close grip. The grip I use is measured by sticking your thumbs out and touching them so that each grip is about 6 inches on the bar. Standing I have two 25lb plates on the 45lb bar and I have the bar in front of my body below my waist and I lift the bar up the front of my body by extending my elbows out to the side bringing the bar up to my chin for the first set of 12 repetitions. On the second set I add 10lbs each side for 10 reps and the last set is 45lbs each side for 8-10 reps.

exercise

Shoulder Press – 4 sets – reps 12, 10, 10, 8

Front Raises – 4 sets – reps 12, 12, 12, 12

Lateral Raises – 4 sets – reps 12, 12, 10, 8

rear crossovers delt. 3 sets – reps 12, 12, 12

Up Right Rows 3 sets – reps 12, 10, 8