A Tip for Working Shoulders

Something I recently learned and thought I would pass along to all of you bikini and figure competitors....

When doing front raises, lat raises, rear dealt flies, etc. do it at an angle whether you are leaning to the side or slightly tilted forward.This will take your traps out of the equation.

Here is an example of a lat raise at an angle. Just look at how he is positioned not his form. His form is terrible!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCRS10gGytg&feature=related[/media]

Oh also if you watch Gina Aliotti's DVD, she does all of her shoulder workouts like this.

Thanks for the tip! My shoulders are definitely a body part that need some TLC so I need to start paying attention to these details more. I've seen videos where people will lean against an incline bench to do lat raises, but I never actually seem to witness people implementing that in the gym.

I've been wanting Gina's DVD - LOVE her!!

I love her too! Her DVD is very educational and motivating. Her body is incredible, although it's a bit bigger than I personally hope to look. I am bummed she is taking the year off. She completely deserves to win the Olympia already!

Precore said:

I love her too! Her DVD is very educational and motivating. Her body is incredible, although it's a bit bigger than I personally hope to look. I am bummed she is taking the year off. She completely deserves to win the Olympia already!

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Really?? I think she's so tiny! LOL. I wish she was competing too, but with just getting married and all, it's understandable. I heard last year that her and her fiance were supposed to be coming out with a cookbook and I'm disappointed that I haven't heard anything about it since!

Yes, this whole 2nd place thing is getting old. No offense to Nicole Wilkins-Lee, who also has a great athletic-looking physique, but Gina IS the epitome of figure in my opinion. Her career is still so new... she has plenty of time to knock people's socks off, I suppose.

Felicia Romero is another one that I totally admire. I'm such a dork! She was sitting on the shuttle bus right in front of me after women's pro finals at the Arnold expo and I wanted to congratulate her for placing but I didn't want to bother her. So stupid, right? She was with her bf and talking to another girl across the aisle. But I was totally geeking out as I whispered in my friend's ear that it was her, lol. Another beautiful young girl who deserves much success!

Gina...tiny??? Your crazy! She is huge! I met her and her fiance at World Gym last summer and she was far from tiny! Cute couple though and very sweet. I would definitely buy their cook book. She has 2 or 3 recipes on her DVD and I love them all.

I agree that Gina is the epitome of a figure competitor or should be at least. I think that the standards though are changing. During the Olympia all the hosts kept commenting on how feminine certain girls looked, even the VERY masculine ones. I don't know who they think they are kidding. I think they were making a statement by choosing a less muscular woman like Nicole. What is strange to me is how someone like Nicole received 1st place and a totally different body type (Gina) won 2nd. If Nicole's body is what they are looking for, you would think that Heather-Mae French would come in second and not third. It will be very interesting to see what happens this year.

Yeah, it amazes me to see the top ladies at a show because I'm always confused about how they came to be the "top" ones? More often than not, none of them look like the others...

I know a girl who placed top 10 at the Arnold Amateur and was more shredded than any of the pro girls on that stage! It's just so confusing and it's the federation's fault for not being more clear with what they want. They keep trying to make figure "softer". I don't know why. I personally adore the harder look. As long as they don't have the mass, it is very clear to me that figure is figure and not bodybuilding. I don't know what they're trying to suggest...

And for that reason, I have zero expectation for Junior Nationals in June. Of course, it would freakin' ROCK to place well and have my hard work recognized, but between the hundreds of girls competing and the fact that it's still so unclear what exactly the judges are looking for, that I've just decided not to worry about it lol. I want to look my very best and have a great time and see where I want to go from there. I have to live with this body, so I just want to try my best and be happy...