Intense Shoulder Workout

So your shoulders are somewhat of a lagging body part. You’ve tried front military presses, behind the neck presses and everything in between, and nothing seems to make your delts grow. You may need to pick up the intensity and really put a beating on your deltoids to make them grow. The following shoulder workout is not for the weak, and may just be exactly what you need to stimulate some new muscle growth in those lagging shoulder muscles.

You will need four sets of dumbbells, yes four sets such as 40s, 45s, 50s and 55s, to perform the first phase of this shoulder workout.

First Set: Grab the lightest set of dumbbells and perform 8 reps of shoulder presses. Grab the next set of dumbbells and also do 8 reps. Work your way up to the heaviest set of dumbbells, performing 8 reps for all for sets. DO NOT rest in between sets of dumbbells. After doing all four sets of dumbbells, rest for 2 minutes.

Second Set: Start with the heaviest set of dumbbells and do 8 reps. Work your way down to the lightest set of dumbbells, doing 8 reps with all four sets. Again, do not rest between sets of dumbbells. Rest for 2 minutes after lifting all four sets of dumbbells.

Third Set: Again, start with the lightest set of dumbbells, and do 6 reps. Work your way back up to the heaviest dumbbells without resting in between each set of dumbbells. Rest for 2 minutes.

Fourth Set: Start with the heaviest dumbbells and do 6 reps, once again working your way down to the lightest set without resting in between each set of dumbbells. This is very intense lifting for your shoulders, so it is vitally important that you choose dumbbells that will be challenging enough to lift, but not too heavy that you hurt yourself. Once you can do every rep with all four sets of dumbbells, it’s time to go up in weight.

Note: If you have long arms, you may be able to stimulate your deltoids better by only raising the dumbbells to about ¾ of a normal overhead extension. Doing a full extension brings the triceps into more play, taking more of the stress off of the shoulder muscles. Use your better judgment on this. Don’t cheat and sell yourself short.

Once the four giant sets have been performed, it’s time to hit the rear delts. You can either do bent over rows or rear lateral raises to hit these muscles.

For bent over rows, use a barbell and bend at the waist at a 90 degree angle. With a shoulder-width grip, bring the barbell slowly up to your nose while keeping your upper arms perpendicular (like you’re making a T with your upper arms and torso) to your body. Do 3 sets of 15 reps.

As a final exercise, you can incorporate upright row to help develop the traps. Do 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps for this also.

Try this shoulder workout for 6 weeks to see what kind of improvements you can make. As always, to make the most out of your training, proper nutrition and supplementation are essential to make progress. A good protein powder and some branch chain amino acids can do wonders for spurting some new shoulder muscle growth. You can use this program every so often to bring lagging deltoids up to par.

Tim Mielke is a former competitive bodybuilder and published author, with 20 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. He has written dozens of articles ranging from the organic lifestyle, to hyped-up supplements to steroids, for various health and fitness sources. His book, The Book of Supplement Secrets: A Beginner’s Guide to Nutritional Supplements, has received excellent reviews. Tim brings his knowledge and expertise to RightFitnessandNutrition.com, and is currently developing his own supplement line and writing two more books, which he hopes to have published in 2014.