Bodybuilding Workout: Broaden Those Shoulders

By: MuscleSports.net

“Its a well known saying 'Shoulders make the man'. It may be metaphoricly speaking in the world of ever day life, but in the physique world they make the difference between runner up and champion.”

I think everyone is impressed by broad shoulders on a man. Especially women who always seem to associate broad shoulders on a male as a sign of strength and virility. This is probably the result of an influence all through life of reading in books and seeing In movies the hero usually being portrayed as handsome and broad shouldered. In fact, throughout history dating back to ancient biblical times, the "good guys" invariably seemed to be broad shouldered men.

It is interesting to observe the reaction of a woman looking at a well-built muscular man like Shawn Ray or Dexter Jackson neither of whom was endowed with a pair of really broad shoulders. They will usually exclaim, "Ugh, Just To Much". Yet the very same woman will point to her mailman who is 6’ 4” tall and a slob, 75 pounds overweight, most of it on his belly, but possessing a long set of clavicles (collar bone) giving him broad shoulders and exclaim, "Now there is a man with a good build". I'm sure you the reader will know what I mean when I that's BULLSHIT!

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How does one set about getting a broad muscular pair of shoulders? Well, to get down to brass tacks, not everyone can obtain wide shoulders, due to inherent bone structure. If you are still young enough you may be able to pull your clavicles apart a little, but accept the fact that if you are not blessed with long clavicles, you'll never have shoulders as wide as Paul Dillet or Ronnie Coleman possess. However, you can get a good muscular set of fairly wide shoulders by developing the deltoids if you go about it in the right way. Larry Scott didn't have particularly good clavicle width, in fact, his were quite narrow, yet look at the amazing results he achieved through correct deltoid training.

Steve Reeves - Shoulder width 23.5 Inches, one of the very reasons he played Hercules in the movies.

Shoulder building then falls into two distinct categories. One for those people with long clavicles (18 inches or bigger) or average length clavicles (approx. 16 inches for men and 14 inches women) and one for those with narrow clavicles (approx. 15 inches or less for men and 13 inches women). I will leave it up to the reader to honestly decide for himself which group he belongs to.

If you naturally possess a wide skeletal structure you are indeed lucky, as you will be able to develop every muscle group in the shoulder region, including the trapezius, as heavily as you wish. However, for the not so fortunate, and I am one of them, to give your shoulders a broader appearance, you will find it necessary to do lots of direct deltoid work. You see if we narrow clavicle types get too heavy in the traps, it tends to distort the visual overall effect making one appear narrower than he actually is. But, and here is a slight snag for you narrow clavicled fellows.

The mechanics of the deltoid muscles being what they are, you will probably find that most of your overhead pressing won't do too much for your deltoids, but will work the heck out of your traps and triceps. It follows then, that pressing must be used only to bulk up the whole shoulder area and if you find your traps getting a little heavy, cut back on all overhead movements until the condition is rectified.

You may also find that upright rowing and shrugs will have to be used with caution, in fact, you narrow clavicled men may never need to use them at all. Be happy though, because you can do all those fancy lateral raises and the like to directly work those delts of yours.

For the wide clavicled types it's a completely different story. You can use every shoulder building exercise ever invented, which means lots of variety in your workout schedules. You can cram on all the muscle you want to and don't worry as I've yet to see a man who had shoulders that got too wide.

When on a shoulder specialization routine always work your shoulders first in your workout schedule. In fact, it's not a bad idea to always work your shoulders first in any workout routine!!!

I will explain the shoulder exercises first then will suggest routines for the different categories to follow.

STANDING PRESS — Clean the weight to the chest and lock the hips and legs solidly. This is the start position. Holding the elbows in at the start, press the bar to arms' length overhead and "lock" the arms out. Lower the bar back to the chest and that completes one repetition. Inhale before the press and exhale when lowering the bar. Do not press in too fast a manner, and resist when lowering the bar. This exercise can also be performed seated.
PRESS BEHIND NECK — This is similar to the Standing Press except the weight is lowered to the back of the neck. Be careful with this exercise because careless effort can injure your rotator cuff and this is not what we are after.
UPRIGHT ROWING — This exercise works both the trapezius and the deltoids. Grasp the bar with a close grip with the hands about 4 inches apart. This is the starting position. Keeping the body stationary and erect with the head held high, slowly pull the bar in a straight line to the throat. Pause in this position keeping the bar held in close, then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. Do not let the bar drop, but resist the weight all the way. Inhale going up and exhale coming down.
ALTERNATE DUMBBELL PRESS — Start with the dumbbells at the shoulders. Press the dumbbell in the right hand while keeping the dumbbell in the left hand at shoulder position. Lower dumbbell to shoulder and at the same time press the left hand dumbbell to arms' length. Maintain a rigid body position throughout, as this movement tends to become "seesaw" if not con-trolled. Therefore, do not lean from side to side as you press.
BENT OVER LATERALS — Bend over and hold the dumbbells at arms' length. Lock the elbows and keep the arms straight. Smoothly bring the arms up to position shown in photo. Keep the body rigid and do NOT swing the weights up but let the deltoids do all the work. Pause at the top position resisting all the way. This completes one repetition.
STANDING DUMBBELL PRESS — Clean the dumbbells to shoulders. This it the starting position. Palms may face front or be turned inward. Inhale and press bells to arms' length overhead. Be sure to lock out the arms in this position. Lower the weight resisting all the way, exhaling as you do so. This exercise can also be performed seated.
FORWARD RAISE WITH BARBELL — Stand with feet apart with the bar resting at arms' length on thighs. Keeping the elbows locked and the arms straight, raise the barbell in a semi-circle to finish at arms' length overhead. Slowly lower the bar back to the starting position resisting all the way. Inhale up and exhale down.
LATERAL RAISE STANDING — Stand feet apart with dumbbells at arms' length, palms facing in. Slowly raise the dumbbells to the side to a position where the arms are just past a position parallel to the floor. Pause at this position then slowly lower the bells back to starting position. Keep the arms straight throughout for best results. Inhale going up and exhale coming down.

Routine #1: For people in the wide clavicle category:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Standing Press or Press Behind Neck	4	8
Upright Row	3	10
Alternate Dumbbell Press	3	8
Bentover Laterals	4	8-10

Routine #2: For people in the narrow clavicle category:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Seated Dumbbell Press	4	8
Forward Raise with Barbell	3	8-10
Lateral Raise Standing	4	8-10
Bent Over Laterals	4	8-10

In conclusion: I would like to point out that you should only specialize on one bodypart at a time. Consequently, for best results you should cut back to one exercise per bodypart for other bodyparts while on a shoulder specialization routine such as this. Workout three times a week only. Eat good meals and get enough sleep. Above all, keep a tranquil mind and when you are out of the gym forget about training. Once you've picked out the shoulder routine you wish to follow, please stick with it for at least 8 weeks. Do not chop or change it around once you've begun. I see people throwing out perfectly good routines after a week or so just when those very same routines are about to really do their work.

Tags: Shoulders