Best way to get rounder outer Delts?

Violator4200

New member
I have working out my shoulders for a long time and lateral raises seem to only do so much. Along with shoulder presses but what do YOU guys think works best? I want more roundness and every muscle I have seems to grow better than my shoulders
 
I will give that a try too, as I have been having issues with getting my Delts larger as well. Thanks guys
 
One thing I see all the time is to not make it a point to concurrently increase strength. If you've been doing the same weights for years, then how do you expect to have any significant growth.
 
I agree. I have been surprised how much weight I can do with seated and standing lateral raises and slowly progressing the weight but no real sign of significant growth. I will trying compounding all of those though thanks
 
My shoulder workout is

Military Press or DB Press 2 sets
Side Laterals 1 set
Rear Laterals 1 set

The outer flare and rounding has a lot to do with side laterals. The "bowling ball look" from the front. I would forget about super setting or adding more sets. I would also never ever do an upright row, ever. I think they are useless and unnecessary strain (my personal opinion)

I have heard people say they cannot grow their shoulders, etc. Some people think they do a lot of weight on side laterals, etc. But i am up to doing 70lbs side laterals each hand, holding briefly at top and controlling down. I hope to do 100's one day, might not happen :) But that is overload. I am just saying i see people military press 2 plates then hop over and side lateral 25-35lbs... what?! I don't know what kind of weight you are pushing, but thats not my point it is like the previous poster said strength increase over time.

Write down what you do each week and beat it. There is NO WAY in year if you go from side laterals with 30lbs to 50lbs you did not grow those puppies. Keep the form good, reps 4-8. There is no magic exercise for any body part, just time, patience, and the grind every workout.

Also, consider how you do the movement. Some people have straight arms like a T, this doesn't put your side delts at their best working position. Bend the arms a bit, follow the natural line of your scapula a little while maintaining a "side" lateral, and try to keep those elbows from flaring out all over the place.
 
I'm a fan of Arnold presses. Usually like to superset those with a rear delt exercise.

When doing Arnold presses you can switch to regular DB presses once you can't do the Arnold presses strictly anymore. I take it a step further and once I can't do the regular DB presses I just keep going until I'm barely lifting the weights (limiting range of motion, aka partial reps). I supplement this general shoulder workout with random heavy days using a barbell for overhead presses (can use more weight).
 
I noticed greater growth in shoulders when i stopped trying to use so much weight and concentrated on only using the part of my body i was trying to work.

Here is an idea to really get a good pump. i used to do a workout where you would start with these heavy chains and do side raises. then you would drop to dumbbells and finish with manuals.

Consider doing manual front and side raises. Have a workout partner stand behind (side) or in front of you and provide the resistance. If you go balls to the wall on this it can start to mentally be as challenging as squats.
 
The biggest problem I've noticed with most shoulder workouts is the excessive focus on the anterior head. I feel this is due primarily to a combination of limited exercises, high egos, and improper form.

If shape is a concern. Isolating moves should be employed to achieve this. My suggestion is to perform side lateral raises with proper form. Unfortunately, most folks do not practice good form with side lateral raises. Your elbow should always face in the positive direction of the motion. If it points to somewhere behind you, you are doing it wrong, and therefore incorporating the unnecessary anterior head.
 
thesinner said:
The Your elbow should always face in the positive direction of the motion. If it points to somewhere behind you, you are doing it wrong, and therefore incorporating the unnecessary anterior head.
Click to expand...

Positive direction of the motion? this makes it sound like your elbow should be pointed up towards the ceiling. What do you mean?
 
I like leaning side raises. Seem to get a better range of motion and (unlike standing) medial head does not get to rest at bottom of rep. Also harder to cheat, so you will probably have to go down in weight.
 
Wide Grip Upright's have worked well for me. Proper form is key...try to isolate the pull to the lateral head. Try performing them in front of a mirror. When you get the correct hand position, you'll see your lateral head pump under the tension. That will be your key hand position to use. I'll usually perform three sets. 1st set will be moderate reps, 2nd set will be low reps, third set will be higher reps than the first for that final blast.

Then follow up with some higher rep lateral raises to fry the lateral head.

Prior to my upright's I do a couple of sets of db presses, and make sure you don't neglect your rear delts.


Oh, and when performing your lateral raises, get those pinkies fingers higher than your thumbs.
 
thesinner said:
The biggest problem I've noticed with most shoulder workouts is the excessive focus on the anterior head. I feel this is due primarily to a combination of limited exercises, high egos, and improper form.

If shape is a concern. Isolating moves should be employed to achieve this. My suggestion is to perform side lateral raises with proper form. Unfortunately, most folks do not practice good form with side lateral raises. Your elbow should always face in the positive direction of the motion. If it points to somewhere behind you, you are doing it wrong, and therefore incorporating the unnecessary anterior head.
Click to expand...

True... Anytime you're doing isolation work for shoulers your main concern should be strictness of form rahter than how much weight you're using. If all you care about is weight, you won't get the results you want. Stick with the most weight you can use with best form!
 
IMO the BEST shoulder exercise is the snatch. Nothing adds mass like that movement, however it is a VERY advanced movement. JMO
 
fritzer said:
maybe he means positive motion like this :)
Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

Hopefully he didn't mean to swing it like that also...that guy could EASILY explode the growth in his shoulders by lowering the weight and being more controlled.
 
to be honest, I started to swing my side lateral raises to move heavier weight, then came back down to my normal weight range and was able to strict form much more. My shoulders have cannonballed!

Ex.

I used to strict form 20lb DB, for sets of 10.

I started swinging 40's for sets of 10, trying to pause at the top. I now can strict form 30's-35's and my shoulder are way larger. So in a way, i'm beginning to believe in cheating. I feel like i had to jump start my nervous system or something into being able to handle the heavier weight first by swinging, and now i can can control 35's very smooth. When i say smooth, i mean, I dont move my body at all, and its controlled liike 2 seconds up and 5 second sdown
 
Damn! Thanks for all the opinions guys. I always did sitting military presses for some reason, then the other day I threw on extra weight and did them standing and man could I feel it! Sure enough 2 days later my shoulders got some growth to them. I also super setted them with dumbell and cable laterals.
 
I stick to mostly overheads and cleans(never really cared for adding the presses). I will say that a trainer at my gym mentioned my rear delts(or lack there of) a while back. Rear delt flies really helped them catch up to my front and sides.
 
Ms9 said:
Positive direction of the motion? this makes it sound like your elbow should be pointed up towards the ceiling. What do you mean?
Click to expand...

At the top of the motion, your elbow would pointing straight up, towards the ceiling.

At the bottom of the motion, your elbow would be pointing outwards to the side, wouldn't it?
 
ryansm said:
IMO the BEST shoulder exercise is the snatch. Nothing adds mass like that movement, however it is a VERY advanced movement. JMO
Click to expand...

Oly lifts are fantastic, but they are so complex.

I used to do snatches, but I got so frustrated due to folks slamming the bar against the rack after doing heavy shrugs, and warping it. It's a lot harder to get under the weight, when the bar has a 2" cant.
 
Try doing the lateral raises while seated on a flat bench. Start each rep from a dead stop, resting the dumbbells on the bench between reps. Also, try raising your little finger to the sky at the top of the rep on lateral raises.

When you do push presses or military presses, make sure to fully lockout each rep and hold for half a second before lowering. Push your head forward to really get the weight locked out ABOVE your head, not above and in front.

If you have the shoulder flexibility, try doing behind the neck presses, they will definitely add mass to your shoulders.

Also, just for fun, try this as a finisher on your delt day. Use the same weight for everything, without setting down the dumbbells, and no rest between exercises. Incline lateral raises facing the bench (reach out like a Y) for max reps, Incline laterals facing away from the bench for max reps, Seated incline front raises for max reps, Standing Lateral raises for max reps. Immediately following this, go to the cable station and do some facepulls (should finish each rep in a double bicep pose while holding the rope).

That finisher is a killer, if you chose the right weight, you should be able to get about 8-12 reps on each exercise.
 
fritzer said:
My shoulder workout is

Military Press or DB Press 2 sets
Side Laterals 1 set
Rear Laterals 1 set

The outer flare and rounding has a lot to do with side laterals. The "bowling ball look" from the front. I would forget about super setting or adding more sets. I would also never ever do an upright row, ever. I think they are useless and unnecessary strain (my personal opinion)

Write down what you do each week and beat it. There is NO WAY in year if you go from side laterals with 30lbs to 50lbs you did not grow those puppies. Keep the form good, reps 4-8. There is no magic exercise for any body part, just time, patience, and the grind every workout.

Also, consider how you do the movement. Some people have straight arms like a T, this doesn't put your side delts at their best working position. Bend the arms a bit, follow the natural line of your scapula a little while maintaining a "side" lateral, and try to keep those elbows from flaring out all over the place.
Click to expand...

Great advice!!! Overhead presses have very little to do with delt development overall... (IMO) Also try 80% rep range :wink1: (i have already said too much...)
 
team180 said:
Great advice!!! Overhead presses have very little to do with delt development overall... (IMO) Also try 80% rep range :wink1: (i have already said too much...)
Click to expand...

This worked excellent for me! Team180 knows his stuff, I can tell you from personal experience :) I suggest anyone truly wanting to excel in making their physique completely transform, to contact him via PM.
 
My shoulders really started to develop when I made it a point to do rotator cuff exercises 3x a week because I was having problems. The roundness came fast when I was doing a more power-oriented program as well (increasing strength like rodja said), including snatches, clean and press, arnold presses, kettle ball snatches, power shrugs, etc. . My traps are still big as well because of all the time I did that work, even though I haven't for a couple of years.
 
monsterbox said:
to be honest, I started to swing my side lateral raises to move heavier weight, then came back down to my normal weight range and was able to strict form much more. My shoulders have cannonballed!

Ex.

I used to strict form 20lb DB, for sets of 10.

I started swinging 40's for sets of 10, trying to pause at the top. I now can strict form 30's-35's and my shoulder are way larger. So in a way, i'm beginning to believe in cheating. I feel like i had to jump start my nervous system or something into being able to handle the heavier weight first by swinging, and now i can can control 35's very smooth. When i say smooth, i mean, I dont move my body at all, and its controlled liike 2 seconds up and 5 second sdown
Click to expand...

this.

Heavy heavy seated db lateral raises. Elbows flexed 30-45%. Its like a "strict swinging" if you will. Dont swing all sloppy and uncontrolled. You dont have to stand still like a robot just moving your arms either.
 
I've found for shoulders there has to be the right combination of form and explosive power. Some people look like they are cheating, but if you look carefuly you'll see that the shoulders are still moving the weight while other things are moving around. I think most people who overly obsess about form aren't going to use enough weight to put the muscle under enough tension for growth.

When I do standing overhead dumbell press I bend my knees a bit at the bottom and push my whole body up as I start the weight up. yeah, it's cheating, and yeah, it lets me use more weight, but it hits my delts, HARD. The key is to explode up with everything, shoulders included. If you just use the cheating to create momentum and take tension off the muscle being worked, it won't help anything.
 
DB side raises while concentrating on thumbs pointing downward. I prefer them seated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top