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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

Mass-Contraction Supersize Add-Ons

Steve demonstrating medial-delt POF exercises

You saw my example of efficiency of effort using the ideal medial-delt exercise: one-arm cable laterals for your medial-delt heads… [Read more…]

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

7-Minute Cannonball-Delt Workout

Steve demonstrating the new POF for shoulders on cable exercises

Old Man Young Muscle 2 has spawned questions, like: How can you completely train a muscle for mass in less than 10 minutes? [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: best shoulder exercise, delt workout, shoulder exercises, shoulder workout, wide shoulders

Arnold’s Shredded Shoulders

Arnold doing seated one-arm cable laterals - colorized photo

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…]

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

Mass Illusion and the Wasp Waist

Arnold's back plus two pics of Arnold from the front (young vs. peak)

My youngest daughter and her new husband just returned from their honeymoon, and they were obviously thinking about training—between all of the fun stuff… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: muscle building, muscle mass, small waist, wide back, wide shoulders

Unique Shoulder-Size Exercise

Start, middle, and finish positions of two-arm cable delt pulls

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…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: best shoulder exercise, delt exercises, delt workout, delts, ideal shoulder exercise, shoulder exercises, shoulder workout, shoulders, 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

One-Sided Training for Shoulder Mass?

Steve Holman doing incline one-arm laterals with muscle-curve diagram

My daughter and her future husband were over for dinner, and after talking about our dogs, they veered into my favorite subject: training. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: delt exercises, delt workout, ideal shoulder exercise, shoulder exercises, shoulder workout, shoulders, wide shoulders

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 108: Lee Haney Beach Flex

Lee Haney flexing biceps in the water at the beach, cropped

This is a great photo of Lee Haney flexing at the beach. He’s a tad smooth, but what magnificent lines and symmetry—small waist, wide shoulders, flared quads… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: beach, bodybuilding zen, density training, Lee Haney, mr. olympia, small waist, stimulate don't annihilate, symmetry, vince gironda, wide shoulders

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 100: Lee Haney Perfect Flex

Lee Haney upper body flexing biceps

This is a great photo of Lee Haney at his peak, flexing his peak—the perfect shot and bodybuilder to usher the 100th edition of our Zen series. What a flawless physique—small waist, wide shoulders, every muscle developed perfectly.… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: bodybuilding zen, density training, flawless, Lee Haney, moderate weights, mr. olympia, perfect physique, physique, small waist, stimulate don't annihilate, vince gironda, wide shoulders

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