Well rounded shoulder routine?

Philshred

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Hey guys I'm working hard to bring up my shoulders and I've been doing this routine x2 a week. For the meanwhile I don't have a lot of equipment and no rack to do standing barbell press. But will have a better gym within 3 weeks.

1-smith machine seated shoulder press (3 sets up to 8 reps)
2- seated db shoulder press (3 sets to failure/dropset)
3-cable side lateral raise (3 sets of 12 reps)
4-upright rows (3 sets of 12 reps)
5- barbel shrugs (3 sets to failure/dropset)
6- rear delt fly (3 sets of 12 reps)

Any advice would be appreciated, am I hitting my shoulders in all directions? Thanks guys!
 
asooneyeonig

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1-BB overhead press (5 sets up to 3-5 reps)
2- standing db shoulder press (5 sets of 10)
3- side laterals (2+ sets of 20+)
4- band pull aparts (3+ sets of 20+ reps)
5- facepulls (3+ sets of 20+ reps)

here are my 2 cents
 
Philshred

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1-BB overhead press (5 sets up to 3-5 reps)
2- standing db shoulder press (5 sets of 10)
3- side laterals (2+ sets of 20+)
4- band pull aparts (3+ sets of 20+ reps)
5- facepulls (3+ sets of 20+ reps)

here are my 2 cents
What benefits would this have over my routine? I was also wondering if when doing overhead pressing and shrugging if tucking in my shoulder blades is using proper form? Thanks again
 
AaronJP1

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Difficult for me to grow shoulders as well...
 
benmayro

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Difficult for me to grow shoulders as well...
Same here, I think my reason stems from my shoulder injury. I have to keep the weights low and move up way slow or my one shoulder dies
 
benmayro

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How did you injure your shoulder?
I believe it stems from hitting in football. It is my dominant hitting shoulder. I first felt it after I truely started to lift after freshman year. After each season, It has gotten worse and my knowledge of lifting including proper routines abd forn has not really helped it. I lost a month and a half last year because I did a drop set on the incline bench. My overall flat bench is great, 300 max as of right now. I just cant in bench or do real wait on shoukder exercises.
 
Sean1332

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1-BB overhead press (5 sets up to 3-5 reps)
2- standing db shoulder press (5 sets of 10)
3- side laterals (2+ sets of 20+)
4- band pull aparts (3+ sets of 20+ reps)
5- facepulls (3+ sets of 20+ reps)

here are my 2 cents
I second that! Since starting 5/3/1 I've noticed better shoulder shape from doing heavy standing BB overhead press. I had never done standing one arm DB press until then either and that rocked my shoulders and my core. Throw in some high rep laterals and face pulls, your shoulders will be bowling balls.

My 2 cents is that if you're doing your routine for your shoulders directly twice per week, you're definetly over training. You have to think that when you hit your chest, you're working your shoulders as well too. Give them time to rest and grow.
 
Rodja

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OHP: I vary to rep ranges from 3-15 depending on feeling
Side Laterals: 3-4 sets of 12-20 (w/ proper form; no body English and proper humerus position)
Facepulls: 4-5 sets of 12-15
External Rotations: 3-4 sets of 15

IME, shoulders respond better to higher frequency with slightly lower volume in each session.
 
asooneyeonig

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What benefits would this have over my routine? I was also wondering if when doing overhead pressing and shrugging if tucking in my shoulder blades is using proper form? Thanks again
1-smith machine seated shoulder press (3 sets up to 8 reps)
i am not a fan of anything machine. and seeing as how we probably all know the age old debate of machines vs free weights i will live this one for now.

2- seated db shoulder press (3 sets to failure/dropset)
you are putting a load on the spine and a huge stabilizer are the glutes. by sitting down you take that out. of course these weights are likely low enough to not cause much harm any time soon. but i see no reason to stand whenever you can. take an example from strongman, they do overhead while standing not seated.

3-cable side lateral raise (3 sets of 12 reps)
i am a fan of cables. i only dropped this as you dont need so many exercises. you can use this as an ancillary movement after some overhead presses.

4-upright rows (3 sets of 12 reps)
if you want shoulders that work at all when you get older you will never do this exercise again. by posting it i guess you have never heard of impingement. read up on it and learn how bad it is. to simplify for others, think of this like smoking cigarettes. sure you can smoke them for 30 years and not have any issues. but we all know it will likely lead to lung cancer.

5- barbel shrugs (3 sets to failure/dropset)
big debate here on whether this should be on a back day or shoulder day. i put them on deadlift and squat day as it plays a huge role on keeping my upright during those lifts.

6- rear delt fly (3 sets of 12 reps)
great exercise. the ones i recommended are just variations.


the rep ranges i recommended in my opinion are superior to shoulder health and eventual size.
 
Philshred

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I second that! Since starting 5/3/1 I've noticed better shoulder shape from doing heavy standing BB overhead press. I had never done standing one arm DB press until then either and that rocked my shoulders and my core. Throw in some high rep laterals and face pulls, your shoulders will be bowling balls.

My 2 cents is that if you're doing your routine for your shoulders directly twice per week, you're definetly over training. You have to think that when you hit your chest, you're working your shoulders as well too. Give them time to rest and grow.
Thank you for the feedback! Normally I use a barbel however as stated there is no rack at my current gym. I will start reading on 5/3/1 and decrease my shoulder training frequency.
 
Philshred

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OHP: I vary to rep ranges from 3-15 depending on feeling
Side Laterals: 3-4 sets of 12-20 (w/ proper form; no body English and proper humerus position)
Facepulls: 4-5 sets of 12-15
External Rotations: 3-4 sets of 15

IME, shoulders respond better to higher frequency with slightly lower volume in each session.
Thank you for responding. What are external rotations, is it for shoulder cuff strengthening?
 
Sean1332

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That's what worked for me personally. Everyone is different. I trained with too high of volume before for too long and it wasnt until I shifted gears that my shoulders grew. I'm still learning. Some people respond to high volume and low frequency and vice versa too.
 
Philshred

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1-smith machine seated shoulder press (3 sets up to 8 reps)
i am not a fan of anything machine. and seeing as how we probably all know the age old debate of machines vs free weights i will live this one for now.

2- seated db shoulder press (3 sets to failure/dropset)
you are putting a load on the spine and a huge stabilizer are the glutes. by sitting down you take that out. of course these weights are likely low enough to not cause much harm any time soon. but i see no reason to stand whenever you can. take an example from strongman, they do overhead while standing not seated.

3-cable side lateral raise (3 sets of 12 reps)
i am a fan of cables. i only dropped this as you dont need so many exercises. you can use this as an ancillary movement after some overhead presses.

4-upright rows (3 sets of 12 reps)
if you want shoulders that work at all when you get older you will never do this exercise again. by posting it i guess you have never heard of impingement. read up on it and learn how bad it is. to simplify for others, think of this like smoking cigarettes. sure you can smoke them for 30 years and not have any issues. but we all know it will likely lead to lung cancer.

5- barbel shrugs (3 sets to failure/dropset)
big debate here on whether this should be on a back day or shoulder day. i put them on deadlift and squat day as it plays a huge role on keeping my upright during those lifts.

6- rear delt fly (3 sets of 12 reps)
great exercise. the ones i recommended are just variations.

the rep ranges i recommended in my opinion are superior to shoulder health and eventual size.
Wow, really appreciate the time you took to explain everything. I searched online about the upright rows regarding impingement and have to say that I will definitely cancel out that exercise. I normally do standing barbell oh press but as stated I don't have any racks currently. So out of curiosity there's no advantages of doing seated db press compared to standing for isolating shoulder development?
 
Philshred

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That's what worked for me personally. Everyone is different. I trained with too high of volume before for too long and it wasnt until I shifted gears that my shoulders grew. I'm still learning. Some people respond to high volume and low frequency and vice versa too.
Thank you, I just changed up my routine within the last two weeks to see if my body would respond higher to training frequency. I'm just trying to see if this way I will get more results. Only time will tell :)
 
Sean1332

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When you increase training frequency be sure to lower the training volume.
 
Philshred

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When you increase training frequency be sure to lower the training volume.
Ill take that into account for sure! I just love working out at the gym. But I guess sometimes less is more.
 
hvactech

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please incorporate dedicated rear delts exercises
 
asooneyeonig

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Wow, really appreciate the time you took to explain everything. I searched online about the upright rows regarding impingement and have to say that I will definitely cancel out that exercise. I normally do standing barbell oh press but as stated I don't have any racks currently. So out of curiosity there's no advantages of doing seated db press compared to standing for isolating shoulder development?
there is a benefit to do doing seated. you are still pushing weight. i am a believer of strength over pretty muscles. and if you look at strongman competitions they always stand when pressing. and if you dont have any racks, again take an example from strongman. clean the bar and press it overhead.
 
MuscleGauge1

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I think this is a good routine for sure. I Think the only thing I would add would be more sets
of shrugs. Shrugs really help your shoulders out a lot when it comes to strength. Add some
more shrugs and also maybe some overhead presses. Static presses this is when you hold
both arms above your head and use one single arm to press. Try it they are a lot of fun.
 

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