Boulder shoulders, cannon ball delts, or whatever goofy ass name you want to come up with them, the point is still the same. Building a set of badass shoulders can completely transform your physique.
Unfortunately, when it comes to building massive shoulders most of the bros out there go about it as wrong as they possibly can. They spend all of their time doing pressing moves, and not paying any attention to rest of the shoulder. As such, they’ve got shoulders that people barely notice, and will probably wind up hurt one day.
The key to training shoulders.
The shoulder joint is the only joint in the body that truly moves in a global fashion. Because it’s a ball and socket joint it can move in nearly any direction, and this movement is governed by the three heads of your deltoid, your serratus, and SITS muscles.
By making presses the main move of your shoulder work you’re only working one small portion of the shoulder joint, the anterior deltoid. Leaving out a full 2/3 of the deltoid, and potentially setting yourself up for overuse injuries later on.
Now, do I hate pressing? Not entirely. I think pressing can be hugely beneficial when it comes to building shoulder strength. You just need to do it properly and mix in plenty of other movements to properly train the shoulders.
Here’s how to do that, and build massive fucking shoulders in the process.
Warm up:
Squat to stand with overhead reach x3 each side
T-spine x3 each side
Yogaplex x3 each side
All of these moves will help your thoracic mobility, free up the shoulder blades to move properly, and get your blood flowing. All of this makes for a better subsequent shoulder session.
The workout.
- Standing overhead press 4×8 – relatively heavy
I just spent a few hundred words seemingly ragging on pressing, and now pressing is the first move I mention. What gives? Well, most people depend too much on pressing, but there’s no denying how awesome the overhead press is when it comes to building size and strength.
That’s why we have it at the start of the lifting session, when you’re fresh and ready to roll.
Tip: Take a staggered stance to help protect your lower back. Rest about 90 seconds between each set and then move on to upright rows.
- Upright row 4×10.
Tip: Take an extra wide grip to place more emphasis on the delts. Pull until your upper arm is about parallel to the ground, and repeat. Rest about 90 seconds and then move on to the superset.
Superset A:
Face pull 4×12
W press 4×12
Tip: Rest about 90 seconds between each set. On the face pull think about letting your shoulder blades completely protract, and then initiate the movement by retracting them. On the W Press, be sure you’re pressing out before you even think about pressing up. You should only be able to use about 2/3 the weight you normally do on dumbbell presses.
Superset B:
Lateral raise 5×15
Arnold Press 3×12
Tip: There’s no video for lateral raises, but think about constant tension with these. Don’t bring the dumbbells all the way to you hip, stop short by an inch or two and start the movement again. Additionally, try and perform the movement by keeping your pinky high, to recruit more rear delt.
There’s 2 fewer sets of Arnold Presses, and that’s thanks to the pressing volume you’ve already accumulated during this workout.
Finisher: Band pull aparts 3×20
Tip: Keep your shoulder blades protracted forward like you’re doing a face pull and think about squeezing your rear delts as hard as possible. Rest about 45 seconds between each round.
For optimal shoulder growth try performing this workout 2-3x per week. In order to keep your shoulders health you may notice that you need to cut back on the pressing volume from your chest days by incorporating more flyes. Pay attention to how your shoulders feel, and enjoy the gainz.