This week we continue the muscle development series with my favorite muscle group to train! SHOULDERS!
If you have followed any of my programs that i have developed or have been coached by me then you know the shoulders are a main focus in all my programs. Why you ask? Because when you have a full set of developed delts they are what stand out I would say the most and if you have some nice shoulders it also makes your back look bigger as well. What else? Yep thats right it makes your arms look bigger as well! Think of shoulders as the link to a great physique. Besides just looking bigger having strong shoulders also equates to healthier shoulders. Today we are going to discuss everything shoulders and hopefully after reading this you will be ready to build some diamond delts!
The Shoulders Consist of 3 main parts
The shoulders consist of
1. the front deltoid (presses, front raises)
2. side delts (side lateral raises, upright rows (wider grip)
3. rear delts (reverse fly's, face pulls, and any rowing movement)
So when making a program we need to keep those 3 focuses in mind.
Lets Start With A Press
The type of press you choose to do is your choice but every shoulder session should start with a main pressing movement as this will be your overall and front delt development exercise, here are some options and remember you can always mix it up as well every time you train as there is lots of options;
- Overhead Standing Barbell Press (OHP)
- Seated Barbell Press
- Seated DB Press
- Seated Arnold Press
- Reverse Grip EZ Bar Seated Press
- Smith Machine Press
Also after the main press for the day i always like doing an accessory press in the 8-12 rep range, here are some options for that;
- One arm standing cable shoulder press
- One arm standing db press
- or use one of the options above in the main presses just treat it as a secondary press tho.
that should keep you busy. For reps and sets i recommend first working up to a 1 rep conservative max for your "wake up set" then back down the weight with something you can do 4 sets of 5-8 reps depending on if its a strength or hypertrophy day. The press is the main movement of the day so treat it like one in the intensity you give it.
Side Delts
When i train shoulders i put a huge focus into side delts as they can really make a shoulder pop. I usually do these after presses as i want to give a lot of intensity early in the session to the side delts. We can tackle the side deltoid by using any of the following and once agin feel free to mix it up.
- DB Side Laterals
- One Arm DB Side Laterals
- Cable One Arm Side Laterals
- Wide Grip Cable or EZ Bar Upright Row
Pick an option above and do 4 sets of 12-15 reps
ALSO!
Make sure you are doing side laterals correct! SO MANY PEOPLE DO THESE WRONG
- Use a thumbless grip, keep in a narrow stance (feet together and bend just slightly forward, weight rest on corner of thighs in rest position and pull with your elbows, WRIST SHOULD NEVER BE ABOVE THE ELBOWS!!!!! Stop when elbows are parallel to the floor, have a slight bend in the arms as well. Such an easy exercise but it seems so many people mess this one up! Focus on pulling with the elbows not the wrists.
Confused on how you can work a shoulder "bro" training day into a total body split? Check this out!
More Front Delts
There are lots of opinions out there on if you need to train front delts directly or if your pressing is enough. For most people i think just pressing hits them good enough but if you want to have some extra focus on the front delts you can always add a front raise variation to just make sure your leaving no stone unturned.
- DB Alt. Front Raises
- Cable Rope Front Raises
- One Arm Cable Reverse Grip Front Raises
- Plate Front Raise
those are some of my favorites, if you choose to throw in extra front delt work then try some of those with 4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Rear Delts
If you have lagging rear delts then i recommend working them as the next part of your shoulders after pressing instead of this far down on the list. When working rear delts these are my favorite options.
- DB Rear Delt Flys on Incline Bench
- Cable Cross Rear Delt Flys
- Rope Face Pulls
- also remember that your rear delts get hit a lot on back day as well.
Pick 1 or 2 of the above and do 4 sets of 12-5 reps. Having big rear delts can completely change the way your physique looks and its also what makes a healthier shoulder as well. NEVER SKIP REAR DELTS.
How many exercises for Shoulders
This can vary greatly on the person but a shoulder session should contain;
1. Main Vertical Pressing Movement
2. Accessory Pressing Movement
3. Side Lateral Movement
4. Front Delt Accessory Front Raises (optional)
5. Rear Delt Exercise 1
6. Rear Delt Exercise 2
There you have it, in 6 exercises with 4 sets each that comes out to around 24 solid working sets for a shoulder day which is a great template to go off of.
What should Shoulders be paired with?
Shoulders while fun to be worked on there own day i personally like combining them with back days or arm days. Shoulders and back just makes sense for the way its designed and shoulders and arms is just a true classic that cant be topped for good pairings as long as you have time for that long of a training session that is.
Here are two shoulder workouts for you!
Example Shoulders and Back
Superset 4x5-8
- OHP
- Wide Grip Pull Downs
Superset 4x8-12
- Seated DB Arnold Press
- Close Grip Cable Row
Superset 4x8-12
- DB Side Laterals
- Cable Pull Over
Single Set 4x10-15
- One Arm Cable Front Raises
Single Set 4x8-12
- One Arm Cable Rows
Example Shoulders and Arms
Superset 4x8-12
- Seated DB Press
- Close Grip Pull Downs
Single Set 3x10-12
- One Arm Cable Standing Press
Single Set 3x12-15
- One Arm Cable Side Laterals
Superset 3x12-15
- DB Alt Front Raises
- Rear Delt Cable Fly
Superset 3x8-12
- Alt DB Curls
- Overhead DB Tri Ext.
Superset 3x8-12
- Rope Cable Curls
- DB Skull Crushers
Superset 3x8-12
- Cable Curls
- Cable Reverse Grip Push Downs
How many sets and reps a week should i hit for shoulders total?
For shoulders i have found training them twice a week directly works very well for overall strength and muscle development.
- For people with weak shoulder development - 30-35 sets a week of direct shoulder work is what i recommend. Also throwing side laterals on every upper day is a great way to up your total shoulder volume in an easy way. Also remember shoulders are also somewhat worked when chest pressing as well so that can contribute to crossover volume.
- For people with good shoulder development - 20-25 sets a week of direct shoulder work is what i recommend.
Extended Set Techniques For Shoulders
Extended set techniques consist of overload principles like drop sets, rest pauses ect. But what works best with Shoulders?
Personally shoulders is one that i like to use a lot of techniques on, so get creative here!
- Drop Sets - Drop sets work perfect for shoulders because you can take it to failure and easily drop the weight to pump out some more reps at a lighter weight, Side lateral drop sets are a favorite of mine.
- Rest Pauses - on the last set of an exercise rest after you hit failure then wait 20 seconds and try and get 2-3 more reps. This works great on pretty much any pressing exercise.
- Giant Sets - Shoulders are a muscle group that work real well in combining 3 exercises in one set. A good one to try is front raises / side lateral raises / face pulls. You can knock out a lot of work in a short amount of time.
- 15-10-15 Method - This method comes straight from the Delt Queen - Dana Linn Bailey - Use this on your db side laterals, pick a weight you can do an easy 15 reps with as a pre exhaust, then grab a weight about 10 pounds more and do 10 reps (these should be a pretty hard 10 reps, then go back to the first weight and try and get 15 reps, thats one set! You probably will need to use a rest pause on those last 15 reps as they will kill! try 3 sets of that one and you will be sore the next day i guarantee it!
- Run The Rack Method - This can be done on any exercise but pick a weight (heavy first) and hit 8-10 reps, then go down 5 pounds, hit 8-10 reps, then go down 5 more pounds and hit another 8-10 reps, thats one set, have fun ;) on the last set feel free to go all the way down the rack and rep to failure.
One note on all of these - save these for your hypertrophy shoulder session of the week don't do these on your strength days. Also don't do these all the time! Above all - don't do these the day before a heavy chest session!
Warm Up For Shoulders
For shoulders its imperative that you are warm going into your pressing. For that reason i recommend using an exercise band and use that to do arm circles, around the worlds, tricep ext, and reverse fly's. Also make sure and do some rotator cuff exercises with the band as well. Trust me these are important if you want to stay away from shoulder impingement issues down the road.
Prevent Shoulder Impingement (DO THIS)
- Coming form experience here. I use to have impingement issues all the time, one every couple of months at least. That was until i started doing Side laterals and upright rows with a thumbless grip! DO NOT WRAP YOUR THUMB AROUND FOR THOSE EXERCISES! It sounds crazy but i have been 5 years now without an impingement! (knock on wood).
Equipment I Recommend
When it comes to working Shoulders there are some things i recommend to have a more efficient session.
- Elbow Sleeves - Use these on your main pressing movement to protect your elbows and provide extra compression.
- Possibly a Belt? - For OHP if you like a belt, then this might be handy to have.
- Wrist Wraps - Helps support your wrists and alleviate pain.
- Exercise Band - Great for warming up the shoulders.
See my full article on everything i keep in my gym bag here.
Lets Recap
Shoulders, there you have it! Everything you possibly would need to know about training shoulders and not just training them but training them effectively. To recap - When you train shoulders have a press, side raise, optional front raise, then tackle the rear delts, with some reverse flys and/or face pulls. Shoulders are no doubt one of the most fun things to train so have fun, Mix up exercises and even the order or exercises (always keep a main press first tho). Also mess around with seated and standing movements for more variety and allowing you to hit different angles. As long as you are training shoulders with good form, good intensity, and allowing recovery they will grow! Now lets go get some diamond delts!
If you guys enjoyed this weeks blog let me know and feel free to share on your social media as i greatly would appreciate it. Till next week guys.
Stay Strong,
Shawn Fausey
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- Shawn Fausey is the Founder and CEO of Fausey's Fitness. With Over 6 years experience in Bodybuilding, Powerlifting and Nutrition. Shawn offers services of online fitness coaching, programing and consulting. Shawn is also a Graphic Designer and can be reached for graphic services on www.rev-graphics.com
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