Packing mass on the side head of the deltoid is a difficult task for the majority of us…
That’s because most of the popular exercises that stress that middle shoulder area are crap…
Lateral raises are much too hard at the top, which means the important bottom stretch position is way too light.
Not good because studies continue to show that loading the stretch position is key for optimal hypertrophy.
And get this: At the stretch point on lateral raises, your arms are straight down, which means zero resistance. It’s an out-of-whack, ass-backward resistance curve for mass…
Overhead presses? Those can damage the shoulder capsule in many trainees. Plus, they put most of the stress on the front head anyway.
Upright rows? Awkward shoulder rotation—and a bad resistance curve again; however, it’s not as bad as lateral raises. Still not ideal…
The most ideal is a one-arm cable lateral raise, with the pulley set at just below waist height. That provides the most resistance when the arm is down in front of the pelvis and the least when the arm is up on the same plane as the shoulder joint.
I’ve found that using an ankle cuff around the wrist to take grip out of the equation is a game changer. As is raising the arm to the front slightly—at about the one o’clock position.
Drug-free Mr. Universe and biomechanics expert Doug Brignole only used that exercise for his lateral-delt head; however, a prominent hypertrophy and strength researcher Chris Beardsley had this to say recently…
The deltoids are a complicated muscle group that can produce force in various directions at the glenohumeral joint. Although conventionally divided into three major regions (anterior, middle, and posterior), they can in fact be subdivided into seven regions based on differences in internal moment arm length and regional muscle activation. This suggests that a high degree of exercise variety is key to maximizing deltoid hypertrophy.
So that would tell us that maybe a few exercises are needed for each “head”—or at least the middle because that is the one that gets the least indirect work. The anterior and posterior get ancillary stimulation on bench pressing moves and any type of rowing or pulldowns.
So what are the best exercise add-ons to get your shoulders popping—in a good way? Tune in tomorrow.
Note: For a chart of stretch-position exercises for each muscle, as well as the IDEAL and contracted-position moves, see pages 42 and 43 of Old Man, Young Muscle.
Sculpt your perfect physique: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best stretch and contracted add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos, and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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