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DELTOID TRAINING:
BUILDING SHOULDERS LIKE BOULDERS
By Vince Martin, PT, CFT
The deltoid is one of the most vital muscles to develop in terms
of bodybuilding competition. It provides the widest point of the
"V taper" that is evident when you are standing either facing
toward or away from the judges. It is considered the muscle that
gives the upper body a pleasing, symmetrical appearance. Having
well-developed deltoids, by adding width to the upper body, makes
your waist appear much smaller than it actually is. For
competitive purposes, then, it is difficult to have deltoids that
are "overdeveloped".
In training, having strong deltoids is vital, for you use them in
virtually every major exercise you do for the upper body. Weak
deltoids, then, give you a"weak link" on your upper body
exercises, making it more difficult to properly overload whatever
the target muscle may be.
ATTACHMENTS
The deltoid muscle is named because of its resemblance to the
symbol for "delta", which is a triangle. It has three distinct
sections, each contributing to different movements of the
shoulder. The origin, or beginning point of the deltoid, is the
lateral third of the clavicle, the acromion process, and the
spine of the scapula. The fibers then converge to insert on the
deltoid tuberosity of the humerus (figures 1 and 2).
FUNCTION
Because of its vast origin, the deltoid can be divided into
sections, each of which is capable of different functions. The
anterior fibers of the deltoid contract to raise the humerus in
front of the body. The posterior fibers contract to move the
humerus behind the body. The medial, or lateral, fibers contract,
with help from both the anterior and posterior fibers, to raise
the humerus directly out to the side.
TRAINING OBJECTIVE
When developing the deltoids, we must pay equal attention to the
development of all three sections. As these sections all perform
vastly differing actions, it is definitely possible to neglect
and under-develop an aspect of this muscle. The most commonly
neglected, and therefore underdeveloped, is the posterior
section. Usually this is because the front and lateral sections
are more readily visible, which leads most trainees to pay more
attention to them. Also, the anterior and lateral sections come
into play during exercises that target the chest muscles. Since
most trainees place a high premium on pectoral development, it is
not uncommon to see bodybuilders with ample front deltoid
development and severely deficient side and posterior deltoid
mass.
CHOICE OF EXERCISES
As different sections of the deltoid perform different functions,
we must choose our exercises wisely, depending upon the section
of the muscle we wish to develop. Generally speaking, we should
place a premium on those exercises that target the lateral and
posterior fibers. The anterior fibers get plenty of direct
training when training the pectorals, but they come into play to
a significant degree as well when exercises for the lateral head
are performed.
Presses: Overhead presses are performed with the humerus in
external, or outward rotation. This position is necessary in
order to have the elbow down and the hand up so that the press
can be accomplished. In this position, the section of the deltoid
that is aligned to pull against gravity is the anterior (or
front) section. Therefore, overhead presses target mainly the
front section of the deltoid (with a small portion of the lateral
section being involved as well). If you need no special work on
this section, you will be better off targeting exercises that
work areas of the deltoid that may be in more need of attention.
If you do wish to perform presses, consider this. First of all,
they are better performed with dumbbells than with a barbell. A
barbell has to move around your head. If it goes behind your head
as in behind-neck presses, you have to bunch up the
rhomboid/trapezius area so much that you limit your pressing
strength. If it goes in front of the head, the presser tends to
lean back to an uncomfortable degree. The shoulder also tends to
fall out of the proper rotational alignment. Dumbbells, on the
other hand, rest on each side of the head. The presser does not
have to lean back, and the forearm can be kept perpendicular to
the ceiling (vital for proper rotational balance of the shoulder
joints).
When pressing the weight, only raise the arms until the humerus
(upper arm) is slightly above parallel with the floor. Any
higher, and the upper trapezius and serratus anterior muscles
must disproportionately contribute to the movement in order to
perform upward rotation of the scapula. This accessory muscle
contribution provides a weak link, limiting the amount of
adaptive overload you can apply to the deltoids. In other words,
you can lift more weight if you only press halfway up, and this
means more overload for the deltoids and other muscles don't get
"in the way".
Dumbbell front raises: These target the front deltoids to the
greatest degree, and when the dumbbell is held with the palm
facing downward (placing the humerus in more medial, or inward,
rotation), the lateral delts come into play as well. With the
thumb facing upward the humerus rotates more laterally, aligning
the deltoid fibers in such as way that the anterior portion bears
most of the stress.
Dumbbell lateral raises: This very effective exercise targets the
lateral deltoid to the greatest degree, but also involves
cooperation from the anterior and posterior sections. Make sure
that when performing this exercise the humerus travels out to the
side and into slight medial (inward) rotation. The old
description of "pouring from a pitcher" is a good one. Do not
allow the humerus to travel past a position in which it is
parallel with the floor, however, as medially rotating the
humerus in such a position can cause a painful and disabling
condition known as impingement syndrome of the rotator cuff
muscles of the shoulder.
Upright rows: This exercise can be performed with either a
barbell or two dumbbells. During this exercise, the humerus
travels into abduction just as in the lateral raise exercise, so
it is an excellent exercise for this area. Over the years, this
exercise has been the target of many "professionals" that state
that the upright row causes impingement syndrome of the rotator
cuff. These are the same people that were postulating years ago
on how bad the squat was for the knees. They were wrong then and
they are wrong now. The key is in the performance. Again, as in
the lateral raise, DO NOT allow the humerus to abduct higher than
parallel with the floor. This keeps the rotator cuff from
becoming impinged. I rate upright rows, when performed properly,
as one of THE best deltoid exercises there is.
Bent-over dumbbell lateral raises: This exercise, despite its
popularity, is nearly worthless for building the posterior
section of the deltoid. The reason is the fact that the movement
in this exercise (presumed to be horizontal abduction of the
shoulder) is actually mostly scapular movement that is carried
out by the rhomboids and middle trapezius. Very little movement
occurs at the actual glenohumeral (shoulder) joint. It is a good
mid-back exercise and a poor one for the delts.
Incline posterior deltoid raises: This one may be unfamiliar to
you, so I'll give a brief description. Lie on your side on a
low-degree incline bench. Then, holding a dumbbell in front of
you, raise it up and in front of your body until the dumbbell is
overhead. This exercise is excellent for targeting the side and
rear deltoid sections, as the extreme starting position forces
the deltoid to move the humerus through a fairly large range of
relatively isolated movement.
Incline bench deltoid rows: This is another new one. Lie face
down on an incline bench. With a dumbbell in each hand, row them
upward toward your shoulder area. This exercise is fantastic for
the lateral and posterior sections of the deltoids.
There are definitely more effective deltoid exercises than I have
listed above - as I have simply described my favorites. Keep in
mind that you can do variations of the above exercises as well,
such as machine lateral raises, cable upright rows, etc. The
focus, however, should always be on selecting one to three
exercises that target the areas of the deltoid that need the most
attention.
TRAINING PRINCIPLES
Since the deltoids are always getting pounded whenever you train
the upper body, it is vital that you avoid cumulative microtrauma
(overtraining) in the area. This accumulation can lead to rotator
cuff injury and worst and at the very least can lead to a
cessation of progress.
Training, therefore, as in all other muscle groups, should be
based upon the deltoid's recovery ability. Different types or
formats of training should also be cycled in a periodic fashion.
For example, it is a good idea to emphasize the eccentric phase
of the exercises only every other training session. The sessions
on either side of this eccentric emphasis session should be: One
high rep only session to encourage recovery and build
mitochondria and capillary networks within the muscle; and one
session that includes both high, medium, and low repetitions in
which the concentric part of the movement is emphasized and the
eccentric, or negative portion, de-emphasized. This allows you to
enjoy continuous gains without accumulating the microtrauma
incurred by performing the very productive (and also very
stressful) eccentric contractions too often.
If you choose to experiment with heavy eccentric exercise, be
sure to adequately warm up with several light, submaximal sets
beforehand in order to increase the internal temperature of you
muscle tissue. Muscles are capable of generating their optimal
force when contracting eccentrically, and therefore the risk of
injury is higher, especially if the warmup is inadequate. Also,
it is wise not to perform more than three heavy eccentric sets
per bodypart, as massive accumulations of microtrauma can
overwhelm your recovery ability.
There is one point that bears clarification. Some authorities are
under the impression that those of us who advocate this type of
cyclic training believe that "size" comes only from eccentric
exercise and "strength" comes only from concentric exercise. This
is not entirely the case. Since the maximum amount of microtrauma
occurs during eccentric exercise, you do get the largest amount
of hypertrophy as a result (via IGF/satellite cell fusion, which
is beyond the scope of this article).
You get size (although not as much) from concentric-only work as
well, however, for two reasons: First, you cannot TOTALLY avoid
the occurrence of microtrauma during heavy concentric-only
sessions. It is simply kept to a minimum due to the
well-documented fact that the majority of such trauma occurs
during the eccentric phase. Second, the myofibrils (actin/myosin
filaments) that are produced as the result of concentric-only
training do take up space and therefore contribute to increased
size.
Since both types of training stress the myofibrils to a degree
significant enough to force adaptive overload, both types of
training (concentric and eccentric) increase strength. So, with
a holistic approach to training as described above, go to the gym
and build yourself a set of deltoids.
About the author: Vince Martin, PT, CFT is a lifetime drug-free
bodybuilder, currently competing as a professional in the World
Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF). He is publisher of the
Scientific Bodybuilding Journal (SBJ), a bimonthly science-based
publication. For more information regarding SBJ, Vince may be
reached by email at vinnie@mail.io.com
or by writing to Scientific Fitness Systems, 11328 Avering Lane, Austin, TX
78754. Also, check out his web page at https://www.io.com/~vinnie/index.html
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