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en español...
Building wider shoulders should be the
primary goal of just about ANYBODY who
wants to develop a more aesthetically
appealing physique.
Sure,
we talk about building strength and athletic
performance and all that, but there aren't
too many people out there who train that
don't also prefer to look good as a result
of that training!
There's
no shame in it and there's nothing wrong
with specifically training FOR it, either
(even just physique-focused training is
a whole lot better than sitting around
keeping the couch from hitting the ceiling!).
Training for athletics and improved performance
will get you a lot of the way there and
adding in a few specialized movements
to target specific goals will take you
the rest of the way.
THIS
is one of those exercises...I call it
(very creatively :) the Lateral Delt-Focused
Shoulder Press (hey, when you come up
with as many exercises and techniques
as I do, there's nothing wrong with falling
back on straight-up descriptive exercise
titles...beats calling it the "Shake
Weight Press" or something...great,
now I'm sure that's what you'll think
of it as...).
Anyway,
this is NOT a foundation movement (overall
mass-building), even though it is a press.
The arm position is very specific and
it forces you to use lighter weights.
This arm position more directly targets
the lateral (side) delts, which give the
appearance of wider shoulders, which in
turn gives the appearance of a smaller
waist.
You
can do this one one dumbell or with two
dumbells pressed together.
Take
a baseball bat-type grip on the dumbell
then lift it up to upper chest level.
Your upper arms should be horizontal and
parallel to the ground at the start. You'll
need to lean back just a bit to accomodate
the dumbell, so be sure to keep your core
tight.
Here's
what the start position looks like (I'm
using a 65 lb dumbell here):
As
you can see, the dumbell is held directly
in front of your face, with the elbows
out to the sides. This elbow position
is what focuses the tension on the side
delts.
Now
press up until the dumbell is overhead.
This
hands-together position puts a great contraction
on the delts. Lower back down to chin
level then repeat.
When
you're using a single dumbell, you'll
find that the hand that has more of the
grip on the dumbell will get more of the
tension, so switch up hands either on
the next set or halfway through the set.
You
can also do this exercise with two dumbells.
I prefer to use the hex dumbells so you
can line up the flat faces and keep them
relatively solid together.
I'm
using two 25lb dumbells here. Keep them
pressed together but don't forcefully
squeeze them so hard that you get shoulder
pain.
The
movement is exactly the same.
Front
view...
As
you can see by the happy expression on
my face, this is a really enjoyable exercise
that causes absolutely no discomfort ;)
Do
3 sets of about 8 to 10 reps of this one
for training lateral delts instead of
doing lateral raises in your next shoulder
workout and you'll see what I mean.
One
thing to note, if you do have any shoulder
joint issues, start VERY light with this
one. It's not a normal shoulder exercise
and the arm position will affect different
shoulder joint structures in different
ways.
For
me, I have bad shoulders and it caused
me no pain. It might be different for
you, so as with all training instruction,
YOU need to watch out for YOU and stop
if you feel pain.
That
being said, it's a nice exercise that
can help directly add some meat to your
side delts and give you the appearance
of wider shoulders.
