Mike Sommerfeld is on a mission to become the next Classic Physique Olympia champion. In a recent collaboration shared via YouTube on October 22, 2024, he received tips and secrets for growing bigger shoulders while working alongside ‘Hypertrophy Coach’ Joe Bennett.
The 2024 Mr. Olympia contest was a groundbreaking event that completely transformed the upper echelon of the Classic Physique division. Fans expected Wesley Vissers and Ramon Queiroz to push Chris Bumstead on stage but the Canadian champion ended up being most threatened by German standout Mike Sommerfeld, who took second place.
With ‘Cbum’ announcing his retirement with six titles in tow, attention is turning to other stars of the category. Sommerfeld is the number one contender ahead of the 2025 Mr. Olympia, and while the show is still months away, he is wasting no time, ensuring that his physique reaches a new level before he takes on the world’s best again.
Mike Sommerfeld Sculpts Olympia-Caliber Shoulders Using Tips and Secrets Offered by Hypertrophy Coach Joe Bennett
Exercises Used:
- Lying Crossover Cable Lateral Raise
- Nautilus Overhead Press Machine
Lying Crossover Cable Lateral Raise
Joe Bennett discussed which exercises are best for targeting the shoulders to force growth.
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“It’s still a little bit individual-dependent. I don’t think it’s wrong for people to prioritize overhead pressing because obviously that gets predominantly front delt but you get a lot of side delt as well too.
So it’s one of those things if someone is newer, I think they should prioritize overhead press. All I mean by prioritize, is just do it before you do your laterals but generally, the longer guys are doing it that are actually big,” he shared.
For an effective front delt stimulus, he believes in prioritizing overhead pressing movements before switching to lateral raises.
“Your front delt can get plenty of stimulus most of the time from all your pressing and then overhead pressing. So, lots of times I’ll have people do lateral raises first just because it’s like one of those things you can still never be too wide.”
Bennett prefers to be more precise with his shoulder exercise selections depending on which part of the delt he’s trying to tax.
“Even then, if I thought somebody needed more side delt and their front delt was pretty good, somebody will still keep growing just incorporating lateral raises and doing them properly like you have to do them first but at some point in time, when you’re actually big and working with four pounds you can put on, being a little bit more precise with it, I think it makes a little more sense to put them earlier.”
Nautilus Overhead Press Machine
During machine overhead presses, Bennett opened up on injury prevention and listening to the body.
“The number one thing you never ignore, well two, is obviously any type of pain or if you just feel really off. Who knows what? You got to listen to that stuff. Because that stuff is like what I use to ignore when I was 20.
Then, once you’ve actually made a mistake and you’re like ‘I don’t feel quite right.’ Then you hurt yourself, then you’re messed up for how long you’re messed up, then it’s like I can’t do that again.”
Hypertrophy Coach Breaks Down Effort and Intensity
Joe Bennett discussed effort and training intensity with Mike Sommerfeld as well.
“You just need to find what you progress with best over time. Then, also, I’d say on bigger movements, you probably need less, and on smaller movements, you can actually get away with that a little more, sometimes more than necessary.”
“If you’re going literally all the way to complete failure or past, depending on the exercise, I don’t that’s a big of a deal whereas on bigger movements, lots of time because of the load and complexity of the movement, just taking it right just short of form failure.”
It appears Mike Sommerfeld took a note out of Chris Bumstead’s training playbook. The six-time Classic Physique Olympia regularly tapped Joe Bennett to help him with workout preparations ahead of his latest title defense. With valuable tips offered by the Hypertrophy Coach, ‘Cbum’ fine-tuned his chest and enhanced his mobility, which helped him avoid injuries.
As Mike Sommerfeld prepares for his next Mr. Olympia competition, he will put this knowledge to use. With Joe Bennett’s guidance, shoulder growth is likely to become a non-issue for Sommerfeld moving forward.
Watch the full video from Mike Sommerfeld’s YouTube channel below:
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