A detailed insight into not 1, not 2, but 3 different exercises to build those shoulders!
HOW DO I PERFORM IT?
To start, I will be explaining the front raises. These can be performed standing, seated, chest supported, or on an incline. For all of them, the path is the same. Set up with a neutral hand position (palms facing one another), and while keeping your elbows fully extended throughout, raise them up to at or slightly above your shoulders, and back down. More other than not, I see people using momentum and swinging up and down to get the weights up, that is not the objective. On the descent, make sure to control the weight coming down, making sure that it does not control you. Next up; lateral raises. Start at the same neutral hand position, hinge slightly forward, and place the dumbbells out close in front of you, that is your starting position. As you are raising the dumbbells to the side of you, cue yourself into trying to fly your hands as far away from your shoulders as possible, assuring that you are not 'shrugging' the weight up as your initiate the ascent. Just like with the front raises, control that momentum down, and repeat as necessary. You can perform this in a seated position, chest supported, on cables, machine assisted, and many more. Lastly, and often the most neglected part of the shoulder, the 'rear delt rows.' Start by finding a stable support system whether that be a bench, table, or anything you can lean on. Place your supporting arm onto the side of the bench, and hinge forward until your torso is positioned parallel to the floor. Assuming a pronated grip (palms facing towards the ground), think about rowing the dumbbell out and back. At the end position, your hand gripping the dumbbell should be positioned 45 degrees relative to your ribcage (think of an acute angle). As you start the descent, keep tension and control while making sure your shoulder does not roll forward as you come down.
WHAT MUSCLES DOES IT WORK?
The best part about this muscle group of the week, is that adding all three of these movements in your training will tackle all three heads of the shoulder; the anterior, lateral, and posterior deltoid, respectively.
VARIATIONS/REGRESSIONS
There are many variations that can be used since there is, for one, multiple set-ups for each movement, and two, many exercises to choose from since we are talking about all three heads. Therefore, I will list a few of them as bullet points. (Refer back to first paragraph on other set-up methods per exercise)
Front Raises:
Front raises (ez-bar, straight bar, cables)
Push Press
Overhead Press (seated, standing, barbell, dumbbell)
Lateral Raises
Lateral Raises (as detailed above, cables)
Y-Raises (chest supported, standing, cables)
Rear Delt Rows
Rear Delt Rows (cables, wide grip attachment)
Rear Delt Flyes (seated, standing, dumbbells, cables)
HOW DO I PROGRAM/PROGRESS IT?
Personally, I like to incorporate these with a set range of 2-5, and reps between 8-25. Typically, during my hypertrophy-focused mesocycles, I will structure my 2nd shoulder-focused day of the week with a variety of mechanical drop sets at higher rep ranges. Find what works for you, as some prefer lower rep ranges on these movements, while others choose higher rep ranges.
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