Shoulders and Boxing

Fridays at noon I meet Roy and we are training shoulders. The last couple weeks we have done some boxing too- that is a really good workout! I have a new respect for my son.


First we did seated barbell shoulder press, the back is straight up on the bench, no incline or decline. We are doing 1 1/4 presses, so bring the bar down very slowly all the way to the chest, then up 1/4 of the way, back down and then power all the way up.


You cannot push as much weight this way, I think I had 75 pounds total, 5 sets of 8 or 9. I lost count. Roy has it all written down though.


Then over to the dumbbells, un supported dumbbell press, bringing them all the way down to get a good stretch in the shoulders, then power up. I started with 25 pound dumbbells and ended with 30. 4 sets of 10.


Then lateral raises, three different weights to hit all the different muscle fibers (slow twitch to fast twitch). He has some micro weights that we use but I don't have those at my gym.


I think it was this: 8 reps at 12.5 pounds; 12 reps at 10 pounds; 20 reps at 5 pounds. 4 sets of this, the shoulders do really start to burn.


Then it was boxing! 3 rounds of 3 minutes with a 1 minute rest in between. Punches, jabs, hooks, and I have to duck when he shouts duck and swings at me. I am pretty good at ducking, not so good at the upper cuts...


I was breathing hard! He would move around the room, pads on hands moving his hands so I could keep throwing punches. I have to do this more often!


When I got home that night David was commenting on my size, I have gotten a bit larger in the last couple months. He is very supportive, but always wants to make sure I have a good idea of what I actually look like, since my own vision can get a bit skewed. Here is what he said:


"When you have dieted down for a competition, you look like a Wide Receiver.
When you start putting on a little weight, you look more like a Running Back. But you know, you have put a lot of weight on now and you are starting to look a little like an Offensive Lineman."


Hmm, time to cut back on the food?

Shoulders

Shoulders, I love training them, my favorite body part! I have been focusing in on legs with Roy and sorta lost sight of the shoulders! So I have been making sure that each and every single day I concentrate on the task at hand, and that means a stopwatch!

Mine look pretty good, especially considering I am not dieting so I have no cuts. Drop a few pounds and my delts will pop so loud they might hurt you if you get too close!

Really, you will get a much better workout if you time your sets and your rest periods. Its hard to goof off and chat.

This is for Sakura- I know she can do this in her garage with her dumbbells. Guaranteed to give her boulder shoulders! 

This is adapted from an article in Fitness and Physique, The World of Natural Bodybuilding.  It was called Creating: Colossal Shoulders by James Chan, NCSA CPT. 

I have taken his suggestions, mixed them with my timing and the result is an amazing workout that will get you pumped, feeling strong and hit the lateral and rear delts hard.

Timed correctly this will take about an hour. 

Those of us who 'know" bodybuilding wouldn't think of doing just one exercise for shoulders, after all, the shoulder has three distinct heads and they all need to be trained.

What a lot of people fail to consider is that your shoulders (or your delts) get a lot of training during other days, especially chest. So doing a lot of front raises is most likely either doing nothing (cause you probably don't lift heavy enough to activate these fast twitch muscles) or you are over training them.

It's the sides and the rears that really need the training.

My shoulder workout (weights are what I use, adjust as needed).

Single Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise, descending sets

Left arm:

10-12 reps 20 pounds (bring weight all the way down in front, shoot up as fast as possible, then lower slowly, count of 4. This should take approximately 30 seconds)

8-10 reps 17.5 pounds (same as above)

6-8 reps 15 pounds (same as above)

6-8 reps 12.5 pounds (same as above)

Rest 90 seconds

Right Arm:

See above workout.

Rest 90 seconds. Repeat, switching arms so each arm is trained three sets per arm. So, you are working one arm to failure then resting and doing the same to the other arm. Over and over and over. It's brutal!

Rest about 5 minutes compete recovery. Maybe dance a little as you wait to start the next exercise. :)

Lying Reverse Flyes 

Lay on your side on a bench, then perform side raises, to the ground and all the way up, slightly twist the pinky  up to the ceiling at the top to squeeze the rear delt. 10 on one side, raise fast, lower slowly - 4 seconds. Then switch to the other side. 

Rest 30 seconds in between each arm, perform 3 sets on each side. 

Side Laterals and Rows


8-12 reps standing side dumbbell laterals (shoot up as fast as possible, lower weights approximately count of 4 seconds, this should take about 40 seconds total).

Immediately start 8-12 reps of wide grip barbell upright rows (50 pounds), up as fast as possible, lower count of 4 seconds.

Immediately follow with 8-12 reps of standing dumbbell overhead presses (30 pounds).

Rest 2 minutes and repeat two more times, total of three sets.

Bent Over Rear Delt Raise (head on bench)

I like to isolate the rear delts by placing a bench at a slight incline, then I face it and rest my forehead against the bench. This takes pressure off the back and stops you from cheating.

Use light dumbbells that are light- no one can really go heavy unless they are a monster. Raise them quickly and get a good squeeze at the top, then slowly lower them.

Repeat 10 times. rest 60 seconds in between each set, do three sets.

Remember, none of this is effective if you are not performing the exercises correctly so don't try to go heavy to impress anyone! 

Yes- use a stopwatch. You would be amazed at how much longer you will actually "lift" and rest!

S, my wonderful, strong, interdependent friend - Shoot me an email if you have questions!