Shoulder Raises

[KCPreki11]

Which of these following shoulder raises work the same muscle?

1) Seated Side Raises - Bent over so chest is to knees. At the top of the contraction your arms are in a "L" shape.

2) Seated and arms straight out to the side

2) Facing Incline Bench - When you lay FACING an incline bench and bring your arms straight out.

4) Standing bent over at the waist so your upperbody is parallel with the floor and arms go straight out to your side.

 

[Beowulf]

All but 'seated arms straight out to side' work the posterior delts. Is this a quiz or a question?

 

[KCPreki11]

Beowulf, it's a question from me, just a little confused.

So I could choose just one of those 3 to hit the posterior delt? Reccomendation?

Also, would there be a difference between: when the contraction is L-Shaped or just straight out?

 

[Beowulf]

I tend to go lighter and straighter, though sometimes I go heavier and finish with more of an L. Mix it up. If you go higher reps, try to keep it straighter. when you go heavier some bend is inevitable.

I suggest you use all of the above exercises. If you do it without support (ie standing up) you will not tax the rear delt as much. It will become more of a core movement. AT least that is how it feels to me. Core development is important, but there are a million better exercises than this for working the core. I say drop the standing rear lateral raises and stick with the incline bench and seated with chest to knees. Work you way up in weight carefully. I tweaked my rhomboids last year doing these.

I have read in a couple of the muscle comic books that at least Gustavo Badell and Chris Cook train the posterior delt first, as most people lack development, and the anterior gets hammered in your chest workout. Sounds logical to me.

I think this is a crucial area to develop. I have RC probs from a couple of years w/o working the rear delt, but since I've done these I've been able to lift heavier w/less rotator cuff issues.

 

[KCPreki11]

Beowulf, if you don't mind, just one more quick question.

I'm having a tough time dropping behind the back pulldowns (from my routine) in favor of just pullups. Do you know if just pullups can replace behind the back pulldowns? I just don't see how they target the same muscle.

 

[Beowulf]

Beowulf, if you don't mind, just one more quick question.

I'm having a tough time dropping behind the back pulldowns (from my routine) in favor of just pullups. Do you know if just pullups can replace behind the back pulldowns? I just don't see how they target the same muscle.

I don't have great shoulder flexibility, so maybe it just seems worse to me, but I think you are insane if you do behind the neck pulldowns or shoulder presses. I have read six million times that this will cause injury, but I have also seen guys with tons of experience doing them. Obviously everyone doesn't get injured by it; I just know for me it isn't worth it.

It seems pretty unnatural to strain to pull your head forward and out of the way so that you can get your shoulders at an odd angle to pull. Sure, the angle that you hit your lats at may be a little different, but I don't think it will make that much difference. I remember reading a while back about a study that stated that behind the neck actually recruited less lats than pulldowns to the collar bone. I think it was in Muscle Media.

If you still want to hit your back from another angle try throwing in this occassional variation. I don't know what its called, but kneel down in front of a high pulley and do a row/pulldown morph at about a 60degree angle. Do one side at a time. I have always felt that I recruit my lats, teres, and rhomboids differently than any other exercise. This is one of my favorites to throw in some variety every few workouts, especially if you want to work on details on your back.

 

[sarge]

i agree,anything behind the neck you are just asking for injury.i know many have done behind the neck presses with big weights,but i still don`t recomend it.