This article looks at a few of the ways you can slap scoops of muscle onto your shoulders, giving them form, separation and even that massive, "cannonball" look, if you so choose.
If you really want to make an impression, it's the details that count - focusing on the little things that most people overlook, so that you appear to be polished, refined and thorough. Stuff like having your shoes spit-shined for an interview, or wearing a high-quality wristwatch might be lost on the masses, but gains notice among people that matter.
On the bespoke body, shoulders happen to be just such a detail. While they don't command the surface area of say, the pecs, or enjoy as much freedom of exposure as arms, the deltoids play a critical aesthetic and functional role in total upper body development.
Rounded, "capped" and shredded delts usually indicate achievement of very low body fat, since the border regions between delts, biceps and triceps are favorite hangout spots for fat. What's more, the stronger your shoulders, your delts in particular, the stronger you will become in an assortment of other upper body lifts, including all biceps, triceps and chest exercises.
Your delts "shoulder" most of the load in the following workouts. In addition, I strongly recommend for the guys that you throw some abuse at your trapezius (traps) as well. This manta ray-shaped muscle drapes from the rear of your neck to down between the shoulder blades. It helps give bodybuilders and pro wrestlers that thick-necked, Herculean look. If you're a woman, you may want to go fairly light on these, see preceding sentence. Maybe you want that; I won't judge!
In case you're wondering why I start off with so many damn reps on many of these exercises, the answer is twofold. First, shoulders are simultaneously robust and powerful, and … fragile. Their ball-and-socket joint construction makes them incredibly versatile and potentially injury-prone. If you've ever dislocated your arm doing incline presses with light weight, you'll know what I mean. The high reps get all the shoulder muscle and connective tissue up to operating temperature so injury is less likely.
Second, even when I'm training for mass by sticking to low reps, it seems prudent to toss in a few high reppers to keep my body's adaptation mechanism off-guard. Keeping your body guessing is how to make muscles grow. The burn from high reps is qualitatively different from low-rep fatigue. I like to think of one as a "growth" burn and the other as an "etching-in definition" burn.
And so without any further ado, here is my Deltoid Force program for elite shoulders (for even more routines for eye-popping shoulders, look for the MuscleFoundry.com ebook, COMING SOON!)…
Phase 1: Massive attack
Do this when you just want to throw some bulk up onto your shoulder girdle and fine detailing isn't a high priority.
Lateral Dumbbell raises (flies) 1 Set each of 12, 10 and 6 reps; final reps in each set should be moderately difficult/almost impossible
Forward Dumbbell flies 1 Set each of 12, 10 and 6 reps; final reps in each set should be moderately difficult/almost impossible
Rearward flies (can be done lying face down on bench, or seated, bending at your waist) 1 Set each of 12, 10 and 6 reps; final reps in each set should be moderately difficult/almost impossible
Upright rows (preferably with barbell, though cable is acceptable) 1 Set each of 12, 10 and 6 reps; final reps in each set should be moderately difficult/almost impossible
Shoulder shrugs 1 Set each of 40, 16, 12 and 6 reps; final reps in last two sets should be moderately difficult/almost impossible
DONE.Phase 2: Precision bombing
This routine etches those cool-looking "bearclaw" striations into your shoulders. With this routine, the lactic acid build-up in your muscles will burn like napalm, so be warned! The good news - that means you're getting results. Burnouts are highly effective but quite taxing on your muscles. I recommend doing the following routine once a week for a month, then switching to another shoulder campaign for at least a couple months.
Fly "SUPERSET" burnouts (Perform a set with moderate weight, where about 12 reps is your failure point; halve that and do the new weight to failure; halve that and perform it to failure. NO REST between these micro-sets!!!) This can often turn quite comical, when by the last micro-set you're whimpering like an abandoned puppy and struggling to hold onto wimpy 5- or 10-lb dumbbells Lateral Set 1' Set 2' Set 3' Rest 2 minutes… Anterior Set 1' Set 2' Set 3' Rest 2 minutes… Rear Set 1' Set 2' Set 3' Rest 3 minutes…
Seated dumbbell overhead press SUPERSET BURNOUTS Same scheme as above, but with the seated overhead DB press. No need to go excessively heavy. The idea is to sear in definition and shape through superconcentrated fatigue.
Got anything left in the tank? If you do… Give your shoulders a 5-minute break (do something else, like some quick abs sets) Shoulder shrugs; 3 NORMAL sets of 45, 20, 12; 2 minutes rest between
Call fire department. Place should be a smoking ruin when you're done. :)
Congratulations. If you got through this without slacking, and can repeat it over and over again until it's habit, you will see amazing results. Obviously, I can't make you use these tools. You must choose to pick them up and use them. So please do it, not for me, but for you. It is truly a blissful state when your exterior wrapper - your body - matches the powerful and unlimited person that you are inside. My reward comes from guiding you to experience that, just as I have.
