Here is what you need to know:
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Starting with the lateral delts in the beginning of your program will allow you to hit them much heavier when you aren’t in a fatigued state.
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Starting with and ending with lateral delts will allow for hitting them in varying rep ranges and intensities thus stimulating hypertrophy.
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Anterior delts are usually dominant in people’s structure so there is less of a need to hit it with a lot of volume
Looking Classic
Chasing the physiques of the 70’s and 80’s is something we all strive for if we’ve become embodied with the bodybuilding bug. The art of symmetry and conditioning in all things aesthetics is the goal the moment we step foot in the gym.
We model our training after our favorite bodybuilders, search for the best programs, find the best splits, and try to train in a way that brings out the best of our trials and genetics.
We scream things like “quadzilla!” and “boulder shoulders!” yet look nothing like that.
While many people hide their legs in baggy sweats and jeans and unless you see them in shorts, you can’t really “see” them.
Shoulders however, are seen daily and in the realm of aesthetics, we don’t see many people with the #bouldershoulders look.
I want to help you get there.
Lateral Delt Destruction
When programming for almost any body part, unless you are an advanced trainee where more unconventional methods may be used to break plateaus and build muscle, most beginner and intermediates will fair better with a more conventional approach.
The approach is start heavy and end with lighter sets and or “burn out” before failure.
As it ties in to how you will train this shoulder day, here is a video on how and why you would use essentially to variations of the same movement in one day:
So you would start heavy with your lateral delts and end with them in burn out fashion.
A good structured program will have to make sense in the goal so the goal here is to maximize shoulder.
Below is a 20-set shoulder program that will ensure enough volume and stimulus to grow with emphasis on the lateral delts.
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Tempo |
|
Single-Arm Lateral Delt Raises |
5 |
6-8/ea |
201 |
|
Meadows Rows |
4 |
8-10/ea |
301 |
|
Seated Dumbbell Press |
3 |
8-10 |
301 |
|
Barbell Upright Rows |
4 |
10-12 |
301 |
|
Dumbbell Laterals |
4 |
12-15 |
PUMP IT |
Notes:
Single-Arm Lateral Delt Raises – This is your heavy lateral delt movement. Keep one hand connected to a stable surface such as a rack or another weight on the weight rack.
Putting It All Together
Now if you need frequency in your training for more growth, you may need to cut the work in half and split this up in to 2 days/week. You could pair half of the work with another body part or if you do single body-part splits, you can do 10 sets 1 day and repeat a few days later.
There is no doubt in my mind if shoulders have been lacking and you are missing the capped-look, this is the program that will blow them up.
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