Monday, September 26, 2016

Dumbbell Side Laterals For Freaky Delts!


Good shoulder development is easy to come by but great shoulder development takes a bit more work. If your training protocols are not mapped out properly, the results of your shoulder training will never manifest themselves. Sure anyone can go into the gym and ego train by throwing a bunch of heavy weight above their heads but then what!? You have the strength!? Great! You have the mass!? Great! But what good are those attributes with no clear dimension of how the muscles should be developed to showcase width, shape, and definition!?

Studying the physiques of 90's bodybuilding stars such as Kevin Levrone, Mike Francois, Flex Wheeler, Gary StrydomDennis James, and Roland Cziurlok (remember that guy!?), revealed that these gentlemen all had huge shoulders that were wide and ripped from every angle. Further studies of their training revealed them performing an array of dumbbell lateral raises for front, side, and rear deltoids. *light bulb* So there it is! Great shoulder development comes not just from pressing weight overhead but by raising it with proper technique. Once I figured this out, my shoulders began to really grow! Especially having suffered from a couple of shoulder strains (no tears or serious damage) that prevented me from heavy pressing, I really had to rely on lateral movements to keep the deltoids stimulated while recovering.


I like to do seated or standing dumbbell side lateral raises, bent-over dumbbell lateral raises, alternate dumbbell front raises, front raises with an E-Z bar or a 25-lb plate, or bent-over wide-grip barbell rows. I will usually do three to five straight sets of 10-15 reps but sometimes, I will do drop sets at 10 reps a set. At this stage in my training, I approach things instinctively and go by how my body feels. Sometimes I start with laterals and other times, I start with presses. The conclusion to it all is that dumbbell lateral raises have given me some "freaky" delts and I will NEVER stop using them as the catalyst for superior development!

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