A handsome male silhouette appears to us like this: broad shoulders and narrow hips. But with such natural inclinations, only a few are born. The rest of the male representatives from birth have a completely ordinary figure, with very, very inexpressive indicators of masculinity.
Is it possible to intervene in physiological processes and transform the body to ideal parameters? How to make shoulders wide?
Sports - a panacea for everyone?
Today, there is an opinion that sports are especially good for those who are losing weight and trying to lose weight. It cannot be said that this is absolutely true. Sports load accelerates metabolic processes, accelerates fat burning, but at the same time, after intense training, all those involved feel strong hunger. In fact, those who want to lose weight need to focus on proper nutrition, but it is necessary, but not strenuously and better during daylight hours. But physical exercises are absolutely suitable for those who want to change the body parameters given to them by nature. Better than anyone plastic surgery and aesthetic surgery will help you with the right sports activities to adjust the size and acquire the desired shape. Therefore, if you are wondering how to make your shoulders wide, read the tips below.
The right approach is the basis of success
Before you begin to achieve your goal, you must clearly understand what you want and how you can achieve it. For example, you are interested in the question - how to make the shoulders broad?
If you do not systematically and regularly engage in the necessary set of exercises, you will not move a step towards your dream.
Everyone understands that you need to play sports, but what kind of exercises should you do? Running and others will definitely not help you. Also, forget that swimming will help make your shoulders broad - this is only possible if you have been doing it since childhood.
What you need to know
Many are mistaken in thinking that if they need beautiful hands or broad shoulders, then you need to perform exercises on this particular muscle group. Believing in this myth will take you a lot of time and effort, and you will never see the result.
To achieve what you want, you need to pump the whole body, namely, perform basic exercises. There are only three of them - chest press, deadlift and squats. Properly performed, these exercises are the basis (hence the name) for creating an even load on the entire body and producing testosterone, which stimulates muscle growth and development. In addition, training should be regular, that is, at least 3-4 times a week and lasting at least one hour.
Start your workout with a 7-12 minute warm up. You can run or walk at a brisk pace, and then stretch your arms, legs, neck with the help of exercises that you learned at school in physical education classes. In this way, you will prepare for training and reduce the risk of injury or strain to zero.
on the horizontal bar
We suggest you perform just one exercise that helps your shoulders to be "oblique fathoms" in length.
This exercise you need to perform on the horizontal bar, and for the uninitiated it will seem like pull-ups familiar to everyone. But there are two important points - you must place your hands with a very wide grip and perform at least three sets of 5-8 pull-ups in one workout. By doing this, you will notice positive results already a month later, and the resulting effect will not be temporary, but for life.
How to make broad shoulders at home
Not each of us has the opportunity to regularly visit the gym, but this is not a reason to deny yourself the pleasure of being beautiful - after all, you can work out at home.
You can increase and expand the shoulders due to pumping, which consists of three parts - the middle, front and rear heads. To obtain good effect, it is advisable to load three heads at once.
You will need two dumbbells. Here are exercises for those who are interested in how to make their shoulders wide:
1. Take the dumbbells in your hands, lower them and spread them apart. This exercise stimulates the middle head of the delta.
2. On slightly bent legs, lean forward, take the dumbbells in your hands and spread them, as in the first exercise. This approach stimulates the posterior head of the delta.
3. Take one dumbbell (you can also use a kettlebell) with two palms and lift it in front of you with straight arms - this way the front of the delta is loaded.
We make broad shoulders - without additional equipment
Of course, you can increase your shoulders by doing with your weight. How to do broad shoulders push ups? This method is the most affordable in terms of investment and at the same time very simple. However, these are not quite the usual push-ups that we are used to. To change your shoulder width, take a stance against a wall. To do this, take an emphasis on the floor in front of the wall, place your hands at a distance of about forty centimeters and, pushing off with your feet, stand perpendicular to the wall. For the first time, it is better to ask someone for help so as not to fall. When you complete the rack, push up 5-10 times in 3-4 sets.
broad shoulders- a symbol of beauty and masculinity, the dream of every real man. However, nature is sometimes cruel, and not everyone can boast of the correct and beautiful proportion of shoulders and waist. However, this is not a reason to give up. How to make broad shoulders? There are two main ways: 1) to make the skeleton of the chest and shoulders wider; 2) to build up impressive ones. The first way is optimal for those who are under 20 years old. At an older age, bone growth slows down, and in this case it becomes very difficult to make broad shoulders.
Pull-ups
Most best way make shoulders wider - pull-ups. When performing them, the hands should be placed with the widest possible grip, and the number of approaches should be large enough. With proper work up to 20 years, you will retain broad, courageous shoulders, even if you stop exercising in the gym. For people who have passed this milestone, it will be much more difficult to expand the shoulders in this way, but the exercise is still extremely useful and should definitely be in the training schedule. This concerned the shoulders, now let's talk about the chest. Its expansion is due to special breathing exercises. Most often they are squats with a small weight, and performed on a full breath. In this case, hyperventilation of the lungs occurs, and when it is associated with a load, the cartilages expand, increasing the chest. There should be a weight on the bar with which you can sit down 20 times quite freely. The first ten repetitions should be done three deep breaths before each repetition. The second ten - four breaths each. And finally, five more repetitions of five breaths between squats. Immediately after the exercise, you move on to a pullover with dumbbells. This is necessary in order to consolidate the effect by stretching the chest. Do this bundle twice at the end of a workout once a week. Such exercises should be done cyclically, the pause between cycles should be at least a month. The duration of the cycles should increase, the first is about 4-5 weeks, the second - 5-6, the third - 6-8 weeks. Most often, at the end of the third cycle, you can already see the effect of the exercises. The second way to make broad shoulders is to try to increase muscle mass in the delta region. It should be noted here that the deltas are actually quite small muscles that are often used during many other exercises, so their growth can be a problem. They are used to enduring significant loads, so a special approach is needed here. Try to understand in which of the exercises the deltoid muscles are most responsive to the load. During the exercise, you should feel tension in them all the time, fix the dumbbells in extreme points. Try to work until the burning sensation in the muscles appears. To make the shoulders wider, there are many exercises with a barbell, dumbbells and in simulators. All of them are described in our website. Below are the most popular exercises:
Shrugs with dumbbells
Shrugs(Barbell Shrugs, Dumbbell Shrugs) - Used as a basic movement to work out the trapezius muscles. Dumbbell press(Seated Dumbbell Press) - Used as a basic exercise for working out the shoulder girdle. Forward dumbbell raise(Dumbbell forward raise) - Used primarily to work out the anterior deltoid bundles. Lifting dumbbells to the sides(Dumbbell side raise) - Used as a basic isolation exercise to work out the middle bundles of the deltoid muscles. Lifting the bar to the chin (Lifting the bar to the chin) - Depending on the width of the grip, it is used both for working out the front bundles of the deltoid muscles (narrow grip) and for working out the muscles of the upper back, in particular the trapezius muscles (wide grip). Reverse swings in the peckdeck simulator (“Butterfly”)(Butterfly) - Used as the main isolating exercise to work out the middle bundles of the deltoid muscles.Not only professional athletes need to work on the shoulders, but also girls: thanks to trained shoulders, you can visually reduce the difference between the volumes of the upper and lower parts of the body, and emphasize the relief of the arms. Not less than good reason doing exercises to increase the width of the shoulders and strengthen them - this is the fragility of the shoulder joint and its high mobility. Weak shoulder muscles and frequent injuries in this area can be a serious barrier to good athletic performance. Let's figure out how to make the shoulders wider and stronger if nature has awarded an ectomorphic body type, how to measure the width of the shoulders and monitor progress, which gives additional motivation.
Around the shoulder joint are located, which consist of three bundles:
- front head- located on the front of the shoulder (trains by lifting weights in front of you);
- middle (central) head- located on the side of the shoulder (increased by abducting the arms back and to the sides);
- rear head- is located behind the shoulder and, if not developed, then greatly spoils the male figure (it is used when moving the arms back in a tilt and other exercises in which the humerus is behind the body).
Beautiful wide shoulders form medium bundles of deltas, so you can pump them up and save the results obtained only by regularly performing strength exercises in this area.
What determines the width of the shoulders and how to increase it?
Initially, shoulder width is determined genetically. Testosterone has a huge impact on their development, since deltas have the highest concentration of androgen receptors in human muscles. The deltoid muscles become wider during puberty, and if during adolescence the hormone was not produced in sufficient quantities, then the shoulders will be narrow.
But even this shortcoming can be hidden, because not all bodybuilders are lucky with genetics: professional athletes know well how to expand narrow shoulders and back and make the figure more masculine. In order not to complain about the “inherited from nature” figure at the age of 30, one must not miss important point- With early age start doing exercises to develop the body. Nutrition experts recommend that during puberty, carefully monitor the diet and eat more foods that naturally increase testosterone production:
- barley and buckwheat porridge;
- shrimp and tuna;
- bananas and red grapes;
- eggs;
- nuts;
- broccoli;
- garlic;
- fresh greens;
- foods with low cholesterol.
It is possible to expand the skeleton of the upper shoulder girdle until the age of 20 by doing just two exercises twice a week: push-ups on the uneven bars with a slight forward inclination and pullover, lying with a dumbbell or barbell. Such a small load will just improve your posture and help increase the width of your shoulders. A guy can change the width of his shoulders after 20 years only by pumping up the middle deltoid muscles.
Deltas are trained both with special isolated exercises and with regular push-ups, various presses, etc. But most of the “indirect” exercises develop the front head and, if you don’t specifically pay attention to the rest of the bundles, then muscle imbalance cannot be avoided.
unaesthetic appearance is only part of the problem. When the imbalance accumulates, the risk of injury increases, pain and burning appear in the shoulder area, and the range of motion decreases. In order to comprehensively develop deltas, you need to make a workout in accordance with your preparation and body type.
How to tailor your shoulder workout to your body type?
Skinny ectomorphs with fast metabolisms need to focus more on core exercises. One workout should last no more than 45 minutes, and for each muscle group it is better to do many approaches with a small number of repetitions. It is advisable to take up additional swimming.
Most fortunate are mesomorphs with well-developed muscles, a wide chest and shoulders. They can safely perform isolation exercises and train on a three-day split program. Their strength indicators increase faster than those of other athletes, and high-quality dry muscle mass builds up without chemistry.
Endomorphs gain easily excess weight so they should pay more attention to their diet. You can train according to a three-day split program a little more than an hour. Shoulder training should be based on heavy basic exercises. Rest between sets should be kept to a minimum.
Should girls shake their shoulders?
By increasing the size of the shoulders, it is possible to make an “X” figure from an “A” type figure: the waist will seem narrower, and the hips will not be so wide. This is how many stars who show off their body in the photo have achieved ideal proportions. For ladies with an “H” figure, wide shoulders make it possible to make a V-shaped back and visually narrow the waist. It is undesirable to get involved in shoulder training only for girls with a T-shaped figure. They are more suitable for exercises to maintain good posture.
It is especially necessary to strengthen the back of the shoulder and stretch the front delta for hairdressers, dentists and representatives of other professions who have to keep their hands in front of them in weight. This will save you from injury and relieve stress. It is also worth noting that if a girl diligently shakes her lower body and arms, but ignores training for the muscles of the shoulder girdle, then in her silhouette the biceps of the arms become the widest part, which looks ugly.
It will not be possible to strongly pump deltas, because the hormone testosterone contributes to their growth. In women, it is produced approximately 20-30 times less (depending on age) than in men. In addition, when training shoulders, you need to monitor changes in the figure, and not blindly follow the training schemes from the Internet that the pros use in preparation for bodybuilding championships. Having noticed an undesirable increase in volumes, it is necessary to adjust the training or temporarily abandon this type of load. If this is done in time, then the extra centimeters will quickly “merge”.
How can a man build broad shoulders?
There is no one exercise that will allow you to pump all the beams at the same time. In one workout, you need to work out each head, so professionals combine basic (multi-joint) exercises with isolating (single-joint) exercises. The result is highly dependent on:
- the number of repetitions;
- the number of workouts per week on the shoulders;
- working weight;
- rest period.
Effective selection can only be done empirically. To do this, you need to periodically change the training plan, measure the width of the shoulders (measured horizontally at the extreme most protruding points on the shoulders), record the results and find the connection between individual workouts and maximum progress.
You need to start training with a warm-up and do not try to surprise anyone with a lot of weight. If there was a big break in the classes, then at first it is necessary to do basic exercises for the whole body, cardio, circuit training. For beginners, two basic exercises on the shoulders are enough, and athletes with experience need to add 1-3 more isolating exercises to them. Do not be afraid of muscle addiction to the same exercises, because this will not happen if you use different weights.
Basic or insulating?
Effective for the formation of shoulders, which can be performed standing and sitting, with dumbbells and a barbell, at home and in the gym:
- Vertical bench press from the chest overhead (military bench press).
- Bench press from behind the head.
- Shoulder dumbbell press.
- Barbell pull to the chin with a direct grip.
- Press Arnold.
These exercises perfectly train the anterior and middle beams, strengthen the ligaments and develop strength. As a rule, they start training with a "base" and then do "isolation", but professionals can afford to do everything exactly the opposite.
Isolation exercises for the middle delt to increase the width of the shoulders:
- Breeding dumbbells to the sides while standing (from the hips).
- Raising with one hand to the side on the lower block.
If the rear delta is lagging behind in development, which is quite common, perform the following isolated exercises:
- Breeding dumbbells to the sides in an inclination.
- Dumbbell row lying on the stomach on an incline bench.
- Leading the arms back in the “pek-deck” simulator (reverse “butterfly” - modification of swings in the slope).
For the front delta, which rarely needs isolation exercises, you can do:
- Lifting dumbbells in front of you.
- Pulling the lower block forward.
To increase the width of the shoulders, a simple superset is suitable (2 exercises in 4 circles with a break after each circle for 30 seconds):
- 15-20 barbell pull-ups with a curved neck to the chin with the widest possible grip.
- 15-20 dumbbell reps to the sides while standing.
There are many other shoulder exercises (for example, on block devices), but they are considered less effective or duplicative. The basic exercises also include pull-ups on the bar, but the load on the shoulders during their implementation is “smeared” and it is not enough for good hypertrophy (growth) of the deltas.
The easiest way to solve the problem of narrow shoulders is to perform exercises with free weights (dumbbells, barbells). They can be done at the gym and at home. The main thing is not to break the technique and breathing. If there is no personal instructor, master correct technique videos of experienced trainers will help.
Usually the number of repetitions varies from medium to maximum. At the same time, they do 3-5 sets and rest between them for one minute. The shoulder muscles recover in four days, so it is advisable to train them no more than twice a week. It is desirable to eat 6-8 times a day in small portions, which will improve recovery.
Broad shoulders and a narrow waist are the dream of any athlete, because exquisite proportions are now more important than shapeless muscle mass. And it would seem that building up your shoulders is quite simple: do the base to failure and you will have deltas like cannonballs. After all, it's not a shin. But with the shoulders, such a scheme fails, the centuries-old precepts of Vader's grandfather do not work here. To pump up voluminous 3D shoulders, you need to train them in a special, technical, thoughtful and original way. And here's how to do it and how to build wide shoulders, according to scientific research, read in my article.
My story today is another article about the research conducted by the guru of modern bodybuilding named Bret Contreras. I have already talked about how science advises, and, and today it is time to learn about mass shoulder training, and what exercises are best suited for this.
To be honest, Contreras' previous findings were far from unambiguous, but the results of his research regarding shoulder training simply amazed me. But if you haven't heard of his experiments yet, let me remind you.
In 2010, Bret Contreras, a famous American fitness trainer, bodybuilding fanatic, scientist, writer and experimenter, conducted a series of studies on identifying the most effective exercises for each muscle group. And as scientific equipment, he used medical device, an electromyograph that determines electrical muscle activity against the background of muscle fiber contraction.
That is, Contreras, with the help of science, took and found out which exercises make our muscles work to the maximum and are, accordingly, the most effective for muscle growth. The results of his research turned out to be simply shocking, turning the whole model of the usual training process on its head. Many exercises that hitherto seemed unequivocally the best, Contreras smashed to smithereens, others, extolled simply to the skies. So, according to experimental data, the best exercises are now:
- For the chest - dumbbell bench press lying on an incline bench
- For biceps - pulling up on the horizontal bar with a narrow reverse grip
- For triceps - extension of the arms on the upper block with a rope handle (but always with the spread of the arms to the sides at the bottom of the trajectory)
Therefore, some bodybuilders recognize them, others reject them, preferring to train the old fashioned way. But I think that you should definitely try to shake the muscles the way science recommends, and only then do the injections.
But let's get right back to shoulder weight training. Back in the days of the "golden" era of bodybuilding, athletes knew that the deltoid muscle consists of not three, but seven separate muscle bundles. According to their biomechanics, they perform flexion and extension, adduction, horizontal dilution and adduction, internal and external rotation. And this means that the usual arsenal of basic shoulder exercises, which we are told about in bodybuilding textbooks, is clearly not enough for the development of all individual segments of the deltoid muscle. Perhaps the paucity of a set of exercises that ordinary visitors perform gym, and there is main reason they lack the desired 3D shoulders, which are inherent only in bodybuilding and fitness stars.
Conclusion: to give the shoulders the shape of a ball, you need to swing not three deltoid bundles, but all seven. And for this, the range of exercises on the shoulders should be as wide and varied as possible.
This was an introduction, and now I propose to move on to the main part of the story and learn about how to build shoulders wide, and what exercises the rebel Contreras considers to be the best for this. So…
The three most effective exercises for the front delt
In fact, the anterior delta is rarely a lagging muscle group. Usually the rear and middle deltas lag behind. And the problem is not that they are not pumped enough. The difficulty in developing these beams lies in the inability to isolate each of them and make them work solo. But with the front delta, such problems do not arise, since it takes an active part in all chest exercises. Heavy presses put a lot of stress on the front bundle, and it grows effortlessly. But if, nevertheless, the front delta lags behind in development, science calls the three best exercises for this muscle segment.
1. Bench press from behind the head
Let me tell you right now, this is not a typo. At first, I myself did not believe that this classic basic exercise for the middle delta is the best for its front bundle. But Bret Contreras says there is no better shoulder exercise that works the front delt as hard as the overhead press. And imagine my disappointment when I realized that by trying for years to even out the skew in the backlog of the middle beam from the front one, I thereby only aggravated it. The thing is that even sitting on a bench with a horizontal back, during the bench press, we will definitely lean back, thereby removing the load from the middle, weaker delta and shifting it to the front, stronger one. And given that most standard bench presses (for some reason I don’t understand) have a slight slope back, pumping shoulders wide with such an exercise on the middle delt becomes very problematic.
And it turns out an unpleasant picture: the bench press from behind the head is a complex and traumatic movement that “kills” elbows and shoulders. And instead of pump up the shoulders in width, it gives them thickness, forcing them to visually “move out” forward. Question: so in FIG it is generally needed?
I remember reading an interview with one of our professional bodybuilders who came to the USA and worked out for a year under the guidance of Charles Glass. His surprise knew no bounds when it turned out that the coolest trainer in bodybuilding openly dislikes the classic bench press because of the head with a barbell and recommends doing it in a bench press machine, sitting with his back to the gym. The bench of such simulators is located at an angle, the bench press trajectory is forward, but at an angle. At the same time, the load from the front delta is removed, and on the middle and back, on the contrary, it increases.
The same Aleksey Shabunya, the famous Belarusian bodybuilder, openly admits that he rarely does the bench press from behind his head, because he feels severe discomfort from it. He, spitting on all the canons of shoulder training for mass, prefers breeding with dumbbells, as the best exercise for the middle delta. And most importantly, the question is how pump up the shoulders in width, he is not tormented at all, Alexey is the owner of really voluminous and powerful 3D shoulders.
2. Bent Over Chest Press
This exercise on the front delta did not come as a surprise to me. Even without knowing about the results of research by Bret Contreras, I realized a long time ago that this exercise is not for the upper chest, but for the front delta. The load on the chest during the bench press at an angle, according to the indicators of the electromyograph, increases by only 5%, but on the front delta by all 40%.
The conclusion seems obvious to me: in order to pump up the upper chest, this exercise is not suitable, but for the front delta - that's it. And if you choose, a traumatic bench press from behind the head or a safer bench press in an incline, then I advise you to opt for the last exercise.
3. Army press
This classic shoulder development press move is #3 on our charts. again proving how the stereotypes of traditional bodybuilding are far from real life. The military press is a really cool exercise for the front delta, but in terms of its effectiveness it is much inferior to the previous movements.
But oddly enough, I do a military press quite often, but not for the shoulders, but for the chest. Rather, for a very small, but extremely important muscle segment called the subclavian muscle. It is she who is the most difficult to build section of the upper chest, without which the upper section pectoral muscles looks unfinished.
I purposefully put the military press at the very end of the chest workout, since the front deltas are already tired and will no longer be able to get involved in the work. Thus, most of the load will fall on the small, impregnable, but extremely important subclavian muscle. Unlike the traditional military press technique, I perform this exercise by pressing my elbows as close to the body as possible and straining the pectoral muscles at the same time.
The amplitude in this exercise is very short, and looks more like jerks than presses, with an accentuated slowdown of the negative phase of the movement. In addition to the fact that the very top of the chest is well loaded, the small v-shaped section of the pectoral muscles, called the "collar", is also actively included in the work. Also an archival muscle segment, which, like a cherry on a cake, will be determined by the finished look of a powerful male chest, aggressively peeking out of an unbuttoned shirt.
Conclusion: the classic bench press from behind the head turns out to be the best exercise not for the middle, but for the front delta. And excessive enthusiasm for this exercise contributes not to expansion, but, on the contrary, to narrowing of the shoulders.
The three most effective exercises for the middle delt
Namely, the middle bundle of the deltoid muscle is the most desirable for all visitors to the gym, since it is he who is responsible for the visual width of the shoulder girdle and creating the very V-shaped silhouette that is so valued at the present time. Therefore, most of the delt training time is spent doing exercises for the middle delt. However, according to the results of a study by the respected Senor Conteras, most of the exercises that we have always considered the most effective for the middle delta are not. But the best, many times overtaking in its impact movement for the growth of shoulders in width, there is an extremely rare exercise in our halls:
1. Horizontal pull of the upper block with a rope handle
And here I was shocked for the second time, because I saw how professional bodybuilders do this exercise, but I thought that it was aimed at developing the muscles of the upper back, namely the trapezium. But science says the opposite: performing a horizontal pull of the upper side, but with the obligatory spreading of the arms to the sides at the end point of the trajectory, is many times more effective than all other exercises for the middle delta.
This situation reminded me of the results of experiments to identify the best exercise for triceps. And then and now, movements with a rope handle in terms of their effect on the muscles far bypassed all other, classic mass-gathering exercises. I believe that the high performance of the rope handle is due to the two-stroke trajectory of movement, which allows you to spread your arms to the side in its last phase, and thereby additionally load the muscles of the deltas and triceps. In other words, the rope handle allows you to achieve peak muscle tension in both cases, which makes the exercises performed with it so effective.
Second important aspect The high return on the horizontal pull of the upper block with a rope handle is that the trajectory of this exercise does not have “dead” zones. The middle delta is actively involved in the work and does not relax for a moment. I regularly do this mid-delt exercise during my shoulder mass workout, and I can say that it really engages previously unaffected segments of the deltoid muscle, making the shoulders like cannonballs, round and large. I just want to add that I (perhaps because of my tall), I feel the work of the deltas better when I stand not directly to the simulator, but leaning back a little. Thus, the trajectory of this exercise on the middle delta from horizontal turns into an inclined one, turning off the muscles of the body from work.
2. Leading the arm to the side on the lower block
But I knew about the effectiveness of this exercise for the middle delta for a long time, intuitively feeling its high performance. I, as expected, at every workout of the shoulders to the mass, do the usual dilutions with dumbbells to the sides, but only in order to tire them and the trapezoid, which is necessarily impudently included in the work. And when the shoulder muscles are thoroughly tired, I turn to the main dish of my deltoid feast. I begin to carry out the abduction of the arm to the side on the lower block.
I can say with all honesty that in no other exercise for the middle delta I do not feel such a high involvement of this segment in the work. And find the answer to the question of how pump up the shoulders in width, without performing this isolating exercise on the middle delta, it is very difficult for an ordinary visitor to the gym.
The secret of the high return of this movement lies in the extended trajectory of movement. Outwardly, moving the arm to the side on the lower block resembles the same movement with a dumbbell. But due to the low location of the simulator block, already in the initial phase of the movement, the middle delta is in an unusually stretched position, which is maintained constantly during the movement.
This is a really cool exercise, I also like its variability, since it can be performed in two versions:
- The cable of the lower block is located in front of the body. In this case, the front (if I may say so) part of the middle delta is included in the work.
- The cable of the lower block is located behind the body. Then the work is more actively included rear end middle delta and directly the posterior deltoid bundle itself.
The abduction of the arm to the side on the lower block is also interesting because by changing the position of the body (standing straight or tilted), you can constantly load your shoulders in different ways, including all new, previously relaxed muscle bundles. Of course, my deltas are not yet far from ideal, but after I began to perform this exercise, their shape has improved significantly.
3. Breeding with dumbbells in an incline
After reading about this exercise as one of the best for the middle delta, I sinfully thought that Bret Contreras must have mixed something up by drinking too much tequila from a scientific fatigue. For breeding with dumbbells in an incline is the best exercise for the back delta, but not the middle one.
I think our fitness guru himself was a little taken aback when he received such results, but the fact remains: breeding with dumbbells in an incline, in addition to the back ones, I also load the middle bundles of the deltoid muscles quite heavily. But under certain conditions:
- The hands should be arranged in one line, and not be parallel, as we are used to. Required condition- the little finger should look up.
- The breeding itself takes place not only to the sides, but also a little forward.
At the next shoulder training for mass, I included such dilutions with dumbbells in an inclination in my set of exercises and honestly tried to catch the moment when it was the middle beam that would be included in the work. I felt unusually strong and sharp in the back delta, and I think that such breeding with dumbbells in an incline is a really cool way to pump them. But I cannot say that this movement is aimed at increasing the muscle mass of the middle deltas. Sorry Contreras, but here my average deltas do not agree with you.
The three most effective rear delt exercises
The posterior deltoid muscle segment is an extremely small, but extremely important muscle segment that allows you to make the shoulders like balls, round and proportionally developed. But the whole problem with training the rear delt is that it is extremely difficult to work it out in isolation, excluding other parts of the deltoid muscle from work.
And results scientific research this is actively confirmed, since the best exercises for the back delta are still the same:
- horizontal pull of the upper block
- breeding dumbbells in an incline in the variation described above
In other words, these two movements build muscle mass equally well, both in the middle and in the rear delt. And although there are many other exercises for the development of the posterior beam (the same reverse dilutions in the chest simulator), but according to the indicators of the electromyograph, they are all significantly inferior to these movements in terms of the number of muscle fibers involved in the work.
This strange situation is slightly diluted with another exercise on the rear delta, which Bret Contreras called the third in its effectiveness. This is a horizontal pull-up on a barbell bar or in a Smith machine. But only you need to pull yourself up not to the belt, but to the head. In this case, the load on the rear deltas becomes maximum.
In my opinion, it is difficult to technical terms movement, it is quite possible to replace it with an exercise similar to it in biomechanics for the rear delta. Namely, the thrust of the bar in the slope. But you just need to stand strictly parallel to the ground and pull the bar to the shoulder girdle. I occasionally do this rear delt exercise, but I do it exclusively on my favorite Smith machine.
To summarize all of the above about the most effective exercises for the back delta, it turns out that it will not work to isolate it 100%. In any case, the middle bundle of deltoid muscles will also be included in the work.
Conclusion: you need to start training your shoulders with these two exercises, trying to load the back beam to the maximum. Only purposeful specialization in the development of this segment will make it possible to make 3D-shaped shoulders.
Probably, if I had shoulders like cannonballs, then after reading about such unconventional research results, I would just laugh and continue to train my shoulders for mass, according to the classical program. But I still have to work and work on my deltas. Therefore, I am constantly looking for new methods of their training. And although the effectiveness of some of the exercises on the shoulders described by Bret Contreras raises questions in me, nevertheless, the lion's share of the information voiced by him has become an exciting and extremely useful discovery for me. In any case, the two most effective shoulder exercises, the horizontal row of the upper block and the dumbbell raise in the incline, have firmly established themselves in my training arsenal. I recommend to try!
And in conclusion, I propose to look at the non-traditional shoulder workout of the charming Dana Linn Bailey, Internet star and part-time Miss Olympia 2013 in the Women’s Physique category .
I want to hope that my story will be useful for you and help you make a breakthrough in the training of the deltoid muscles, increasing them in volume and significantly improving their shape. May the crowd be with you. And strength!
How younger man the easier it is for him broaden your shoulders. The teenager will need to regularly push up from the uneven bars and perform a pullover twice a week, simultaneously loading the deltoid muscles and working out the back. Older people will have to increase the width of their shoulders through muscle building. In this matter, they will be helped by strength fitnessaimed at developing certain areas of the body.
Coaches recommend starting with shoulder exercises and combine them with the study of hands. If the training program allows, once a week you can only deal with the shoulders. In order not to harm your health, follow the exercise technique and ask someone to insure you.
Try to expand the skeleton
The first advice is relevant only for athletes under twenty, everyone else can skip this paragraph. You can change the skeleton only until it is completely formed, that is, in childhood and adolescence.
The bones of the upper shoulder girdle grow best under the influence of two exercises: push-ups from the bars and a pullover lying with a barbell or dumbbells. A good sign is pain in the sternum when working on the uneven bars. Do not worry, this is not a dangerous symptom, but a signal that the junction of the ribs and chest has not yet stiffened. For best results, do the above exercises twice a week.
Achieve the beauty of the shoulders in front
To make your shoulders look wide and worked out in front, do exercises to develop the deltoid muscles. Particular emphasis is recommended to be placed on their front and middle parts. In your program, you should include a bench press from the chest and from behind the head, bench press with dumbbells while standing or sitting, as well as dumbbell swings. These exercises are considered basic, but there are many more ways to work out deltas. So, the deltoid muscles get a good load when pulling up behind the head and pulling in the slope.
Choose an effective fitness for pumping up your back
Well-developed lats will make your shoulders look wider when viewed from behind, and their growth will help to increase deltas. Effective exercises on the back are considered pull-ups with a wide grip to the chest, traction of the barbell in an inclination, traction of the horizontal block, as well as traction from the upper block with a wide grip (to the chest or behind the head). Having reached the maximum point during pull-ups, try to arch your back and stretch your legs slightly forward. In this position, the latissimus dorsi muscles are loaded more than in the usual vertical one.
A narrow parallel grip is also suitable for these purposes, since during its execution you have to bend so as not to hit your head on the horizontal bar. In modern fitness exercises on latissimus dorsi muscles a lot, so feel free to experiment with building your own individual program.
