Workout 4: Shoulders (Week 1)
2A Shoulder Press
- Stand up and hold two dumbbells close to your shoulders, palms facing forward.
- Raise the dumbbells straight up until your elbows come close to locking and lower them back after a short pause.
- Be careful NOT to jerk your back in an effort to help you raise the dumbbells.
Why: The key to building bigger, wider shoulders is to make these muscles work through their full range of motion, so make sure you lower the dumbbells all the way back to the start position at the end of each rep.
1B Lateral raise
Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 60sec Tempo 2010
How to:
- Stand with dumbbells by your sides and palms facing each other.
- Lean forward slightly, then raise the weights to the sides, leading with your elbows.
- Slowly lower them back to the start under control.
Why: This
is a fantastic move for hitting your side delts – the section of the
shoulder muscles that, when developed, creates a strong and wide upper
body to help create the coveted V-shaped torso.
2A Arnold press
Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 0sec Tempo 2010
How to:
- Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height with palms facing you.
- Press the weights directly overhead, rotating your wrists as you lift, until your arms are straight, then lower them back to the start.
Why: It’s
a similar lift to the straight overhead press, except your wrists
rotate as you move the weights – and it’s this added movement that will
fire up even more muscle fibres.
2B Upright row
Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 60sec Tempo 2010
How to:
- Stand tall holding a pair of dumbbells in front of your body with straight arms.
- Keeping your chest up and leading with your elbows, row the weights up until your hands reach chin height.
- Lower back to the start.
Why: Building
bigger shoulders means you also need to work your traps, which is what
this lift does brilliantly. Don’t go too heavy at first – it’s better to
perform quality reps than max-weight ones – and never jerk the weights
up and down.
3A Front raise
Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 0sec Tempo 2010
How to:
- Stand tall holding a pair of dumbbells in front of your body with straight arms.
- Keeping your chest up and arms straight, raise the weights in front of you to shoulder hit.
- Lower back to the start.
Why: This
lift hits the front of your shoulders predominantly and, as with all
shoulder moves, make sure you are controlling the weight at all times –
it should never be controlling you. You can’t add muscle if you’re
injured.
3B Shrug
Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 60sec Tempo 2010
How to:
- Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand with straight arms.
- Keeping your chest up, core braced and arms straight, shrug your shoulders.
- Pause at the top, then lower the weights back to the start.
Why: It’s
another great move for bigger traps, and the best thing about this move
is that you can go heavy because its range of motion is so short. Keep
everything tight and shrug the weights up powerfully to make it more
effective.
