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Iron Game
10-18-2017, 11:23 AM
All the Angles: Delt Training with Regan Grimes





Just a few months ago, Regan Grimes was a 24-year-old rookie who had yet to prove himself on a pro stage. Before the summer of 2017 was even over, the young Canadian had placed second, fifth and sixth in three IFBB events, firmly establishing himself as a young man who genuinely belonged up there with the established veterans. “I really wanted to qualify for the Olympia,” he says. “And if there had been another show to get points at, I would have done it.”

At 6 feet tall and 240 pounds onstage, Regan isn’t one of the larger men in open bodybuilding— but he does have one of the most aesthetic, proportionate physiques. Part of what earned him a first callout in all three of his first pro shows is his stunning X-frame: wide shoulders and upper back, a waist you would expect to see on a Men’s Physique pro, and flaring quads. Photographer Jason Breeze caught up with Regan at the gym he owns, FlexPlex Muscle and Fitness, in London, Ontario as he demonstrated what he does for his sensational shoulders.

Bent Dumbbell Raises
Unlike far too many bodybuilders, Regan makes his posterior deltoids a priority. Not only does he train them first on shoulder day, but he also devotes a full three exercises to them. He sits on a flat bench with his torso leaning forward about 70 degrees, and thinks about driving the resistance back with his elbows rather than his hands. “With any exercise, I’m always looking for that sweet spot where I feel the target muscle being recruited fully,” he explains.

Rear Delt Machine
In addition to dumbbells, Grimes also includes the machine version of lateral raises for the rear delts in nearly all his workouts. Note that he does not grip the handles as most do. Instead, he has his hands rotated inward and is pushing the movement arms away using the heels of his hands as lever points. “I tried these one day a while back, and immediately felt greater tension on my rear delts than I did using a standard grip,” he notes.

Rope Face Pulls
Rope pulls for rear delts are nothing terribly novel, but Regan has created a spin-off on the standard performance technique that you will all want to try out. He does them in three stages of six reps each: six reps pulled to shoulder level, six reps to nose level, and six reps over his head. “The lowest pulls hit my rear delts and traps, the middle ones get the rear and side delts, and I feel the highest pulls in the entire shoulder.” These make the perfect follow-up to rear laterals, as they allow the biceps and traps to step in and assist in driving the rear delts into total exhaustion.

Dumbbell Lateral Raises
This is yet another shoulder-training staple that Regan has added his own unique twist to. Though on paper, it looks as if he merely does a standard four sets of 12-15 reps, in reality, it’s a two-stage set with two distinct movements. The first six to eight reps are done as typical lateral raises. He begins with the ‘bells at the sides of his thighs, raising them up by leading with his elbows, and emphasizing the contraction by tipping his hands down toward his body as if pouring water out of pitchers. Close to failure at that point, he moves the dumbbells in front of his thighs, palms facing his body, and performs a motion somewhere between an upright row and a lateral raise. “I saw someone doing that hybrid upright row/lateral raise years ago on YouTube, and found it really nailed my side delts,” he explains. “I’ve been doing them ever since.”

Machine Lateral Raises
It’s rare that I make note of any particular brand of machine, but in this case, it’s appropriate to do so. Regan handpicked each piece of equipment in his gym, and intentionally sought out this standing lateral raise machine by Icarian, out of production for roughly 20 years to the best of my knowledge. I’ve personally trained at certain out-of-the-way gyms on shoulder day specifically because they had this machine, and Regan is also a fan. “It just has a great feel, very different from all the seated lateral raise pieces I’ve ever used,” he says. “I can also face sideways and use it for lateral raises, too.”

Barbell Upright Rows
Though he did a sort of upright row with dumbbells, Regan also likes to perform barbell upright rows. Once more, he breaks the exercise down into two variations, and does two sets of each. For the first two, he uses a grip just outside of shoulder width, which targets his medial delts. For the final two sets, he brings his grip in closer to include the traps, which he also considers part of the shoulder complex. For both styles, he keeps the bar close to his body and his elbows high at all times.

Barbell Front Raises
Because the front delts get thrashed whenever we do any type of press for the shoulders or chest, there is a school of thought that says there is no need to do any direct work for them. Regan doesn’t subscribe to that theory. “If you really want them to pop, and see nice, clean separation between your front and side delts, you have to train them,” he explains. His exercise of choice is the barbell front raise. You will note that he doesn’t just bring the bar up to chest level as most do. Grimes goes up to his forehead, as he feels this represents a more complete range of motion. “I’m also careful to control the negative, instead of just letting it drop down and bounce out of the bottom,” he tells us. “Doing it that way puts very little tension on the front delts.” Don’t worry about going heavy unless you can maintain that tension.

Overhead Press
Although he used a machine for this photo shoot, usually Regan likes to do his seated military presses with a barbell, lowering the bar to chin level and pressing until just before full lockout. “I avoid locking out because once again, that takes tension off the delts, and tension is always what I’m after.” Doing presses last in the workout means less weight is possible, but it also means less weight is needed. “I know I’m young, but I’m already conscious of trying to preserve my joints and tendons as much as I can,” he tells us. “I want to be able to train hard and keep improving for as long as possible, so I try to be smart about it. I go as heavy as I can, but always with good form and never for low reps.”

Take What He’s Learned and Build Your Own Boulders
Regan Grimes seems wise beyond his years in some ways, but it’s only because he’s already made the usual beginner mistakes. “I used to worry way too much about going as heavy as I could on everything,” he says. “Luckily, I realized I was headed down a path where I would get hurt sooner or later. I watched a lot of training videos on YouTube and saw that controlling the movement, doing more reps and going for a great feeling and pump in the muscle would give me much better results than heaving a ton of weights around.” He’s also experimented and adapted several exercises to be more effective, as we saw.

Whether you’re a young man like Regan, or old enough to be his father like me, there are definitely aspects of his shoulder training we can all implement into our own workouts. And when it comes to the delts, just about all of us could stand to make some nice new gains!

Regan’s Top 3 Tips for Your Best Delts
1. Form and Feel Are Key
“You need to make sure your form is always good enough to squeeze and contract the muscles. That and keeping tension on the delts is what makes them grow.”
2. Know When to Go Heavy
“Compound movements like presses are meant to be trained heavy, and obviously you can’t focus as much on contractions with those. When it comes to various lateral raises, use a bit less weight and focus more on quality contractions on every rep.”
3. Prioritize Rear Delts
“The rear delts need to be maximally developed to get that round, 3-D look from every angle. Like a lot of guys, I used to neglect mine, and it showed. I started making them a priority, and training them first on shoulder day. I saw immediate improvement.”

Complete Contest History
2012 UFE Championships
Winner, Fitness Model, Men’s Middleweight; Second, Junior Men

2014 CBBF Mississauga Luchka O’Brien Classic
Junior Winner, Men’s Heavyweight and Overall

2014 CBBF Ontario Provincials
Second, Junior Heavyweight; Second, Men’s Heavyweight

2015 CBBF Canadian Championships
Second, Junior Men; Sixth, Men’s Heavyweight

2016 IFBB Arnold Amateur (Ohio)
Second, Super Heavyweight

2016 IFBB Arnold Amateur Brasil
Super Heayweight and Overall

2017 IFBB Chicago Pro
Fifth Place

2017 IFBB Vancouver Pro
Second Place

2017 IFBB Tampa Pro
Sixth Place

Shoulder Routine
Bent Dumbbell Laterals
4 x 12-15

Rear Delt Machine
4 x 12-15

Rope Face Pulls
4 x 6, 6, 6

Seated or standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises
4 x 12-15

Barbell Upright Rows
4 x 12-15

Barbell Front Raises
4 x 12-15

Seated Barbell Military Press
4 x 12-15

Training Split
Day 1: Chest, front and medial deltoids and triceps
Day 2: Back, rear deltoids and biceps
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Chest, front and medial deltoids and triceps
Day 5: Back, rear deltoids and biceps
Day 6: Legs
Day 7: OFF

Regan Grimes’

chihuahua
10-24-2017, 12:40 AM
Good info..

drtbear1967
10-24-2017, 08:30 AM
Kill them brother.