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View Full Version : Why your shoulders aren't growing.



drtbear1967
05-31-2018, 11:21 AM
Without a doubt, one of the most sought-after asset for most bodybuilders is an impressive set of boulder shoulders. These will help you fill out your polos and look like a beast in sleeveless shirts. They also have a lot of functional benefits such as stronger benching strength. Shoulder exercises such as lateral raises and front raises are some of the most popular movements out there. Unfortunately, however, when it comes to building shoulders most guys are just going about it the wrong way.

The shoulders are in many ways a unique muscle – they are used to taking a lot of punishment and as a result need to be trained strategically. If you are someone who had struggled to make their shoulders bigger, or if you are a noob who wants to avoid the common mistakes, then this article is for you. Check out the list below for the most common mistakes guys make when training shoulders.

Too Many Front (Anterior) Deltoid Exercises

Most guys will take pride in their chest day. They do various types of bench press, shoulder press, push-ups, dips, etc. Then comes shoulder time and they spend at least half the time training their front deltoids. The truth is that this is simply unnecessary. Your front deltoids already get a ton of work on chest day from all those pressing movements. Instead of emphasizing front raises and other exercises that focus on the front delts, try emphasizing the side and rear deltoids. This will avoid overtraining the front deltoids and give you more of an opportunity to round out your shoulders.


Not Enough Focus on the Side (Medial) Deltoids


If you want that wide shoulder look – stop training front delts and start spending more time on the side delts! Stop adding in a couple sets of lateral raises as an afterthought. Instead, perform them earlier in the workout and do a variety of exercises that hit them such as one arm raises with dumbbell or cables. Feel free to work in any other pieces of equipment you have at your gym that work them.

Keeping Things Too Vanila

Your shoulders are used to training in the typical 8-12 rep range with exercises like bench press and rows. In order to really hit those deltoids, start using supersets, giant sets and even drop sets in order to up the intensity level.

You Don’t Train Deltoids Enough

Most guys typically train deltoids once per week. It’s no surprise then that most people have tiny shoulders. The reality is if you want those shoulders to grow you need to work them more often. In addition to having a dedicated shoulders day, we recommend working rear deltoids on back day and front deltoids on chest day. That way you give your shoulders the extra attention they need without messing up your training program structure.

Too Much Weight and Bad Form

At some point in our bodybuilding careers we are all guilty of this one. Trying to lift more than we can handle with proper form in an attempt to speed up the growth process. The reality is that by using bad form and lifting weight that is too heavy we are not only slowing down progress – we are increasing the risk of injury. If you end up hurting yourself you could be out of the gym for weeks or months which will undo a lot of progress. Remember that the goal of bodybuilding isn’t to lift heavy weights – it’s to build muscle. Leave your ego at the door and focus on using the exercises as a tool to sculpt your body. If that means lowering the weight then so be it. At the end of the day nobody cares how much you can dumbbell press, they only care how your shoulders look.

blacktail
05-31-2018, 03:28 PM
That is the one body part that I actually can grow easily! Arms on the other hand. .....

drtbear1967
06-01-2018, 08:21 AM
Arms can be difficult as we use them all the time. We have to hit them hard and with lots of reps to really push them to grow.

LeatherHead
06-01-2018, 09:38 AM
Arms can be difficult as we use them all the time. We have to hit them hard and with lots of reps to really push them to grow.
I'm trying to get my tris to grow, and they are being stubborn as hell. Now that I had my accident and tore my left one, it grew like a champ. LOL

Maj7900
06-01-2018, 10:28 AM
I like the idea of front delts on chest day. I already do rear on back day. Going to add that in the mix


Team MeccaGear!

drtbear1967
06-01-2018, 04:13 PM
One of the things that I have been doing and it really helps is DIPS!!!