Fitness Volt
  • Bodybuilding
  • Powerlifting
  • Strongman
  • Workouts
    • Training
    • Exercise Guides
    • Workout Plans
    • Celebrity Workouts
    • Training Programs
  • Nutrition
    • Supplements
    • Diet
    • Diet Plans
    • Nutrition Tips
  • More
    • CrossFit
    • News
      • Results
      • Mr. Olympia 2022
      • 2022 WSM
      • Arnold Classic
    • Fitness Calculator
    • Food Facts
    • Profiles
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • MMA
    • Deals
  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
Fitness Volt
  • Bodybuilding
  • Powerlifting
  • Strongman
  • Workouts
    • Training
    • Exercise Guides
    • Workout Plans
    • Celebrity Workouts
    • Training Programs
  • Nutrition
    • Supplements
    • Diet
    • Diet Plans
    • Nutrition Tips
  • More
    • CrossFit
    • News
      • Results
      • Mr. Olympia 2022
      • 2022 WSM
      • Arnold Classic
    • Fitness Calculator
    • Food Facts
    • Profiles
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • MMA
    • Deals
  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
Fitness Volt
No Result
View All Result
Arms

Top 5 Shoulder Training Mistakes And How To Correct Them

Andy Carnegie, NASM

Written by Andy Carnegie, NASM

Last Updated onMay 29, 2018

Things get more complicated. We’ve previously covered muscles, such as biceps, that simply shorten or lengthen to close or open a hinge joint. That was the primary school; this is college – because your shoulder joints offer an advanced degree of mobility. Three distinct delt heads move your arms over 180-degree arcs. This greater complexity leads to heightened risks of errors and injuries.

So take careful notes as we tackle the five most common shoulder training blunders and explain how to shoulder on correctly.

Mistake #1: Overemphasising Front Delts

All delt heads do not work equally, and the one that typically carries the heaviest load is anterior. Your front delts are not only primary movers during overhead presses, they’re also secondary movers during chest and triceps workouts, helping during presses and dips. If you’re doing front raises in addition to a lot of shoulder, chest and tri compound lifts, you’re likely overworking your front delts.

This is especially true if you train chest and shoulders in the same workout or on consecutive days.

Solutions

  • If you hit chest before shoulders in the same workout, consider how much pressing and dipping you’ve already done before working delts. If the total is at least eight sets, do no more than four sets total of shoulder presses and front raises.
  • Don’t train chest and shoulders on consecutive days. Ideally, three days should pass between hitting each, so if you do chest on Monday, do delts on Thursday.
  • Dumbbell presses or presses behind the neck stress the middle delts more and front delts less, so these are good alternatives to military presses if you believe that your front delts are overtrained or that they’re outgrowing the other heads.
  • One cardinal rule of bodybuilding is that you can never be too wide. And so, it’s generally best to emphasize your middle delts more and front delts less on shoulder day, because the middles (most responsible for shoulder width) get little stress during other workouts and your fronts may assist during both your chest and tri sessions.

Mistake #2: Underemphasizing Rear Delts

Just as anterior delts tend to get too much emphasis, posterior delts tend to get too little. Rear delts assist during lat exercises, such as rows and pulldowns; but if you’re targeting your lats correctly, it’s unlikely that your rear delts are receiving enough work on back or shoulder day to reach their full potential.

Most bodybuilders relegate rear laterals to last place in their shoulder routines, and then go through the paces for four sets of minimal intensity. It’s no wonder posterior delts are so frequently your shoulders’ weakest links.

Solutions

  • Consider training rear delts on a back day, when you can emphasize them separately from their front and middle brothers. Perform four to six sets of rear laterals at the end of your back workout.
  • If you choose to train posteriors on shoulder day, don’t always perform them last in your routine.

Instead, do rear laterals after presses – but before any side laterals or front raises – or switch up the order from workout to workout.

 

Mistake #3: Too Fast And Furious

Especially when it comes to side laterals and front raises, trainers tend to go too heavy and use too much momentum. Each delt head is relatively small, and to isolate them, you need to minimize both momentum and assistance from other muscles. You may not want to be seen holding 20-pound dumbbells, but if that’s what it takes to best isolate your medial delts, then those are the weights you should be grabbing.

Solutions

  • Do shoulder exercises seated instead of standing to remove your legs from the lifts.
  • Choose weights that you can utilize for 8-12 strict reps at a relatively slow pace (1 second up, 2 seconds down). Pause at the bottom of reps to begin each rep from a dead stop and eliminate any swinging momentum.

Mistake #4: Improper Form

This mistake usually runs in concert with #3. The main culprit is emphasizing the weight and not focusing on muscle stimulation. Thus, the weight is raised by any means necessary. Other times, trainers simply develop bad habits; some never learn how to do lifts in the manner that best stimulates muscle gains.

Solutions

Correct form is especially important on shoulder day, because of the ball-and-socket joints’ vulnerability to injury.

  • When doing side laterals, let your elbows lead the way and raise them until they’re even with your shoulders. In the top position, your hands should be just below the level of your elbows (arms slightly bent) with your pinkies up and thumbs down.
  • Throughout each set, focus on the deltoid heads you’re targeting, not on the resistance. Work the muscle, not the weight. After reaching failure in a shoulder exercise, don’t cheat to eke out extra reps. Instead, do a drop set, have a partner help with forced, reps or use the rest-pause technique.

When doing overhead presses, lower your hands to approximately chin level (or below) and raise to just short of lockout.

 

Mistake #5: Lack Of Exercise Variety

Shoulders may be the only body part you train with just free weights. It’s true that barbells and dumbbells are the most effective training tools, but you can too easily fall into a rut of doing the same three or four free-weight exercises the same way, workout after workout. Variety is also an effective tool.

Solutions

There are a lot of ways to do overhead presses.

Try including a different pressing exercise each shoulder workout. Here are three free-weight presses you likely aren’t doing: underhand presses (press a barbell over-head with a shoulder-width underhand grip); Arnold presses (press dumbbells from underhand at the bottom to overhand at the top); and rack military presses (press each rep from a dead stop off of power-rack supports set at chin level).

  • There’s more to training middle delts than just dumbbell side laterals. On occasion, do side laterals with cables or a machine and, regardless of equipment, you can go unilateral. Wide-grip upright rows are another way of targeting your middle delts.
  • Likewise, you can perform rear laterals with cables or machines and go unilateral. You can also do wide-grip bent-over rows to focus more on your posterior delts. A Smith machine is an effective tool for wide-grip rows; hold each contraction and flex your rear delts.

Lessons Learnt

  • Work your front delts less and middle delts more
  • Train rear delts after back or don’t leave them for last in your shoulder routine
  • Sit down and slow down to remove momentum from lifts
  • Use strict form and avoid cheating, even if only to extend a set beyond failure
  • Do a wide variety of shoulder exercises

Author: Greg Merritt
References: muscleandfitness.com
Copyright 2011 Weider Publications

Published: 25 May, 2017 | 2:42 AM EDT

For the latest news and updates please follow us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Facebook Twitter Reddit Flipboard LinkedIn
Categories: Arms Featured Workouts
Previous Post

WATCH: The 3 Easy Tips To Eliminate Deadlift Back Pain & Lift More

Next Post

Bodybuilder Ray Houghton, 59, Is Massive And Completely Covered In Tattoos

Andy Carnegie, NASM

Andy Carnegie, NASM

Andy got a Master's in Exercise Science. He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He currently writes for many Fitness and Bodybuilding blogs, conducting live interviews with sports athletes and creating pre and post-event copy.

Recommended For You

Shoulder And Biceps Workout

No Excuses Shoulder and Biceps Workout at Home

Nothing will kill your gains like missing workouts. While you should do your very best to train consistently, it’s not...

Derek Lunsford Shoulder Workout

Check Out Bodybuilder Derek Lunsford’s Savage Off-Season Shoulder Workout

Derek Lunsford has been in the limelight ever since winning his first 212 Olympia title at the 2021 Mr. Olympia. Currently,...

Shoulder Superset

Bodybuilding Coach Charles Glass Shares a Must-Try Shoulder Superset

Charles Glass is widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the sport of bodybuilding. In a recent...

Pre-Exhaust Bodybuilding Workout

Pre-Exhaust Bodybuilding Workout for Fast Gains

In fitness and strength training, we have a saying: "If you always do what you have always done, you’ll always...

Bent Over Rear Delt Fly

Bent Over Rear Delt Fly Exercise Guide – How To, Benefits, and Variations

Developing your posterior chain muscles can be uncannily hard. The fact that you cannot look at your posterior muscles directly...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest

French Contrast Method

French Contrast Method for Strength and Power

Best Hmb Supplements

12 Best HMB Supplements You Can Buy in 2022

Liver King On Joe Rogan Steroid Allegations

Video: Liver King Says Joe Rogan’s Steroid Allegations Are ‘Dangerous’: “I’ve Never Done the Stuff”

Recent Reviews

Best Hmb Supplements

12 Best HMB Supplements You Can Buy in 2022

Best Cacao Nibs

10 Best Cacao Nibs of 2022

Ghost Legend Pre-Workout Review

Ghost Legend Pre-Workout Review

Fitness Volt

At FitnessVolt.com Our mission is to help our readers to achieve their fitness goals, regardless of where you’re at on your journey, we are on a mission to educate You with the latest from strength and fitness space. Read more.

Email: sm(at)fitnessvolt.com

Disclosure: FitnessVolt.com has an affiliate relationship with different brands and is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. However, our reviews are based on well research backed analysis.

Follow Us

Trending Topics

  • Mr. Olympia
  • Bodybuilding
  • Strongman
  • Powerlifting
  • CrossFit
  • At Home Workouts
  • Bodyweight Exercises
  • Best Pre-workouts
  • Best Fat Burners
  • Bodybuilding Diet
  • Bicep Workouts
  • Triceps Workouts
  • Chest Exercises
  • Back Workouts
  • Leg Workouts
  • Front Squat Guide
  • Calf Workouts & Exercises
  • Forgotten Exercises
  • Jefferson Deadlift

Calculators

  • Calorie Burning Calculators
  • IF Calculator
  • TDEE Calculator
  • Calorie Calculator
  • Keto Calculator
  • RMR Calculator
  • Macronutrient Calculator
  • Creatine Calculator
  • Wilks Calculator
  • EER Calculator
  • FFMI Calculator
  • IBW Calculator
  • LBM Calculator
  • Fat Intake Calculator
  • Calories Burned Swimming
  • Calories Per Meal Calculator

  • Food Nutrition Analysis
  • Carb Cycling Calculator
  • Weight Gain Calculator
  • Weight Loss Calculator
  • Calories Burned Calculator
  • Strength Standards
  • One Rep Max Calculator
  • Body Fat Calculator
  • EER Calculator
  • Weight Loss Percentage
  • Treadmill Calorie Calculator
  • Body Surface Area Calculator
  • Running Pace Calculator
  • Bench Press Calculator
  • Protein Calculator
  • Water Intake Calculator
  • Body Type Quiz
  • Steps to Miles Calculator
  • Calorie Deficit Calculator
  • Home
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Syndication
  • Sitemap
  • DMCA
  • Copyrights
  • Terms
  • Privacy

© Copyright 2010 - 2022 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Bodybuilding
  • Powerlifting
  • Strongman
  • CrossFit
  • Workouts
  • Mr. Olympia
  • Exercise Guides
    • Arms
    • Back
    • Chest
    • Core
    • Legs and Glutes
    • Shoulders
  • Training
  • Nutrition
  • Reviews
  • More
    • 2022 WSM
    • Diet
    • News
    • Arnold Classic
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • Food Facts
    • Deals
    • Fitness Calculator

© Copyright 2010 - 2022 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.