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Difficulty Building Shoulders

Can never get a good workout, other muscles always take over.

brotein_shake20
brotein_shake20 g Antonio Polino
6 Post(s)
6 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: June 6, 2017
Posted

I've been training my shoulders more than any other muscle group, because they are lagging behind my other muscles.  No matter what exersices I do, I never feel it the next day or two.  My lats and traps always take over the exersises.  Before you say, "what are you talking about, your lats can't take over shoulder exersises!"  Whenever I do lateral raises, my lats always take over the negitave and control the weights down.  I've tried using lighter weights, and it's just too easy and I just can't feel it at all.  A typical shoulder workout for me looks like this:

Arnold press/Military press - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)

Lateral raise - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)

Bent-over rear raises - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)

I will superset some of these exercises together when I am short on time.

Any tips?

Limitless_Derek
Limitless_Derek g Derek Libenstein
21 Post(s)
21 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: February 2, 2017
Posted

First question I'd like to ask is how frequently are you training your shoulders because it's possible you are overtaining them so they arne't having the chance to recover and rebuild.

TimeIsMuscle
TimeIsMuscle p Jason Lakkiss
70 Post(s)
70 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2015
Posted

Building a good set of delts is difficult for us natties. I have been training this lagging body part of mine more frequently also over the past year. The answer to your conundrum is to first train them more frequent (Up to three times a week minimum). I would suggest focusing on side delts and rear delts twice a week leaving one remaining session to focus on building the front delts (reason for this is because front delts get alot of activation from bench pressing/pushing movements I assume that you do for your chest. What I found works really well is this exercise (see link below) for hitting the side delts and isolating them from the interference from other body parts; Bigger Side Delts With One Exercise

 

I hope this helps :)

 

FYI - If you are interested in online coaching please inbox me.

Jason Lakkiss facebook: Time is Muscle twitter:@timeismuscle instagram: TIME_IS_MUSCLE youtube: timeismuscle
brotein_shake20
brotein_shake20 g Antonio Polino
6 Post(s)
6 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: June 6, 2017
Posted
Posted By: Limitless_Derek

First question I'd like to ask is how frequently are you training your shoulders because it's possible you are overtaining them so they arne't having the chance to recover and rebuild.

45ish minutes 2x per week

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: brotein_shake20

45ish minutes 2x per week

Which program are you doing for shoulders? Sets, reps and exercises?

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brotein_shake20
brotein_shake20 g Antonio Polino
6 Post(s)
6 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: June 6, 2017
Posted
Posted By: Scott_Herman

Which program are you doing for shoulders? Sets, reps and exercises?

-Arnold press/Military press - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)
-Dumbbell lateral raise - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)
-Dumbbell bent-over rear raises - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps).


I will superset some of these exercises together when I am short on time.

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: brotein_shake20

-Arnold press/Military press - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)
-Dumbbell lateral raise - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)
-Dumbbell bent-over rear raises - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps).


I will superset some of these exercises together when I am short on time.

It looks like you have enough volume... are you trying my cheat and recover reps?

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brotein_shake20
brotein_shake20 g Antonio Polino
6 Post(s)
6 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: June 6, 2017
Posted
Posted By: Scott_Herman

It looks like you have enough volume... are you trying my cheat and recover reps?

I am not, although I should probobly give them a try. I have tried cheat laterals before though, and my lats always end up taking over the negitive.

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: brotein_shake20

I am not, although I should probobly give them a try. I have tried cheat laterals before though, and my lats always end up taking over the negitive.

It just takes some practice to get used to. Keep trying it and you will see gains from the negatives!

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brotein_shake20
brotein_shake20 g Antonio Polino
6 Post(s)
6 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: June 6, 2017
Posted
Posted By: Scott_Herman

It just takes some practice to get used to. Keep trying it and you will see gains from the negatives!

Alright I'll definitely try cheat&recover on my next shoulder workout! Any tips on how to take the traps and other muscles out of the shoulder exersises?

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: brotein_shake20

Alright I'll definitely try cheat&recover on my next shoulder workout! Any tips on how to take the traps and other muscles out of the shoulder exersises?

Yeah, try to keep your scapula retracted and core tight! That always works!

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FitnessDreams
FitnessDreams p Mark Ellebracht
17 Post(s)
17 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2016
Posted
Posted By: brotein_shake20

I've been training my shoulders more than any other muscle group, because they are lagging behind my other muscles.  No matter what exersices I do, I never feel it the next day or two.  My lats and traps always take over the exersises.  Before you say, "what are you talking about, your lats can't take over shoulder exersises!"  Whenever I do lateral raises, my lats always take over the negitave and control the weights down.  I've tried using lighter weights, and it's just too easy and I just can't feel it at all.  A typical shoulder workout for me looks like this:

Arnold press/Military press - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)

Lateral raise - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)

Bent-over rear raises - 4 sets, 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps (using weight that will cause me to fail/close to fail after those reps)

I will superset some of these exercises together when I am short on time.

Any tips?

Great tips as always by Scott above.

 

My 2 cents for getting the side delts to pop out even more: have you ever tried Y Raises? Those and Standing OVerhead Press are the only 2 movements I do that target the lateral deltoids and they've been popping out like crazy. Plus, Y Raises don't have any risk of shoulder impingement.

Hawk_Given
Hawk_Given g Hawk Given
170 Post(s)
170 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: November 11, 2013
Posted

Great Posts! Arnold presses are my favorite. Definitely have to train more than once a week. I have noticed a difference. Face Pulls are good, too.

MS Athlete BS, Medical Technology (ASCP) BS, Organizational Leadership and Supervision I Give God all the glory! That is where I find true strength!
Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: Hawk_Given

Great Posts! Arnold presses are my favorite. Definitely have to train more than once a week. I have noticed a difference. Face Pulls are good, too.

yeah especially when it comes to a lagging bodypart. Definitely need to be hitting those twice a week! 🏋 

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jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: FitnessDreams

Great tips as always by Scott above.

 

My 2 cents for getting the side delts to pop out even more: have you ever tried Y Raises? Those and Standing OVerhead Press are the only 2 movements I do that target the lateral deltoids and they've been popping out like crazy. Plus, Y Raises don't have any risk of shoulder impingement.

I agree with all these posts and recommendations but I have to bring up the controversial behind-the-neck-press. I have been using these for decades and no other exercise isolates all 3 heads of the Delts as well as provides some Trap activation like this movement. I am aware that they can produce bio-mechanical strain on the shoulder joint and capsule and not all people can do these without issues. I happen to be one of the lucky few that can. I know the bodybuilders of yore like Arnold and Franco as well as many of the mass guys like Doran Yates used these as their main shoulder exercise.

 

I prefer to do them seated and with my elbows pointed slightly forward (which may be why I am not stressing the shoulder joint as much by putting my arms at a 90 degrees out to the side). You don't need tons of weight as well to build some solid shoulders. Again, this is personal opinion and I do rotate in other multi-joint shoulder exercises like DB presses and face pulls as always doing BTN presses can lead to joint overuse syndrome.

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
muscular strength
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