stubborn shoulders HELP!

[nhwood]

I am having trouble getting the tear drop look where my should and arm com together.  I have a pretty good routine but maybe its not good enough.

Start off with

I alternate between this and dumbbells
Military Press  1x15 w/135, 1x12 w/185, 1x10 w/225 and a drop set 1x6 w/275 drop to 1xfailure w/135

Read Delts 1x15 w/100  1x10 w/150 1x10 w/200 and drop set 1x8 w/220 drop to 1xfailure w/100  this is using the reverse pec dec machine

Side later raises with cables 3x15 w/20lbs

Upright rows 1x10 w/135 1x10  w/155 1x8 w/175  using the barbell

Most of time at the end of the shoulder work out I use a 45 plate and do front lateral raises, super set with rear dealts again using dumbbells, followed by 3x50 of light weight shrugs


Am I over doing it or I am doing the wrong exercises?

[pumpster]

Looks good, just try some variations:

-Do rear delt work later. Start with presses & laterals. 3 or 4 sets of each, moderate to high reps, 45-60 seconds rest between sets.

-Try presses behind neck, they'll hit the lateral head better. Yes, they can be hard on the shoulder joints therefore use 2/3 ROM avoiding the bottom part, and keep the reps moderate to high.

-Use a Smith machine for presses. Without the balance issue you'll be better able to focus on the delts.

Try these two, for a few weeks or months each (not both at the same time):

-Supersetted presses behind neck + DB/cable laterals.

-Negatives on presses & laterals.

[Jr. Yates]

gotta disagree with the smith pumpster...im sorry    I think you should do your barbells and dumbs as your main heavy press for 4 sets all rep range of 4-6...then near the end of the workout do 3 sets on the smith behind or in front for reps of 10. 

my last shoulder workout looked like this:
reverse pec dec: 3 sets 12 reps
Bent laterals: 4 sets 6-8 reps
barbell seated presses: 4 sets 6-8 reps
side laterals: 3 giant sets.
barbell front raises: 3 sets with a drop set.
dumbell shrugs.

[jpm101]

That tear drop look is mainly the lateral delt head being pronounced. To a lesser degree, the anterior delt also. Might try pre-exhaust training to jump start your training. Do a set of side laterals (thumbs tilted down during the exercise) immediately followed by the Press Behind Neck. 8-12 reps. 2 or 3 cycles. I've also done Up Right Rows SS'ed with the Press Behind the Neck. This is a form of the push-pull system. Worked very well. (some people confuse the pre-exhaust system with SS's but they are different in nature)

 Another direct delt exercise for this area is the Bradford Press, a combined effort of the front press and the press behind the neck. An impressive mass builder, which can affect all three delt heads. One arm alternate DB side presses are an excellent delt width builder also. And the "W" press (seated), when done correctly, can give full thick delts. A few Buds of mine have done one arm DB presses to overhead and than lowered the DB to the side like a reversed lateral raise. Usually done with a moderate weight. Good Luck.

[pumpster]

gotta disagree with the smith pumpster...

Sure, it's obviously debatable but what i'm saying is it's worth trying it as well as free weights, because inevitably some will find it better or not as good.

[nhwood]

thanks for the input I think will try a little bit of everyones advice and see how it goes.

[Fury]

Sure, it's obviously debatable but what i'm saying is it's worth trying it as well as free weights, because inevitably some will find it better or not as good.

I was doing the smythe for a while and then I just recently went back to free weight. The smythe was good but I feel the burn a helluva lot more doing front presses with a barbell.

[pumpster]

I was doing the smythe for a while and then I just recently went back to free weight. The smythe was good but I feel the burn a helluva lot more doing front presses with a barbell.

-Varies by individual.
-The difference in effect will always be more noticable immediately after the change. The positive effects could just as easily happen going back to a machine later.

[Jr. Yates]

Sure, it's obviously debatable but what i'm saying is it's worth trying it as well as free weights, because inevitably some will find it better or not as good.

yeah, I use it once in awhile...I think everthing is good but obviously free weights is the road to take, majority of the time.

[leonp1981]

I've got stubborn shoulders as well, so this is what I'm doing at the moment:-

Standing Military Presses - 1 x Warm Up, 4 x 12/10/8/6
Seated Dumbell Presses - 3 x 12/10/8

Then I cycle the following:

1.  Front db raises superset w/ Front barbell raises
         - Rest 30secs -
2.  Seated side laterals superset w/ Standing side laterals
         - Rest 30secs -
3.  Rear db laterals superset w/ Behind back upright rows (not much ROM but good feel)
         - Rest 90secs -
Then start again at 1.

3 cycles of these gives a really good burn throughout the delts.  Some weeks I throw in upright rows at the end if I'm feeling up to it.

In the past I've found using pre-exhaust is quite good: side laterals before military press.  You could also try 'Arnold' presses, he reckoned they targeted the side delts more.