Complete Workout Guide

Shoulders – Deltoid

Deltoid Information

The Deltoid is a three-headed muscle that covers the shoulder.

The three heads of the Deltoid are the Anterior, Lateral, and Posterior.

All three Deltoid heads attach to the humerus. The Anterior and Lateral heads originate on the collar bone, while the Posterior head originates on the scapula.

The Anterior Delt contributes to many Pec-related movement, e.g. bench press. The Lateral Delt is most active in dedicated lateral movements. The Posterior Delt is often activated in back exercises that involve the Teres Major and Rhomboid muscles.

You should do exercises to work out all three heads of the deltoids muscle, each one is important to the overall growth and strength of the deltoid muscle as a whole.  Working out your deltoids is critical if you wish to get broad shoulders, and eventually the prized v-taper shaped body that many men seek. You can broaden your shoulders slowly over time by increasing the size of the deltoid muscles.

Deltoid Workout and Exercises

Training the deltoid muscles is critical if you wish to broaden your shoulders.  It is vital to familiarize yourself with the anatomy of the deltoid, as well as learn exercises that work out each head of the deltoid as to gain full benefits from your time in the gym.

• The Front (or anterior) deltoid is used in all pressing movements, such as the bench press, and can be trained adequately without any isolation movements. However for isolation front dumbbell raises are the most commonly used.

• The middle head (or lateral) of the deltoid is the main abductor at the gleno-humeral joint (shoulder) and is commonly trained using side lateral raises (also known as the shoulder fly). The middle head also benefits from overhead pressing movements.

• The rear head (or posterior) of the deltoid is best trained with bent-over dumbbell laterals (an inverted fly)

Standing Military Press

Description

-Grasp barbell from rack or clean barbell from floor with overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder width.
-Position bar in front of neck.
-Press bar until arms are extended overhead.
-Lower to front of neck and repeat.

This is the king of shoulder exercises, it is a great compound lift and really builds up deltoid width.  This is great for building the anterior deltoids.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, one-two times a week

Dumbbell Seated Rear Lateral Raise

Description

– Lie face down on flat or incline bench. Try to position body so that head is off end of bench (For incline bench, you may have to stand in order to clear face of seatback.)
-Start position: Hold DB in each hand with neutral grip (palms facing each other) and let arms straight down (perpendicular to floor).
-With elbows slightly bent and facing the ceiling, raise DB’s to shoulder level in semi-circular motion and squeeze shoulder blades together at top of movement.
- Return to start position.

These are great for working your posterior deltoids, usually I would do these at a bit higher rep range than other exercises.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 12 reps, one-two times a week