After the newsletters on direct-indirect work for each muscle, my first training partner from way back in high school emailed me about lateral shrugs… [Read more…]
Middle-Delt Mass Workout
In the past few newsletters, I’ve had a few eye-opening quotes from hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley on the middle-delt heads…
To summarize, he said that while it’s common to divide the deltoid into three heads, it’s really seven divisions. He followed that up by saying that exercise variety is needed for full, complete development. [Read more…]
Arnold’s Shredded Shoulders
Q: You mentioned that Arnold liked a seated cable lateral. Did he do them sitting on the floor? Why not just do them standing?
A: He actually did them sitting on a low stool. He could probably tell by feel that the low position put him at a better height for an ideal resistance curve than doing them standing when the pulley is set near the floor… [Read more…]
New Shoulder-Size Details
Q: The before and after photos showing your new shoulder roundness were impressive. You did not mention sets. Did you do a lot more volume to get those gains?
A: I did not do more sets for shoulders; it was the key details that made the big difference (more on those in a moment). Here are my photos again for those who may have missed that newsletter… [Read more…]
Unique Shoulder-Size Exercise
Yesterday I discussed the one-arm cable delt pull, a hybrid front raise-lateral raise with a low cable.
I’m experimenting with it as an add-on move after the ideal medial-head exercise, striving for new shoulder roundness and fullness.
It puts the medial head in the high contracted position similar to [Read more…]
Older, Boulder Shoulders
Yesterday I discussed how, after using only the incline one-arm lateral and one-arm cable lateral for a while, the ideal medial-delt-head exercises, my shoulders had decent detail but remained somewhat flat.
I needed more roundness, a “cap” on my shoulders… [Read more…]
Wider Shoulders
Q: How can I get wider shoulders, and I mean as wide as possible? I want more of a classic bodybuilder look.
A: Wider shoulders will definitely give you a more commanding appearance, but understand that your shoulder width is limited by your clavicle, or collar-bone, width. The good news is that you can still look a lot wider with full, round delts. Larry Scott, the first Mr. Olympia, had narrow clavicles, but he packed a lot of meat on his delts and solved the problem, becoming the best bodybuilder in the world in his day. [Read more…]
How to Fix Flat Shoulders
Q: I have flat shoulders. I do lots of sets of dumbbell presses, but they aren’t helping. Should I try doing lateral raises first in my shoulder workout?
A: We both have to fight and do everything right to sculpt our delts into round mounds of muscle so we don’t suffer from flat shoulders. One thing we’ve learned is that overhead presses—for us, anyway—tend to put almost all of the stress on our front deltoids, and those front heads don’t add to the roundness you’re after… [Read more…]
Gymnasts’ Muscles—Olympic Size-Sculpting Method
If you’ve watched the male gymnasts during the Olympics before, you no doubt noticed their eye-popping upper-body mass. Some have delts, arms, and torsos that resemble competitive bodybuilders’. Very impressive, especially considering that muscle mass isn’t one of their goals; it’s just a side effect of their sport…
[Read more…]Bigger, Rounder Attention-Grabbing Shoulders
Q: Broad shoulders get girls’ attention, but mine are narrow. And on top of that, my delts are flat. Should I do more presses to round them out? I notice in 3D Muscle Building that you have presses as more of a front-delt midrange exercise. Aren’t they good for side delts, too? BTW, I love 4X mass method and am using it almost exclusively.
A: Overhead presses primarily train the front-delt heads. Plus, they can impinge the shoulder capsule if performed incorrectly. That’s why we generally suggest doing them at the end of our delt routine. A good Positions-of-Flexion full-range shoulder hit, 4X style on every move, would be…
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