Sculpt Your Shoulders Without Pain (Part 2 of 2)

The previous post discussed the prevention of shoulder pain and targeting the middle deltoid.  This post will focus on targeting the anterior deltoid and posterior deltoid.

The anterior deltoid gets plenty of work during chest exercises like bench press.  But if you want to emphasize the anterior deltoid, try some front raises with a barbell or dumbbells on the same day as your chest workout.  The anterior deltoid should be pre-exhausted and should get plenty of stimulation from front raises.

Likewise, the posterior deltoid gets some work during other exercises; especially, those targeting the back.  Therefore, after working your lats, try some bent laterals to finish off the posterior deltoids.

Most personal trainers like to have a shoulder day or work the entire shoulder on chest day.  I would encourage you to try something new.  Try working the anterior and middle deltoid with chest and triceps; while working the posterior deltoid with lats, traps, and biceps.  Happy lifting :)

Sculpt Your Shoulders Without Pain (Part 1 of 2)

There are 3 parts to your shoulder: the anterior deltoid, the middle deltoid, and the posterior deltoid.  Each one of the heads works the shoulder joint a little differently.  The most common exercise for shoulders is lateral raise.  Although the lateral raise does target the middle deltoid, there are other exercises you can do to target the anterior deltoid and posterior deltoid.

Furthermore, shoulder pain is an issue many of your clients are going to experience.  One way to limit shoulder pain is the keep all exercises in the "safe zone."  This means that if your client is experiencing shoulder pain, they should NOT lift anything over their heads nor should they bring their elbows to far below their spine on a bench press or dumbbell press.  Your clients should avoid the zone marked "C" in the picture.

Besides staying in the safe zone, another goal is exercising your rotator cuff muscles.  This will strengthen the shoulder capsule and minimize pain.  External rotations and internal rotation should be included in all shoulder workouts. 

On Friday, we'll go into more detail about exercising your anterior deltoid and posterior deltoid.

Strengthen Your Trapezius Muscle (Part 3 of 3)

The last joint action we will blog is scapular depression.  Most people don't intentionally try to perform scapular depression but they do get the job done when they are performing some type of pulldown; like a close-grip pulldown (pictured). 

When you start with your arms stretched out high, your shoulder blades elevate to the starting position.  After you pull your arms down with a combination scapular depression/shoulder extension movement, you will activate your lower traps along with your latissimus dorsi for a strong back.

In summary, try to work the trapezius muscle with all 4 joint actions: scapular elevation, depression, upward rotation, and retraction.  Using 15+ reps won't add as much size as performing 8 to 12 reps.

Strengthen Your Trapezius Muscle (Part 2 of 3)

The last blog focused on scapular elevation and the upward rotation of the scapula.  Both of those movements really target the upper traps.

But one of my favorite machines at the gym is the reverse pec fly machine.  Pulling your arms back as far as possible while adducting your scapulae, really squeezing those shoulder blades together, will effectively target those mid-back muscles like the mid traps, rhomboid major, and rhomboid minor.  This movement not only strengthens your back but can improve your posture as well.  Make sure to include this exercise in your routine at least once per week.  Pick a weight that will allow for 10 to 15 reps.

On Friday, I will post the final movement, scapular depression, which really focuses on the lower traps.  See you then :)

Strengthen Your Trapezius Muscle (Part 1 of 3)

The trapezius muscle is a large diamond-shaped muscle that covers most of your upper back.  It sits on top of other important muscles such as your latissimus dorsi, teres major, and rhomboids.  The large trapezius muscle can be divided into three sections: the upper traps, the middle traps, and the lower traps.

This large muscle is responsible for most of the scapular movements.  In order to strengthen the entire muscle, you and your clients must perform 4 different movements: scapular elevation, scapular depression, scapular retraction, and scapular upward rotation.

Two of my favorite exercises for working the upper traps is shoulder shrugs and shoulder press.  Both of these exercises work the upper traps with two different movements: scapular elevation and scapular upward rotation.

When performing shoulder shrugs, select a weight that allows you to perform 10 to 15 reps.  Shrug your shoulders up; rotating your shoulders is NOT necessary since the muscle fibers will only maximally contract against gravity.

During a shoulder press, the most important part of the exercise when trying to strengthen the upper traps is the upper portion.  The lower portion of the exercise emphasizes your deltoids while the upper portion emphasizes your traps.

Next time we will discuss scapular retraction and scapular depression.

Have You Tried a Protein-Rita?

Have you ever said, "I wish my margarita had some protein"?  Have you wanted your fruit and protein smoothie to have some alcohol?  Well it's time we mix these two drinks and make one Super Drink!

My first attempt was a strawberry-banana protein margarita.  In a blender, I mixed 4 strawberries, half a banana, 3 oz of tequila, zero calorie sweetener, 1 1/2 scoops of whey protein, crushed ice, and water.  On a scale of 1 to 10, the taste was a 7....but the "healthiness" ranked a perfect 10!

I made 4 - 8oz servings.  Each serving had 100 calories, almost zero fat, 5 grams of carbs, 8 grams of protein, and 8 grams of alcohol.  Not bad considering a restaurant style margarita of equal serving has almost 400 calories of sugar and alcohol; and no protein.

Next I tried vodka instead of tequila.  I also tried orange juice instead of strawberries and bananas.  It was also pretty good.  Remember, restaurants usually use fruit syrups.  When adding REAL fruit and protein powder, it changes the texture significantly...more like a smoothie than a margarita.  Also, since natural fruit sugars aren't as sweet as syrups, be prepared to add a zero calorie sweetener.  Have fun, be creative, and enjoy!