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Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 286: Don Howorth’s Legendary Delts

Don Howorth posing at Vince's Gym

When you meet your cellmate your first day of prison and he says, “We’re going to have so much fun,” do not believe him.

Don Howorth posing at Vince's Gym

That’s actually Don Howorth, a Vince Gironda disciple and 1967 Mr. America. The photo was taken under the skylight at Vince’s Gym and had the bodybuilding world buzzing about his incredible shoulders. (Steve Downs photo)

One of Gironda’s and Howorth’s favorite cannonball delt moves was wide-grip upright rows. Vince often had trainees use a Smith machine, but dumbbells can be less restrictive…

Always stop the upward movement when your elbows are on the same plane as your shoulders to avoid joint injury.

Vince was a legendary Hollywood trainer who berated, er um, convinced us to move to Density Training—short rests between sets with moderate poundages.

He emphasized sculpting the physique rather than hammering it into submission. Here’s how Vince looked in his late 50s…

Vince Gironda at almost 60 years old

Now that we’re past middle age, we’re glad we latched onto his advice before the hammer—and possibly scalpel—came down on our joints.

Remember, you don’t have to use joint-crushing poundages to build massive muscles. And you should be able to train hard as you age without debilitating aches, pains, and/or surgery.

Use Density Training, like moderate-poundage STX, and emphasize the ideal exercises, the safest, most effective mass moves. For more, see the ebooks below.

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
X-Rep.com
 

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Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: bodybuilding zen, round delts, shoulders, vince gironda, vince's gym, wide delts, wide shoulders

Older, Boulder Shoulders

Start and finish positions of cable delt pulls

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…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: delt exercises, delt workout, delts, round delts, round shoulders, shoulder exercises, shoulder workout, shoulders, wide shoulders

How to Fix Flat Shoulders

Jonathan Lawson delts abs

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…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d positions of flexion, confidence, delt exercises, delt routine, delt workout, delts, flat shoulders, how to fix flat shoulders, lemons, manhood, masculinity, round delts, round shoulders, sex, shoulder exercises, shoulder routine, shoulder workout, strength, testosterone, Truth About Testosterone, wide delts, wide shoulders

Round Delts: Best Exercise

Q: In 3D Muscle Building you have incline one-arm laterals or one-arm cable laterals as the stretch move for the side-delt head. Is one better than the other? They feel completely different to me, and I just want big round delts, so which is the best exercise?

A: Both provide resistance on the medial-delt head when the arm is across the front of the torso. You don’t get that with standard lateral raises because of gravity and your arm positioning—at the bottom of the stroke, your arms are perpendicular to the floor with delts resting (zero resistance).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d muscle building, anabolic environment, best exercise, build muscle, burn fat, delt exercises, delt workout, growth stimulation, lean mass, medial head, muscle mass, round delts, shoulder exercises, shoulder workout, side delts, stretch position, testosterone

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