widening my shoulders

[plar135]

first off heres my workout schedule:
M: chest/tris
W: legs/shoulder
F: back/bis

there isnt a lot of exercises that hit the shoulders, basically lat raises and shoulder presses rite?

what is the best program and/or exercise to broaden and strengthen my shoulders?
my chest and tri's r pretty developed, but my shoulders are pretty lacking, and i want to improve them. whats the best way? go heavy low reps? lite and more reps? if anyone can tell me what worked best for them that'd be great.

any suggestions?

[BBAddict]

As far as lifts for the shoulders, the military (shoulder) press is a basic that should not be left out. That can even be done a couple ways though-barbell or dumbells. For me, dumbells the way Arnold used to do them has worked great-I think the lift is called "around the worlds". From there front raises, lateral raises and reverse flys can be used to hit all the heads of the shoulder. These lifts can be switched up be using dumbells or cable pulleys. I also mix in upright rows occasionally or a final set to failure using plates for a front raise.

If your shoulders are a definite weak point, I would also suggest possibly giving them their own day. I know a lot of people give them their own day because they are so important to achieving the desired bodybuilder look. I found that it made a big difference to do them on their own, even if it is just an evening after I did another workout in the morning.

As far as reps, you could get a lot of information here. Some people will say low, some will say high, some will say time under tension is what really matters (which I'm starting to see the logic of). Anyway, this is different for different people. For me low reps (4-8) built a lot of strength, but higher reps (10-20) seems to be better at building size.

Good luck!

Here's some reading from a guy that usually has a few good things to say scientifically about the nature of the muscle and the ways to work it.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ice7.htm

[Megiddo]

Military presses, front raises, rear delts on the pec deck and I do a weird version of laterals. I typically try to hit around 6-8 reps on my heavy sets and I see good growth but it depends on your genetics as well.

Hope this helps.

[Jordan]

upright rows with a barbell and striiiiiiict form are what do it for me. try doing them like this and see how it feels: use a fairly close grip. raise the bar up slowly till the bar is about level with your collar bones (whatever's comfortable) squeeze it for one full second then sloooowly lower the bar down. take 4-5 seconds per rep for at least 8 reps. i started doing this and it made a huge difference.

[njlovehandles]

uptight rows helped round out my lateral heads and give them a fuller look

[plar135]

alrite thanks a lot for the advice folks, but i have a problem. i cant do upright rows because of a shoulder accident i had 2 yrs ago. i can do every other exercise properly, but when i do the uprite rows i get a painful pinching feeling in my right shoulder (the injured one), preventing me from lifting it to my collarbone. also, ive just started working shoulders on leg day, before that i was always doing it on chest/tri day. now that im isolating them on their own day, do u think i'll see better growth?

bbaddict, u suggest to do them an evening after working out that day. do u mean that i can work them more than once a week? my friend was saying that small muscles (bis/tris/shoulders) are small and recover quickly, allowing u to work them more than once a week. any truth to that? thx for the link too :)

u guys no ur stuff, in the member pics u guys have some pretty big shoulders

thx a ton for the replies guys, this site rox.

[BBAddict]

I was just suggesting that you do them when you are fresh instead of putting them on the back end of another workout. It's just much easier to work them fully if you aren't exhausted from another workout, especially legs! I wouldn't have enough left to do anything after legs.

Shoulders do recover relatively fast, so you could work them a couple days after chest if you want them to get hit twice/week. I've often taken that approach with lagging body parts.

[mastakillah]

my shoulders are by far my strongest bodypart, they overpower everything. when i was younger i always did all kinds of supersets but only after my initial heavy pressing movement. although i dont really like supersets, i think in my early years of training it definitely made a difference on my shoulders.

try this superset:

15lbs for 12 reps
20lbs for 8 reps
25lbs for 6 reps

just used the weight as an example, but instead of going down in weight, you go up in weight (with less reps of course) i would take about 15 to 20 seconds in between cause if not, theres no way your gonna be able to go heavier. doing this would leave my shoulders fried.

[Jordan]

upright rows are very tough if you have a bad shoulder. try widening your grip... if that doesnt help, stop doing them. its not worth further injuring yourself

[Megiddo]

Bro it will take some time with the shoulder injury depending on how bad the injury was.

[BBAddict]

I also had bad shoulders - one torn rotator cuff and one that was badly damaged. I had to give them tons of time and take it very slowly starting with light weights and avoiding going too heavy too soon. Patience!!

[plar135]

thx for all the great advice fellas!!

masta ill try out that superset idea. usually i do the opposite, by going heavy and doing a dropset or 2 w. 10-15 secs of rest.

i no the cns is a large part of strength, which is what i go for, but my lack of shoulders is the only thing i want to improve on physically.

i dunno if this is impressive or sad weightwise, but i weigh 170 and when im fresh i can dumbell shoulder press 55's 8-10x or barbell spress 185 6-8x. my bench max is around 255. ive never really done lat raises fresh, but i usually rep em w. 20's, tho after reading ur advice i think i may have gone too heavy on those and sacraficed my form and time under tension.

thx for the replys guys

[mastakillah]

with dumbells i can do 70's, with a barbell probably 145 for the same amount of reps.

[bowbow]

I think the excercises are covered but will add again that I would NOT do shoulders after any other execrcises, especially legs.

[Mr I]

Don't forget shrugs, barbel front shrugd are my favourits and make a big difference to my shoulder girth and overall appearance, they are also quite a small movement so may circumvent your injury.

Shrugs and presses are the best and most important