Boulder Builders!

8 Moves to Detonate New Gains In Your Delts

It doesn’t matter which type of physique you aspire to: bodybuilding, Classic Physique, Men’s Physique, or just buffed and beach-ready – you need wide, round, capped deltoids. You might know most of the best exercises to blow out your shoulders to boulders, but it never hurts to get some more tips on how to get the most out of every movement. Here are eight excellent exercises you can use, along with pointers to improve the efficiency of each one.

Seated Dumbbell Press

If you had to pick one and only one exercise to build the shoulders, this would be your best bet. Some might argue that the barbell military press is superior, but my contention with that movement is that it lends itself to excessive recruitment of the anterior deltoids due to the bar’s path of motion forward of the head. Many trainers also have a tendency to lean back into the seated bench and scoot their butts forward, essentially turning the exercise into a steep incline press for the upper chest. In contrast, using dumbbells allows the resistance to travel in a plane directly over the shoulders rather than angled forward. This shifts a bit more stress on to the medial delts. Granted, just about everyone can use more total resistance in the military press. That’s because pressing individual dumbbells requires substantially more balance and coordination. That’s also precisely why it’s more effective. As a general rule, the tougher an exercise is, the more bang for the buck it delivers in terms of muscle growth. I recommend using a seated bench for these, but be careful not to put more than a slight arch in your lower back. You can have someone hand the dumbbells off to you, but I personally find that I’m able to get a properly balanced grip on the inner handle if I clean them up from my thighs instead. It’s a matter of personal preference. Another choice is whether to press the ‘bells straight up to the sky, or bring them together with a clang at the top of each rep. Bringing them together will get the front delts a little more involved. Many trainers find that touching the dumbbells requires them to fully lock out their arms, which takes a portion of the tension off the deltoids and transfers it to the triceps. Try it both ways and see which one grinds up the muscle fibers of your shoulders better.

Smith Machine Press to Front

Some of you already have shoulder issues like rotator cuff damage, impingement or arthritis. Many more of you will eventually develop one or more of these problems. It’s likely that heavy dumbbell presses will be out of the question. In severe cases, even light dumbbells will no longer be an option. Various types of machines will allow you to continue to include overhead presses, as they lock you into a set movement track and require no balancing. For those who loved the military press, the seated Smith machine press to the front is a reasonable facsimile that allows the use of some decent weights. The real key to making the most of this movement is setting up your seated bench correctly. You want to find the exact spot where the bar comes down and almost hits your nose, but just clears it. This will be the best position to press from to get the most shoulder activation. If the bench is set back even a few more inches, you’ll end up leaning your torso backward and working your upper chest. Lower the bar to the point where your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Depending on the length of your arms, this could be as high as your eyeline, or as low as your chin. Don’t lower the bar all the way to your clavicles, as this is an excessive and unnecessary range of motion for the shoulder joints and will result in chronic pain or injury over time.

Machine Press

Though the Smith machine is technically the closest thing to a barbell, there are many other types of plate-loading and selector stack machines with individual handles, either connected or moving independently. These permit your arms to travel straight up in a plane directly over your shoulder joints. The Hammer Strength behind-neck press is easily the most common of this type of machine. Many trainers find these allow for a better stimulation of the overall deltoids than the Smith machine press to the front. They can be used as the primary pressing movement, but a very useful way to utilize machine presses is at the very end of a full shoulder session in which you pressed with dumbbells or a barbell earlier on. You won’t need to worry about balancing the weight, so you can focus purely on driving your delts all the way into full exhaustion.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

A compound movement is a must for overall shoulder mass, but you will never have that coveted “capped” look of true cannonball delts without maximally developing the medial, or side heads. Lateral raises are the only means to achieve that look. The classic dumbbell version is still the best option, but good form is paramount. If you simply throw the ‘bells up with sloppy form and momentum, there will be very little tension on the side delts. Forget about going heavy. I’ve yet to see even extremely strong pro bodybuilders use decent form with anything over 50s. If you’re half their size, it’s safe to say you won’t need to go over 30-35 pounds at most. Begin as shown, with the dumbbells in front of your body. Starting with them at your sides already removes part of the range of motion. Keep a slight bend in your elbows, and pay close attention to the feeling in your side delts. The strength of your contractions should dictate your particular style of performance. If maintaining a constant hand position delivers that, then so be it. If the “pouring water” style of tipping your thumbs downward as you raise the dumbbells gives you a more intense contraction, do them that way. If you are going to use more of a cheating style of rep, reserve that for extending sets after you’ve already completed at least eight reps in good form.

Leaning Cable Lateral Raise

While dumbbells are highly effective tools, the one drawback they present in “arc” movements such as curls and lateral raises is that they obey the laws of gravity. That means that they provide very little resistance at the start of that arc motion, which in this case is the stretch position. Cables solve that inherent limitation of free weights, providing even resistance from start to finish. One very common mistake I’ve seen with cable laterals is that the trainer stands too close to the weight stack, and sometimes doesn’t even get that all-important resistance in the stretch position to start the motion. Two methods to ensure you do get it are to stand farther away from the stack so that the stack is already at least slightly separated at the starting point, or to hold on to one of the uprights with the non-working arm, and lean your body away from the resistance.

Rear Dumbbell Laterals

Hopefully you have been training your rear delts hard and consistently. If not, you’ve been missing out on a substantial amount of shoulder mass. Truly excellent shoulders are round and full not only from the front and back, but the side as well. Many trainers have trouble isolating and feeling their rear delts contract when attempting to perform bent-over, or rear lateral raises. They often wind up working more traps and rhomboids. One trick is to focus on the movement of your shoulder blades. If they come all the way together, you are using the upper back far more than your posterior deltoids. Putting too much of a bend in your arms/elbows is usually the culprit. Another helpful method for isolating the rear delts is to do your dumbbell raises facedown on an incline bench. It automatically makes the movement stricter, which is why you will immediately find you can’t go as heavy as you can freestanding and bent. Now you’re using pure, isolated rear delt power. You won’t need a ton of weight to get the job done. Keep the reps a little higher on these, around 12-15.

Rear Delt Machine

Dumbbells are unquestionably an excellent tool for shoulders in general, and especially for all types of lateral raises. But for some people, it’s too hard to master the correct form that allows them to get those quality contractions and a pump where they want it, smack-dab in the rear delts. Machines can be the solution. Most gyms have rear delt machines that double as a pec flye, depending on whether you sit facing into the pad, or with your back on the pad. Make sure you have the movement arms adjusted for all the way back, so you can get a good stretch at the commencement of every rep. You would want them set forward if working the chest, unless you have double-jointed shoulders. Experiment with your grip to see which one feels best. You could have the standing grip on the handles, or else push them away from the stack using just the heels of your hands. Doing your sets on the rear delt machine one arm at a time is what happens to give me the best contractions. I will also rotate my torso slightly away from the stack in the direction of the working arm, to ensure that there is full tension at the beginning of the range of motion where I start my reps.

Cable Front Raise

Personally, I don’t feel that specific training for the anterior deltoids is necessary for the vast majority of people. I have yet to see a pair of weak shoulders that had either overpowering rear or side delts, but front delts that were weak in comparison. The opposite scenario is a far more familiar sight. The anterior deltoids get hammered pretty well in any type of press, be it flat, decline, incline or overhead. If for some bizarre reason you are one of those rare mutants with lagging front delts, front raises are your best bet. Dumbbells and barbells are good, but you will lose out on some of the resistance in the stretch position as you start the movement. Instead, go for a cable attachment, and do your raises one or two arms at a time. You might find the movement feels more natural and effective if you do these facing away from the stack, with the cable between your legs.

About the model: Lionel Beyeke

Originally from Cameroon but having lived most of his life in France, Lionel Beyeke is a far better bodybuilder than his contest record would indicate. Though he only has one pro win to his credit in eight seasons since winning his pro card the year before by taking second to Roelly Winklaar at the Arnold Amateur in Ohio, Beyeke has a stellar physique that would have certainly racked up a few more wins had had mastered totally sharp contest condition from front to back and top to bottom. He has the roundest, fullest muscle bellies seen since Flex Wheeler, but with a better structure. His muscle thickness and density rivals that of Kai Greene or Phil Heath. And as for his shoulders, they are simply two of the very best in the game today. Perfectly round and bursting with bundled fibers, and cleaved into three perfectly distinct heads, they are the type of shoulders we all wish we had. Keep working hard and smart on yours, and maybe they will approach his level one day!

Lionel’s Shoulder Routine

Seated Dumbbell Press 4 x 8-10 reps

Bent-Over Cable Laterals 4 x 8-10 reps

Incline Bench Rear Laterals 3 x 8-10 reps

Behind-the-Back, One-Arm Cable Laterals 3 x 8-10 reps

Prone Incline Bench Front Raises 3 x 8-10 reps

Dumbbell Shrugs 3 x 8-10 reps

Machine Shrugs 3 x 8-10 reps

Boulder Builder Workout A (beginner to moderate)

Seated Dumbbell Press 4 x 10-12

Dumbbell Lateral Raises 4 x 12

Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raises 4 x 12