Boulder shoulder!!!

[blaykeryan]

I'm not new to lifting...With in the last several months I've noticed minimal to no growth in my shoulders...I've always thought that they were a strong muscle for me...anyway I've experimented with different rep ranges...heavy weight/moderate/light weight mixed up in different weeks...I can't seem to make any progress...any one have any suggestions on shocking my shoulders? I base my routine off of db presses or bb press....

 

[Goliath1]

I think the question is to vague bro..

You'll have to layout your sessions for anyone to give you a good answer otherwise were wasting time guessing and eliminating what you are or aren't doing..

 

[blaykeryan]

I'm alternating workout sessions with db side laterals (seated, standing, one arm)..don't go heavier than 35lbs...seated db presses rep ranges are 5-15 depending if it's high volume or not...my max on db press is 85lbs...bb press is weak imo max is 185....I incorporate face pulls..last week's routine- 4*5-10 seated db press..60,70,80,80..seated db laterals 3*12 25lbs...db front raises 3*10 30 lbs...seated reverse laterals for rear dealts,3*6-12 work up to 40 lbs...Then I burn out on the hammer shoulder press machine..drop set 3 plates,2, then 1 until failure

 

[smshannon001]

I love shoulder day and always go high volume.

I'll outline my last shoulder day in case it gives you ideas. You may do this kinda stuff already but in case you don't, here it goes!


Db seated sho press
2 warm ups
1 heavy warm up
3 sets 6-8 reps
Last set drop set

HS Sho Press
Usually pyramid set up then down using 25lb plates
Work up to as many plates as I can and still hit 8-10 reps
Then do 1-2 sets at that heavy weight
Last set strip set all the way back to a 25lb on each side

Side lateral (double drop)
Heavy laterals for 8 -10 reps ~50lb
Drop for another 10-12 reps ~35lb
Drop to seated side laterals 20-25lb
Hit that for 3 sets

Same thing for front raises but the middle set after the first drop is done with a hammer grip, skightly across the chest

Seated bent over rear delt raise, dropset
Keep good form making a T with ur elbows and torso
Heavy fir 10-12 reps then drop for 15+

Mixed cable front, side raises, upright row, no rest, dropsets
Typically 4 sets. Non stop!

 

[Goliath1]

If your really switching up reps between 5-15,
I'd try just repping higher, shoot for 25 or better..
Rep them out til you can't even lift up your arms and you feel that burn that makes you want to cry..

The idea given above is something I recently started doing, my brother put me onto it because he couldn't get his shoulders or traps to grow..

He'd hit laterals, face pulls, shrugs, reverse flys back to back, non stop.. His traps seemed to blow up in like 2 months time and his shoulders were chiseled.. He would also hit them 2-3x a week at random because they were lagging..

I personally never work front delts specifically, I hit them enough during other movements, there actually overdeveloped compared to side an rear..

I like to do my Military presses standing to sometimes, you can also try cleans..

 

[RegisterJr]

I'd try just repping higher, shoot for 25 or better..
Rep them out til you can't even lift up your arms and you feel that burn that makes you want to cry..
..

I like this response.

On your higher volume days, throw in some higher reps like Goliath suggested.

I love getting blood into my delts, and it has given me great results this year.

Some other exercises to add in that can load the shoulders with blood/pain, are six-ways, banded over-and-backs, spider crawls, wider grip high rep OHP's, and delt destroyers (!!!).

 

[RegisterJr]

Oh, and horizontal presses. They're hard to do high rep, but definitely kill the rear delts fast.

 

[Sean1332]

I might be captain obvious here, and sorry if I am, but are you eating enough?

 

[Goliath1]

Lol

 

[mountainman33]

High rep and high volume for shoulders seems to be the remedy for lack in shoulder size for most people. You have to remember, your delts are like the calves of the upper body: they're involved in just about every arm movement, therefore they are a very dense muscle. They require almost the same type of work as cavles do, but make sure you start with compound movements first.

 

[genthoseffect]

The best advise I ever got for training delts was to drop above the head presses all together. Focus on db laterals and upright rows, heavy of course. You are hitting your delts with chest and back every week too...one of the most overtrained muscle groups there is! Very few ever buy in to what I'm telling you, because it is a bit of a leap of faith at first...but it works, trust me. I havent pressed for shoulders in over 5 years. haven't looked back!

 

[Goliath1]

The best advise I ever got for training delts was to drop above the head presses all together. Focus on db laterals and upright rows, heavy of course. You are hitting your delts with chest and back every week too...one of the most overtrained muscle groups there is! Very few ever buy in to what I'm telling you, because it is a bit of a leap of faith at first...but it works, trust me. I havent pressed for shoulders in over 5 years. haven't looked back!

Post some delt pics brotha!!
In all seriousness I want to see them..

I do see your justification, but eliminating pressing moves all together, idk about that..

I don't train front delts, because of the reasons you stated, agreed there..

I believe everybody is different and this may be what works best for you, however it is not the case with myself.. And yes, I have tried this for a 3yr period due to a lack of options..

Upright rows also give the alot of people problems including myself, cables give me no issues however..

 

[genthoseffect]

Post some delt pics brotha!!
In all seriousness I want to see them..

I do see your justification, but eliminating pressing moves all together, idk about that..

I don't train front delts, because of the reasons you stated, agreed there..

I believe everybody is different and this may be what works best for you, however it is not the case with myself.. And yes, I have tried this for a 3yr period due to a lack of options..

Upright rows also give the alot of people problems including myself, cables give me no issues however..

Gladly! But I'm a few posts shy of being able to post pics. You can kinda see em on my avatar, but I'll post a couple as soon as I'm able

 

[Goliath1]

Gladly! But I'm a few posts shy of being able to post pics. You can kinda see em on my avatar, but I'll post a couple as soon as I'm able

You look like you know what your doing from your Avi, no doubt there..

I don't think it's neccasary to blast shoulders, I will admit, I over work mine.. And it has given me issues.. But I'm always open to advice or others experienced options..

Start posting brotha!! Lol welcome to AM also..

 

[genthoseffect]

Here ya go...
All the pics i have on my computer are too big, but..
Here's a clip from my youtube channel of me training shoulders last week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hG4NEjurOs

 

[Goliath1]

Thanks boss, looking beasty for sure..

Question for you, when I do upright rows, I bring the bar up higher, to my chin almost.. I notice your nowhere near your chin.. Wondering if that's where my shoulder pain comes from after doing uprights..

Any input??

I also bring my laterals up a bit higher, which is why is harder for me to go heavier than I obviously can..

 

[carpee]

The best advise I ever got for training delts was to drop above the head presses all together. Focus on db laterals and upright rows, heavy of course. You are hitting your delts with chest and back every week too...one of the most overtrained muscle groups there is! Very few ever buy in to what I'm telling you, because it is a bit of a leap of faith at first...but it works, trust me. I havent pressed for shoulders in over 5 years. haven't looked back!

a few years ago I would never say this, but this is true for me as well. I still do presses, hammer strength, db, and whatever else I'll mix in but the most growth came from throwing up heavy laterals with some body English. do 4-6 sets of 2-3 if you have to, before you know you will be able to use that weight for strict reps. heavy upright rows with a wide grip or even with DB's and shorter range of motion have helped me a ton as well....I keep it moving like a piston in the middle of the ROM

 

[genthoseffect]

The higher your arm gets, the more shearing force is on that relatively shallow shoulder joint. So that could definitely be the culprit...that's another reason that I don't like overhead presses

But the main reason I use a shorter range of motion on most all lifts is to keep tension on the muscle. The two things I'm always trying to maximize are load and time under tension. When your arm get above parallel on lateral or uprights, the traps start taking on more and more of the load. I want it all to stay on my delts

 

[Goliath1]

I'm going to give your way a try this week, for the uprights and laterals that is.. I've always felt like I was cheating if I didn't get that full range of motion above my shoulders..

I do love uprights but my shoulders don't always, may be this is a fix..

I'll keep you posted or tag you in my log..
Thanks for the feedback bro..

 

[HIT4ME]

Post some delt pics brotha!!
In all seriousness I want to see them..

I do see your justification, but eliminating pressing moves all together, idk about that..

I don't train front delts, because of the reasons you stated, agreed there..

I believe everybody is different and this may be what works best for you, however it is not the case with myself.. And yes, I have tried this for a 3yr period due to a lack of options..

Upright rows also give the alot of people problems including myself, cables give me no issues however..

I am a big fan of compound movements, and they have their time and place, but sometimes you have to think more deeply about your training. Sometimes, these movements just don't hit the muscle the way you want.

Everyone always focuses on bench press for chest for instance, but once I learned to give up the idea that I HAD to bench to improve my chest, I saw more progress. Dorian Yates gave up squatting because it didn't suit him.

On shoulders, I've had periods where I've done ONLY lateral raise type movements. These times allowed me to learn to focus on the muscle better, and when I went back to pressing, my presses were stronger and I had more control over the muscle and they had a more pronounced effect on my shoulders because of it....

 

[blaykeryan]

Thanks for all of the replies...and yes I'm eating enough..I don't need preaching on nutrition ha..I will experiment with focusing on lateral movments..I've always loved pressing type movements though...honestly my shoulders grow a lot when I'm on a pro/aas but I've decided to stop taking that route for several reasons...shoulders would grow so much that I didnt train them every week because they were overtaking the rest of my upper body

 

[Bchesney]

Have you thought about incorporating handstand pushups into your training? You can scale them from a box if youre not quite to strict yet~ I found these to be really helpful in building shoulder strength