Get Barn-Door Wide Delts!

Barn doors project incredible size and the thought of building delts of that magnitude has infatuated many a bodybuilder. To build shoulders that impress to that degree requires the use of varied pieces of gym equipment, heavy weights and a resolve that doesn't quit.

The shoulder girdle has many functions. Among them is lifting objects overhead,assisting in pulling,pushing and rotation of the arms. So to effectively train them, we need to use movements that include these motions. The traps are an important tie-in between the delts and back so I will include them in my training routines.

I recommend the use of both isolation and compound movements to build strength, power and size and maximize the pump in the muscle.

Since the shoulders are a small muscle group and are used in much upper body training, set volume must be low and frequency of training appropriate in order for growth and repair to take place. I train using the HIT, High Intensity Protocol, which utilizes brief,low volume sessions with maximum intensity.

Different Types Of HIT Shoulder Training

High intensity training offers a varied number of techniques to increase the intensity of one's workouts. Supersets are used to condense the work performed, and specialized ones like pre-exhaust and double pre-exhaust use isolation exercises to exhaust the delts before finishing them off with multi-joint exercises, which use the assistance of larger surrounding muscles to push them past failure.

More advanced techniques include Rest-Pause, where maximum weights are used for one rep. After a 10-second rest, an additional rep is done and so on until the prescribed number of reps are completed. It will be necessary as you progress through the set, to reduce the weight by approx. 10% on each successive rep. A variation of this technique is the Triple Rest-Pause. Instead of using a one-rep max, a three-rep pattern is used. Select a weight that allows just three reps to failure, do the first triple, rest 10 seconds before reducing the weight and completing a second triple and so on until the desired amount of triples are done.

Another very useful technique is Static Holds. These are drastically different from other methods in that they use very little movement, but rely instead on the holding of heavy resistance for a set period, usually 10-30 seconds. A partner often aids in lifting the barbell or machine into place and transferring all weight to you. You then hold the weight in position for the prescribed time, set the weight down , reduce the poundage and do a second hold. This is repeated until the desired number of holds are done.

Pure negative training has been shown to develop incredible power and strength as well as being a very useful method to gain additional muscle mass. There are a couple of ways to use negative reps. If training with a partner, he/she lifts the weight into the final position of the exercise under their strength only then safely transfers the weight to the bodybuilder who then lowers the weight slowly, usually to a count of eight. If training alone, a bodybuilder can do an exercise, negative-accentuated style. This is done by lifting the weight in the normal fashion, then lowering with the left leg or arm alone. During the next rep, the weight is lowered by the opposing limb. Continue alternating in this way until the set is completed.

Useful Delt and Trap Exercises

The following is a list of both isolation and compound exercises. Isolation movements tax the target muscle while sparing surrounding muscles, while compound movements utilize surrounding muscles to assist the target muscle in completing the exercise.

Isolation Exercises

Front dumbbell raises,side dumbbell raises,bent-over dumbbell raises,inclined bent-over dumbbell raises,seated machine lateral raises,dumbbell rotator cuff rotations,cable front raises,cable side lateral raises,cable bent-over raises, cable internal rotation,rear delt machine fly,seated cable rear delt fly

Compound Exercises

Seated barbell press,seated dumbbell press,standing barbell press,standing dumbbell press,Arnold dumbbell press,inclined anti-gravity press,barbell rear delt row,dumbbell rear delt row,high cable rows,dumbbell upright row,barbell upright row,cable upright row,barbell shrugs,dumbbell shrugs,dumbbell raise

This list isn't meant to be exhaustive but gives bodybuilders a good selection of exercises to choose from. This enables the trainee to have variety in his/her workouts to prevent boredom. Feel free to switch exercises with new ones in each of the routines given. Make sure to substitute an isolation movement with another isolation, and a compound with another compound one.

The first type of routine is based on the HIT Pre-exhaust superset principle. As explained earlier, this training uses an isolation movement to exhaust the target muscle and follows up with a compound one to use fresh, surrounding muscles to push the muscle past failure. A very effective tool!

Delt-Pre-exhaust

Routine#1

• Seated machine raises-1x15+one cycle of burn reps
• zero rest
• Standing barbell press-1x8
• Barbell shoulder shrugs-1x12+one 15-second static hold

Routine#2

• Rear delt flyes-1x12+one 15-second static hold at end of set in fully-contracted position
• zero rest
• Inclined ant-gravity press-1x6+ 3 negative reps at end of set. Lower to a count of 8.
• Dumbbell upright row-1x12+one series of burn reps

Double Pre-exhaust

• Front dumbbell raises-1x15+one 15-second static hold at end of set,fully-contracted position.
• Zero rest
• Dumbbell bent-over lateral raises-1x12+one series of burn reps at end of set.
• Zero rest
• Machine press-1x8+4 negative reps at end of set. Lower to a count of 8
• Machine shoulder shrugs-1x6+4 static holds

This superset uses two isolation exercises to exhaust the delts and a compound one to thoroughly wear them out.

Delt Rest-Pause

• Machine presses-1x8 (8 single reps using 95% of 1rm for the initial rep,reduce weight on each successive rep,10-second rest between reps)
• Shoulder rotations-1x15 each side
• Dumbbell shoulder shrugs-1x8(8 single reps using 95% of 1rm for the initial rep,reduce weight on each successive rep,10-second rest between reps)

Delt Static Hold

• Machine presses-1x8 (8, 10-second holds at the point of max contraction,at pre-lockout position. Rest 5 seconds between holds.)
• Standing side delt raises-1x8(8, 10-second holds at the point of max contraction,at pre-lockout position. Rest 5 seconds between holds.)
• High pulls-1x8 (8, 10-second holds at the point of max contraction,at pre-lockout position. Rest 5 seconds between holds.)

Pure Negative

• High cable row-1x8(8-second lowering on each rep. Training partner assists by lifting the weight under their own power exclusively)
• Arnold press-1x8(8-second lowering on each rep. Training partner assists by lifting the weight under their own power exclusively)
• Cable upright row-1x8(8-second lowering on each rep. Training partner assists by lifting the weight under their own power exclusively)

Training Schedule

Now, let's outline a schedule to allow rotation of the different methods of training. This allows variation in your training to avoid staleness and keep enthusiasm high. The following schedule can be changed to fit your own personal recuperation levels and interests. Some bodybuilders prefer pre-exhaust training to static holds, so their training focuses more on that technique and so on.

Week one- pre-exhaust-1^st session, 2^nd session if recuperated -pure negative

Week two-static holds-1^st session, 2^nd session if recuperated- rest-pause

Week three-pure negative-1^st session, 2^nd session if recuperated- pre-exhaust

Week four-rest

My normal recommendation with reference to training frequency, is to train each muscle once during a 7-10 day schedule, and repeat for a second session only if fully recuperated. Take note during the second workout if the weights decrease instead of increasing or remaining the same, cease training delts and train a different muscle group instead. My point is, if training intensity is of a proper level,then a second session would likely be counter-productive.

David Groscup has over 40 years of training experience in HIT, or High Intensity Weight Training. He is certified as a High Intensity Trainer by the IART/Med-Ex Group and has trained many people successfully in this protocol.

He has authored nine books on the subject of high intensity training, which are available at: http://www.amazon.com/author/davidgroscup