Beautiful & Sexy Shoulders
Wednesday August 11, 2010
First things first. Happy anniversary to my sis Bethe & hubby Bob! Hope you two enjoy some R&R!!!
Also, a BIG THANK YOU to Dr. J tag teaming with me yesterday! I loved all the reader comments & things you had to say about you do or don't do & lessons for all of us! Thx to all of you!
So, I do want to talk about shoulders as April asked me what my favorite exercises were for my shoulders when I wrote a couple weeks ago about some of my fav exercises in general.
Honestly, my shoulders respond pretty well to weights so even though I work then very hard, I also am a decent gainer in this area. Like all my workouts, I do mix it up. I like doing a variety of moves. I like changing up the weight, the reps, the order of exercises & yes, whether I use dumbbells, machines, bands, cables or weight plates.
In my younger years, I will say this. Even though I changed things up, I did stick to basics when I was wanting to build some size. I did heavier moves on the dumbbell & barbell presses. I never really went too heavy on the laterals as I wanted to use proper form & even during my bodybuilding days, did not go above 20 pounds here. I relied on the press movements to build up my shoulders BUT always used proper form so as not to blow out a shoulder.. don't want to do that!
Nowadays, things are the same. I still use my heavier weights (well, heavy for me) on the press movements. For the side laterals, I usually drop set in the 12.5 pounds down to 5 pound range. Yes, sometimes I do go to 15 pounds on side raises. For both of these moves, I still mix it up with dumbbells, machines, barbells & cables. For side raises, I mix it up with dumbbells, cables, machines, leaning side raises both standing, with a cable machine & on an incline bench. I also change the order, reps weights etc.
I also do NOT FORGET my rear delts. Sometimes I work them with shoulders & other times with my back BUT I work them too! I use dumbbells for the standard rear delt move (I do sitting, standing but knees bent & even with my head on the back of an incline bench) & also dumbbells lying prone on an incline or flat bench. Cables are great too and I have a couple moves I love too shown both here (but make sure your arms come across at the rear delt level & his seem lower) and here (sometimes I do start out higher like this but not quite as high as she is showing). Here is a pic using a resistance band. I also do a high rope pull which is great as well. I also love this bent over cable rear delt move here (I like to bend my knees a bit more & be closer to the floor).
As for front delts, I worked them more in my younger years. I still do work them but not as much as the presses, side & rear delts. Why - because I already do a ton of stuff that works them indirectly like my chest, push-ups, front presses & more so..... although I work them directly, I less than the other areas. If you don't work them as much as I do, definitely get some work on the front delts too.
Now, upright rows. There are some discussions about whether you should or should not do these in the "exercise field". I do them with dumbbells, barbells, cables (with different attachments), weight plates & more. I do tend to use lighter weight & am very careful with form, like always! Read here for more about that & also why I rarely do behind the neck presses or even pulldowns (for back). Roy, feel free to chime in if you get to read this & you may not due to your travel.
There are a lot of ways to work the shoulders but just be sure you use proper & correct form! Using too much weight & not paying attention is a sure fire way to hurt your precious shoulders! I can build with less weight but proper form. I have done so in my older age too!
One thing I love to pay attention to is retracting the scapulae & dropping the shoulders before a press. I love this tip & wrote about it here with pics & a description! IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE although you will have to use lighter weight.
I could write on & on but I have gone on too long already. What else is new!
What is your favorite shoulder exercise?
PS: Don't forget for those that want to see that definition & line separation.. it comes down to FOOD! You have to eat healthier & cleaner to see it.
First things first. Happy anniversary to my sis Bethe & hubby Bob! Hope you two enjoy some R&R!!!
Also, a BIG THANK YOU to Dr. J tag teaming with me yesterday! I loved all the reader comments & things you had to say about you do or don't do & lessons for all of us! Thx to all of you!
So, I do want to talk about shoulders as April asked me what my favorite exercises were for my shoulders when I wrote a couple weeks ago about some of my fav exercises in general.
Honestly, my shoulders respond pretty well to weights so even though I work then very hard, I also am a decent gainer in this area. Like all my workouts, I do mix it up. I like doing a variety of moves. I like changing up the weight, the reps, the order of exercises & yes, whether I use dumbbells, machines, bands, cables or weight plates.
In my younger years, I will say this. Even though I changed things up, I did stick to basics when I was wanting to build some size. I did heavier moves on the dumbbell & barbell presses. I never really went too heavy on the laterals as I wanted to use proper form & even during my bodybuilding days, did not go above 20 pounds here. I relied on the press movements to build up my shoulders BUT always used proper form so as not to blow out a shoulder.. don't want to do that!
Nowadays, things are the same. I still use my heavier weights (well, heavy for me) on the press movements. For the side laterals, I usually drop set in the 12.5 pounds down to 5 pound range. Yes, sometimes I do go to 15 pounds on side raises. For both of these moves, I still mix it up with dumbbells, machines, barbells & cables. For side raises, I mix it up with dumbbells, cables, machines, leaning side raises both standing, with a cable machine & on an incline bench. I also change the order, reps weights etc.
I also do NOT FORGET my rear delts. Sometimes I work them with shoulders & other times with my back BUT I work them too! I use dumbbells for the standard rear delt move (I do sitting, standing but knees bent & even with my head on the back of an incline bench) & also dumbbells lying prone on an incline or flat bench. Cables are great too and I have a couple moves I love too shown both here (but make sure your arms come across at the rear delt level & his seem lower) and here (sometimes I do start out higher like this but not quite as high as she is showing). Here is a pic using a resistance band. I also do a high rope pull which is great as well. I also love this bent over cable rear delt move here (I like to bend my knees a bit more & be closer to the floor).
As for front delts, I worked them more in my younger years. I still do work them but not as much as the presses, side & rear delts. Why - because I already do a ton of stuff that works them indirectly like my chest, push-ups, front presses & more so..... although I work them directly, I less than the other areas. If you don't work them as much as I do, definitely get some work on the front delts too.
Now, upright rows. There are some discussions about whether you should or should not do these in the "exercise field". I do them with dumbbells, barbells, cables (with different attachments), weight plates & more. I do tend to use lighter weight & am very careful with form, like always! Read here for more about that & also why I rarely do behind the neck presses or even pulldowns (for back). Roy, feel free to chime in if you get to read this & you may not due to your travel.
There are a lot of ways to work the shoulders but just be sure you use proper & correct form! Using too much weight & not paying attention is a sure fire way to hurt your precious shoulders! I can build with less weight but proper form. I have done so in my older age too!
One thing I love to pay attention to is retracting the scapulae & dropping the shoulders before a press. I love this tip & wrote about it here with pics & a description! IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE although you will have to use lighter weight.
I could write on & on but I have gone on too long already. What else is new!
What is your favorite shoulder exercise?PS: Don't forget for those that want to see that definition & line separation.. it comes down to FOOD! You have to eat healthier & cleaner to see it.
Posted by truth2beingfit at 8/10/2010 9:00 PM 
Categories: Weights, Workouts, Tips, Exercise, Weight lifting
Tags: family Exercise workouts Dr. J weights weight lifting Tips shoulders
Categories: Weights, Workouts, Tips, Exercise, Weight lifting
Tags: family Exercise workouts Dr. J weights weight lifting Tips shoulders
Legendary bodybuilder Bob Paris was training at the Gold's Denver in the late 90's. One day I noticed he did rear delts first in his shoulder routine. I asked him why. He reminded me that read delts are every bit as important -- more so, as front/side delts. In subsequent weeks I noticed he also ALWAYS stared his leg workouts with hamstrings not quads.
My point? The body parts (for us die-hard sculptors) that we think are insignificant, really aren't. Since those days, I have alway prioritized read delts, and hams as much as "the good stuff".
You can take the boy out of bodybuilding, but.....
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Ah, Roy, we are on the same page with this one!!!!!!!!!!! When I was lifting heavy & bodybuilding, I always did hamstrings on a separate day from quads. Now, I mix it up & some days they are before & others after depending. As for rear delts, they are never left for the end!
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Im so boring.
I LOVE cable side raises
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Did those this morn along with other ones too!
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I'm more boring that Miz, because I love shoulder presses. On the bench, standing, on the stability ball, anywhere.
Front or side raises? Still not feeling the love on those. Which probably means I should do a lot more of them.
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I obviously need to work on my form. Thank you for the tips and all the links. I can't comment more, I have to read up before I head for the gym today.
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I never liked shoulder exercises
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Karen, my heavy is not a typical heavy. On barbell, I go 50 pounds down to 20 with drop sets. With dumbbell, I go 25 down to "whatever" with drop sets.
When I was bodybuilding, I went heavier.
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Now who doesn't appreciate Beautiful & Sexy Shoulders? Since my weight training is largely dumbbell related at present I fine the good old fashioned Overhead Dumbbell Presses a good friend to me. I'm not going to claim sexy shoul;ders here though. Maybe someday I'll give you all a peek at them though
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Oh I have SO, SO much to learn....This is like a foreign language to me....
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Shoulders....urgh! Not a muscle group I love to do BUT love the results!
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I once did some behind the neck pulldowns and was instantly injured for over a month. Never.again. Weights were waaaay to heavy. But still, I'll never do that exercise again.
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I really appreciated the time here yesterday!!!
I have a new exercises for shoulders that I am attempting to do: The planche pushup! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyuJ3T0sQ88
I'm also increasing the range of all my bodyweight exercises.
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I want to be able to do that push-up but I doubt it will happen.. I can dream though!
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