DefMetalLifter
MuscleChemistry Registered Member
The drive to achieve the best shoulders requires a balance between an engineer's lust for sheer mass, a sculptor's eye for perfect proportion and an artist's stroke for detailing balance in each muscle head. Huge anterior deltoids often occur in lifters who do a lot of bench presses and overhead presses. Nevertheless, without special attention, the medial head of the deltoid will be underdeveloped and asymmetrical as compared with the anterior head of the deltoid. This will result in flat hubcaps rather than rounded basketballs positioned over the lateral aspects of the shoulders.
Thickening the medial head of the deltoid will help the upper back to look wider from the back, and help the upper chest to look wider from the front, even when relaxed. Rather than decreasing the size or thickness of the anterior deltoids, the better strategy is to spread equal mass and depth from the anterior deltoid to the lateral aspect of this muscle.
Shoulder Muscles
The medial head of the deltoid muscle is often mistakenly described as the lateral head because it's positioned laterally on the body, but it is the middle of the three-headed deltoid muscle. The three heads of the deltoid comprises a thick muscle, which caps the bony connections that make up the shoulder joint. The fibers of the deltoid converge on the humerus bone of the upper arm like an inverted triangle. Each side of this inverted triangle has a separate muscle region, or head, and each has different muscle attachments on the shoulder structures. As a result, the three deltoid heads all have different functions.
The medial fibers of the deltoid circle around the lateral side of the shoulder by attaching across the acromion (point of the shoulder) of the scapula (shoulder blade). The medial fibers primarily abduct the humerus bone of the arm by raising the humerus away from the side of the body. This is the primary activity of the incline bench lateral raise. The anterior (front) fibers of the deltoid attach along the lateral part of the clavicle (collarbone) above the shoulder joint to the acromion. The anterior fibers flex the humerus at the shoulder (bringing the humerus bone of the upper arm forward), and medially rotate the humerus at the shoulder joint. In medial rotation, the humerus bone rotates at the shoulder so the anterior aspects of the arm and palm of the hand are rotated toward the midline of the body. These fibers, as well as the fibers of the posterior deltoid, act as guide wires in directing the arm abduction of the medial deltoid.
The posterior fibers of the deltoid connect to the upper posterior side of the scapula (spine of the scapula). These fibers extend the humerus (pull the humerus bone posteriorly) and perform lateral rotation of the humerus. Lateral rotation occurs when the humerus bone is turned at the shoulder joint so that if the palms were initially facing to the rear of the body, it would be rotated to the front, so the thumb points laterally and away from the body. While it's important to perform all exercises correctly and in full control, it is especially important for shoulder exercises. This is because the shoulder is a very unstable joint, so each repetition is a potential injury waiting to happen, if the exercise is done haphazardly.
Incline Bench Dumbbell Laterals
The deltoid works closely with other muscles (e.g., upper back, trapezius and pectoral muscles). Although it is not possible to totally isolate only one region of the deltoid exclusively, the emphasis for the medial head of this muscle is many times that of other regions when doing the incline bench version of lateral raises.
1. The exercise will be performed with one arm at a time. Lie on your side, on a 45- or 60-degree incline bench. Begin with a dumbbell in one hand and your arm slightly in front of your torso and to the side of the incline bench, so that it hangs straight down from your shoulder toward the floor. You should be as close to the edge of the bench as possible, so that when you raise the dumbbell, it will not hit the bench.
2. Your palm should face the floor at the start of the lift. Your elbows should be just short of straight, but the elbow joint angle should not change throughout the range of motion. With your free hand, grasp the edge of the bench to provide additional support so you do not sway forward or backward during the exercise.
3. Keep your elbow slightly bent, but locked, and raise the dumbbell from in front of your torso (starting position) to a position that is just above eye level (i.e., abduction of the arm at the shoulder joint). The line of trajectory of the dumbbell should be slightly in front of a line that would pass through your shoulder joint, but it should arc slightly posteriorly. The ending position is with your arm and hand in line with your shoulder joint and over the side of your chest. Your arm and forearm will be about a 45-degree angle above a position that is parallel to the floor.
4. Do not lift the dumbbell higher than this position (i.e., do not lift the arm until it is perpendicular to the floor) unless you simply want to activate the upper fibers of the trapezius and serratus anterior muscles more completely.
5. As the top position is approached, rotate your shoulder so the knuckle of the little finger is pointing upward. This "twist" will be produced by a medial rotation at the shoulder joint and not at the wrist. Hold this top position for a count of two to isometrically contract the deltoid musculature. This extra rotation at the top (medial rotation of the humerus) will also bring the anterolateral region of the deltoid into play (fibers between the lateral and anterior regions) and thereby thicken the tie-in between these two regions of the deltoid.
6. The top position should be held for a count of two to three. Finally, slowly rotate your shoulders laterally and this will result in a slight supination of your hands. (Do not actually attempt to supinate your hands; let the shoulder rotation do this for you).
7. Slowly control the descent of the dumbbell back to the starting position in front of your body and over the edge of the bench. You should feel the fibers in your lateral deltoid trying to leap from below your skin during the controlled descent of the weight.
8. Do not pause at the bottom or between repetitions, but immediately continue upward. This maintains the deltoid fibers under constant tension from the beginning to the end of the exercise.
Important Tips
It's very important to rotate your arms (humerus bone) at the shoulder joint rather than at the hand and wrist in the top portion of this movement. Simply supinating and pronating your hand involves movements in your forearm, but that will do nothing to help your deltoid tie-ins.
After several months of hard, focused training for the medial deltoid, you may want to consider adding a few weeks of intensive shock therapy. Adding two or three drop sets to the final sets of your training will add a new dimension of activation and density to the medial deltoid. Position three dumbbells in five-pound descending weight increments next to the dumbbell on the floor that you're using for the set. Complete the set in the usual way with your normal weight. Next, place it on the floor and immediately pick up the next lightest weight, then bang out more reps until you fail. Pick up the next lightest weight and continue until you fail again. Finally, finish your set with the lightest of the three dumbbells. This type of drop set is, however, not for the weak of heart; it is tough and painful.
Do not jerk the dumbbell upward or twist it quickly at the top. The shoulder is a very unstable joint literally held together by muscle attachments. Therefore, it's not wise to explode into this lift, especially during the rotation near the top of the movement. This is also not an exercise in which you'll be able to hoist high tonnage for the purposes of impressing your friends. Nonetheless, it is an exercise with which you'll reap dividends of sculpted mass in your shoulders. The isolation effects of the incline bench prevent excessive body movements and encourage good exercise form.
This exercise will isolate the medial deltoid while piling on more mass on the lateral aspect of this muscle than most other exercises. It's up to you to determine how high and wide you will build the mounds of deltoid mass that, in a few months, will sit as rock-like boulders on top of your shoulders.
References
De Wilde, L., Audenaert, E., Barbaix, E., Audenaert, A., & Soudan, K. (2002). Consequences of deltoid muscle elongation on deltoid muscle performance: a computerised study. Clin.Biomech.(Bristol., Avon.) 17, 499-505.
Gagey, O., Hue, E., 2000. Mechanics of the deltoid muscle. A new approach. Clin.Orthop., 250-257.
Halder, A.M., Zhao, K.D., Odriscoll, S.W., Morrey, B.F., An, K.N., (2001). Dynamic contributions to superior shoulder stability. J.Orthop.Res. 19, 206-212.
Halder, A. M., Halder, C. G., Zhao, K. D., O'Driscoll, S. W., Morrey, B. F., & An, K. N. (2001). Dynamic inferior stabilizers of the shoulder joint. Clin.Biomech.(Bristol., Avon.) 16, 138-143.
Hartgens, F., van Straaten, H., Fideldij, S., Rietjens, G., Keizer, H. A., & Kuipers, H. (2002). Misuse of androgenic-anabolic steroids and human deltoid muscle fibers: differences between polydrug regimens and single drug administration. Eur.J.Appl.Physiol 86, 233-239.
Kumar, V. P. (2002). Biomechanics of the shoulder. Ann.Acad.Med.Singapore 31, 590-592.
Lorne, E., Gagey, O., Quillard, J., Hue, E., Gagey, N., (2001). The fibrous frame of the deltoid muscle. Its functional and surgical relevance. Clin.Orthop., 222-225.
Reddy, A.S., Mohr, K.J., Pink, M.M., Jobe, F.W., (2000). Electromyographic analysis of the deltoid and rotator cuff muscles in persons with subacromial impingement. J.Shoulder.Elbow.Surg. 9, 519-523.
Roman-Liu, D., Tokarski, T., Kaminska, J., (2001). Assessment of the musculoskeletal load of the trapezius and deltoid muscles during hand activity. Int.J.Occup.Saf Ergon. 7, 179-193.
Thickening the medial head of the deltoid will help the upper back to look wider from the back, and help the upper chest to look wider from the front, even when relaxed. Rather than decreasing the size or thickness of the anterior deltoids, the better strategy is to spread equal mass and depth from the anterior deltoid to the lateral aspect of this muscle.
Shoulder Muscles
The medial head of the deltoid muscle is often mistakenly described as the lateral head because it's positioned laterally on the body, but it is the middle of the three-headed deltoid muscle. The three heads of the deltoid comprises a thick muscle, which caps the bony connections that make up the shoulder joint. The fibers of the deltoid converge on the humerus bone of the upper arm like an inverted triangle. Each side of this inverted triangle has a separate muscle region, or head, and each has different muscle attachments on the shoulder structures. As a result, the three deltoid heads all have different functions.
The medial fibers of the deltoid circle around the lateral side of the shoulder by attaching across the acromion (point of the shoulder) of the scapula (shoulder blade). The medial fibers primarily abduct the humerus bone of the arm by raising the humerus away from the side of the body. This is the primary activity of the incline bench lateral raise. The anterior (front) fibers of the deltoid attach along the lateral part of the clavicle (collarbone) above the shoulder joint to the acromion. The anterior fibers flex the humerus at the shoulder (bringing the humerus bone of the upper arm forward), and medially rotate the humerus at the shoulder joint. In medial rotation, the humerus bone rotates at the shoulder so the anterior aspects of the arm and palm of the hand are rotated toward the midline of the body. These fibers, as well as the fibers of the posterior deltoid, act as guide wires in directing the arm abduction of the medial deltoid.
The posterior fibers of the deltoid connect to the upper posterior side of the scapula (spine of the scapula). These fibers extend the humerus (pull the humerus bone posteriorly) and perform lateral rotation of the humerus. Lateral rotation occurs when the humerus bone is turned at the shoulder joint so that if the palms were initially facing to the rear of the body, it would be rotated to the front, so the thumb points laterally and away from the body. While it's important to perform all exercises correctly and in full control, it is especially important for shoulder exercises. This is because the shoulder is a very unstable joint, so each repetition is a potential injury waiting to happen, if the exercise is done haphazardly.
Incline Bench Dumbbell Laterals
The deltoid works closely with other muscles (e.g., upper back, trapezius and pectoral muscles). Although it is not possible to totally isolate only one region of the deltoid exclusively, the emphasis for the medial head of this muscle is many times that of other regions when doing the incline bench version of lateral raises.
1. The exercise will be performed with one arm at a time. Lie on your side, on a 45- or 60-degree incline bench. Begin with a dumbbell in one hand and your arm slightly in front of your torso and to the side of the incline bench, so that it hangs straight down from your shoulder toward the floor. You should be as close to the edge of the bench as possible, so that when you raise the dumbbell, it will not hit the bench.
2. Your palm should face the floor at the start of the lift. Your elbows should be just short of straight, but the elbow joint angle should not change throughout the range of motion. With your free hand, grasp the edge of the bench to provide additional support so you do not sway forward or backward during the exercise.
3. Keep your elbow slightly bent, but locked, and raise the dumbbell from in front of your torso (starting position) to a position that is just above eye level (i.e., abduction of the arm at the shoulder joint). The line of trajectory of the dumbbell should be slightly in front of a line that would pass through your shoulder joint, but it should arc slightly posteriorly. The ending position is with your arm and hand in line with your shoulder joint and over the side of your chest. Your arm and forearm will be about a 45-degree angle above a position that is parallel to the floor.
4. Do not lift the dumbbell higher than this position (i.e., do not lift the arm until it is perpendicular to the floor) unless you simply want to activate the upper fibers of the trapezius and serratus anterior muscles more completely.
5. As the top position is approached, rotate your shoulder so the knuckle of the little finger is pointing upward. This "twist" will be produced by a medial rotation at the shoulder joint and not at the wrist. Hold this top position for a count of two to isometrically contract the deltoid musculature. This extra rotation at the top (medial rotation of the humerus) will also bring the anterolateral region of the deltoid into play (fibers between the lateral and anterior regions) and thereby thicken the tie-in between these two regions of the deltoid.
6. The top position should be held for a count of two to three. Finally, slowly rotate your shoulders laterally and this will result in a slight supination of your hands. (Do not actually attempt to supinate your hands; let the shoulder rotation do this for you).
7. Slowly control the descent of the dumbbell back to the starting position in front of your body and over the edge of the bench. You should feel the fibers in your lateral deltoid trying to leap from below your skin during the controlled descent of the weight.
8. Do not pause at the bottom or between repetitions, but immediately continue upward. This maintains the deltoid fibers under constant tension from the beginning to the end of the exercise.
Important Tips
It's very important to rotate your arms (humerus bone) at the shoulder joint rather than at the hand and wrist in the top portion of this movement. Simply supinating and pronating your hand involves movements in your forearm, but that will do nothing to help your deltoid tie-ins.
After several months of hard, focused training for the medial deltoid, you may want to consider adding a few weeks of intensive shock therapy. Adding two or three drop sets to the final sets of your training will add a new dimension of activation and density to the medial deltoid. Position three dumbbells in five-pound descending weight increments next to the dumbbell on the floor that you're using for the set. Complete the set in the usual way with your normal weight. Next, place it on the floor and immediately pick up the next lightest weight, then bang out more reps until you fail. Pick up the next lightest weight and continue until you fail again. Finally, finish your set with the lightest of the three dumbbells. This type of drop set is, however, not for the weak of heart; it is tough and painful.
Do not jerk the dumbbell upward or twist it quickly at the top. The shoulder is a very unstable joint literally held together by muscle attachments. Therefore, it's not wise to explode into this lift, especially during the rotation near the top of the movement. This is also not an exercise in which you'll be able to hoist high tonnage for the purposes of impressing your friends. Nonetheless, it is an exercise with which you'll reap dividends of sculpted mass in your shoulders. The isolation effects of the incline bench prevent excessive body movements and encourage good exercise form.
This exercise will isolate the medial deltoid while piling on more mass on the lateral aspect of this muscle than most other exercises. It's up to you to determine how high and wide you will build the mounds of deltoid mass that, in a few months, will sit as rock-like boulders on top of your shoulders.
References
De Wilde, L., Audenaert, E., Barbaix, E., Audenaert, A., & Soudan, K. (2002). Consequences of deltoid muscle elongation on deltoid muscle performance: a computerised study. Clin.Biomech.(Bristol., Avon.) 17, 499-505.
Gagey, O., Hue, E., 2000. Mechanics of the deltoid muscle. A new approach. Clin.Orthop., 250-257.
Halder, A.M., Zhao, K.D., Odriscoll, S.W., Morrey, B.F., An, K.N., (2001). Dynamic contributions to superior shoulder stability. J.Orthop.Res. 19, 206-212.
Halder, A. M., Halder, C. G., Zhao, K. D., O'Driscoll, S. W., Morrey, B. F., & An, K. N. (2001). Dynamic inferior stabilizers of the shoulder joint. Clin.Biomech.(Bristol., Avon.) 16, 138-143.
Hartgens, F., van Straaten, H., Fideldij, S., Rietjens, G., Keizer, H. A., & Kuipers, H. (2002). Misuse of androgenic-anabolic steroids and human deltoid muscle fibers: differences between polydrug regimens and single drug administration. Eur.J.Appl.Physiol 86, 233-239.
Kumar, V. P. (2002). Biomechanics of the shoulder. Ann.Acad.Med.Singapore 31, 590-592.
Lorne, E., Gagey, O., Quillard, J., Hue, E., Gagey, N., (2001). The fibrous frame of the deltoid muscle. Its functional and surgical relevance. Clin.Orthop., 222-225.
Reddy, A.S., Mohr, K.J., Pink, M.M., Jobe, F.W., (2000). Electromyographic analysis of the deltoid and rotator cuff muscles in persons with subacromial impingement. J.Shoulder.Elbow.Surg. 9, 519-523.
Roman-Liu, D., Tokarski, T., Kaminska, J., (2001). Assessment of the musculoskeletal load of the trapezius and deltoid muscles during hand activity. Int.J.Occup.Saf Ergon. 7, 179-193.
