Boulder Shoulders

Shoulders, besides legs, are my favorite body part to train.  I like them because 1, you can go moderately heavy, and who doesn’t like pushing big weight over their head, and 2, training your delts heavy will help out tremendously in any sort of pushing exercise and give you that overall “Beast” look, making you look bigger, badder, and wider than ever. Many people like to stack shoulders with chest, but I feel like one of the body parts gets the short end of the stick because of general fatigue of either body part—if you haven’t tried it, give shoulders it’s own day.  Here’s a general run through of my shoulder workout: Seated BB Behind the Neck Press: 4x6-8 Seated DB Front Delt Press: 5x8 Cable Face Pulls: 4x10 Standing Upright Rows 3x10 Super-setted w/ Standing DB Lateral Raise 3x10 Rear Delt Fly 3x10 Supersetted w/ BB Front Raises 3x10 Some extra information about some of these exercises—some people don’t like behind the neck presses because of their shoulder mobility and it might cut off the range of motion; if this happens to you, there’s nothing wrong with changing to just a regular seated military press.  If you want to work towards behind the neck, work on your shoulder flexibility and start with lighter weight, increasing each week. A seated DB Front delt press is something I started using to completely shock my delts.  It’s the same thing as a seated DB press, however, instead of putting them out and to the side when you press, keep your elbows in over your legs and press up—if you’re doing them right your front delts will be screaming. With the standing upright row, the closer your grip is when you’re pulling up, the more you work your traps, so if you have weaker traps that you’d like to work on, move them in; if you want to hit outside rounded cap on the delt directly, then move it farther out.  I stick with a neutral position and get the best of both worlds. Just because the rep range and set range is high on these workouts, don’t cheat yourself with lighter weight.  Your shoulders are stronger than you think they are.  And all these exercises are interchangeable, so try out a couple different routines and see which ones your shoulders respond best to, and pretty soon you’ll have them boulders for shoulders.   Danny Quach is a senior at the University of Georgia and he’s studying Health Promotion and Behavior.  He’s a powerlifter at heart and has done it for over six years.  He just competed in his first bodybuilding show in Summer of 2011.  For powerlifting, he holds some Georgia records.  In his first bodybuilding competition, he placed 2^nd in Novice in INBF Southern States.  On his spare time he’s a part of the University of Georgia’s cheerleading co-ed squads; his favorite past-time? Throwing girls around and catching them.