Go back and watch the old Rocky films and you’ll see without a doubt that it was Apollo Creed who had the more impressive physique up to Rocky 3. What made Carl Weathers’ look so formidable back then? The answer is simple: he had insane shoulders.
Great shoulders look incredibly because they bulge at the side of your arms. What’s more is that they help to make your biceps and triceps look more defined in the process. And better yet, they also have real world function. Apollo would have needed delts like that to deliver his skull rattling punches!
So how do you build massive shoulders?
Here’s one routine that will do it for you. You just need to perform three sets of each of the following moves…
Slow Motion Shoulder Dumbbell Press
The shoulder dumbbell press is a great exercise to begin with, seeing as it’s compound and will hit all three of the deltoid heads. We’re going to be performing these reps in a slow and controlled manner, while really focussing on the eccentric portion. This will increase your time under tension but more than that, it will also mean you’re spending more time in the portion of the move where you’re actually strongest. The result? More power!
Dumbbell Arnold Shoulder Press
Now we’re just going to mix things up slightly by adding a twist at the end. Start with a hammer grip with your palms facing inward and then when you reach the top of the movement, twist your palms to face forward. This will engage the anterior head. If it’s good enough for Arnie, it’s good enough for you!
Single Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise With a Lean
Now you’re going to do lateral raises, which will nicely target the medial deltoids on either side of your shoulders. Throwing in a lean mixes things up nicely and increases the emphasis on the muscle area you’re working. Try it and you’ll see it’s a fun way to mix things up in the gym!
Seated Dumbbell Rear Deltoid Raise
Now for some seated dumbbell rear deltoid raises. As the name should suggest, this move now targets the rear (posterior) deltoids which are so often forgotten. Just sit on the bench holding the dumbbells, lean forward and then raise the weights as though you were flapping your wings. This is a nice little twist on the regular rear deltoid raise, as it means you can do it sitting down and won’t tire out your back in the meantime.
As you can see, this is a pretty standard deltoid workout – a compound movement followed by moves that target the front, lateral and rear deltoid heads. We’ve mixed it up slightly here by introducing some slightly more unusual exercises into the mix. But as long as you have all of these key ingredients in the mix, you should nicely round out those deltoids to look pretty powerful. The same goes for your other muscle groups – hit each of the ‘heads’ of that muscle once and you’re good to go!
