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Getting Shoulders & Triceps Bigger & Stronger

Tom Venuto, CSCS, CPT

Sunday, July 10th. Time for another Deltoid and Tricep session. In line with my “continuity” + “confusion” principle I mentioned in a previous blog, I have changed some parts of the routine completely to shock (“confuse”) the muscles into new growth, while continuing with other parts of my training routine with heavier weight to overload them into new growth. I’m also going to start training more often. Read on to find out why…

DELTOIDS

A1 Cable one arm front raise

3 sets X 50 lbs X 12 reps

A2 Cable one arm lateral raise

3 sets X 40 lbs X 12, 11, 10 reps

*no rest between exercises or supersets - these are nonstop

B1 Seated Dumbbell Press

1 set X 75 lbs X 9 reps X 3020

B2 Seated “W Press” (press with neutral/palms facing grip)

1 set X 45 lbs X 10 reps X 2020

*no rest between supersetted exercises, 90 sec rest after each superset

C1 Seated Dumbbell Press

1 set X 75 lbs X 7 reps

C2 Arnold Presses (rotate hands; supinate to pronate while pressing up)

1 set X 45 lbs X 8 reps

*no rest between supersetted exercises, 90 sec rest after each superset

D1 Seated Dumbbell Press

1 set X 75 lbs X 6 reps

D2 Alternating Dumbbell Presses (left-right-left)

1 set X 45 lbs X 8 reps each arm

*no rest between supersetted exercises, 90 sec rest after each superset

E1 Rear Delt Machine (reverse Pec Dec flyes)

Set 1: 160 lbs X 12 reps, then drop to 90 lbs, 10 reps with palms down grip, standing up, leaning into the machine

Set 2: 180 lbs X 10 reps, then drop to 90 lbs, 10 reps with palms down grip, standing up, leaning into the machine

Set 3: 200 lbs X 7 reps, then drop to 90 lbs, 10 reps with palms down grip, standing up, leaning into the machine

TRICEPS

A1 Seated Dumbbell tricep extension (behind head)

3 sets X 85 lbs X 12 reps, 9 reps, 7 reps

A2 2 Dumbbell Tricep Kickback

3 sets X 40 lbs X 12 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps X 2010 tempo

*no rest between supersetted exercises, 90 sec rest after each superset

B1 Lying EZ-Bar tricep extension (Multi-angle tri-set)

3 sets X 105 lbs X 12 reps, 10 reps

B2 EZ bar pullover

3 sets X 105 lbs X 10 reps, 8 reps

B3 EZ bar close grip bench

3 sets X 105 lbs X 6 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps

*no rest between tri-setted exercises, 90 sec rest after each tri-set

Workout Commentary

I lost my training partner! Bummer, man! In my earlier blogs, I often mentioned my “animal” training partner Mike. I even joked around about the day he agreed to train for competition with me, that if he couldn’t hang and he dropped out, that I would make fun of him on the blog for thousands of people to read. But, in all fairness, I can’t do that, because Mike dropped out for legitimate reasons. He never backed down from a single workout … trained like an animal every time.

What happened is Mike is the manager of a chain of kickboxing studios and they’re opening new locations. He’s also the guy who gets stuck as substitute teacher if an instructor doesn’t show up. The other day when he said he had to cancel a workout with me, I said, “What’s up man, you get stuck teaching 3 or 4 classes a day again?” He said, “nope, try 6 classes a day, starting at 5 am!” Whoa, I didn’t know it was humanly possible to teach 6 kickboxing classes a day. Between that and his new location opening soon, I had to “let him off the hook.” I remember what it was like in my gym business days when I managed clubs and worked, 60, 70, 80 hours a week to keep the machine running smoothly.

Anyway, today was business as usual. Training partner or solo, doesn’t matter to me, I just keep hammering away.

This routine was ALL supersets and tri-sets. I repeated some of the same exercises and supersets as the last few workouts, while adding a new twist by using cables for lateral raises instead of dumbbells and by switching to a dumbbell for the behind the head tricep extension (mostly because the tricep bar was starting to hurt my elbows). Just a little bit of mild discomfort in the elbows today, felt better. Gotta be careful though, elbow joint pain can screw up your training for weeks if you don’t train triceps with respect for your joints. Warm up is a must and changing handles, grips and exercises frequently can help.

I’m pleased that my strength levels are increasing and I feel like I’m recovering fully from every workout. I often find that in the early stages of contest prep, I am actually at my strongest point - even stronger than in the middle of the off season. Then as the show gets closer, and I get lighter, leaner and more depleted, strength wanes a little, but even if it doesn’t it’s smart to decrease poundages in favor of higher density and stricter form workouts. Many injuries occur in that period right before a contest when your body is at its most depleted.

Starting tomorrow, I’m going to increase my frequency to 3 days on 1 day off, 2 days on 1 day off (still on a 4 day split). There are a limited number of days until the contest and this will allow me to squeeze in a few extra workouts.

There’s been a lot written about overtraining recently, in fact I think the point is belabored to the point of redundancy. One thing few bodybuilders consider is whether they are actually under training! The important thing is that you allow enough recovery time for YOUR body and YOUR personal needs. That includes recovery for the individual body parts, and “systemic” recovery for the whole body. If you can train more often and still recover completely from it, then you are going to grow more.

Lately, after two days on, I’m getting the itch to get back in they gym rather than take a rest day. Also, after going through my four day training cycle, the body part I’m about to train again (day 1 in the 4 day split cycle) feels totally recovered and then some. I remember in the past when I would be sore for 3, 4, 5 days after an intense workout. The delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) might even still be lingering when it was time to train that body part again. I’m training as hard as ever, but I’m not as sore as I used to be, which to me means better recovery. The DOMS has been only moderate and seems to last only 2-3 days. Based on how good I feel right now, and the fact that there are only so many days until show day, this increase in frequency is a good move for me. We’ll see how it goes.

Until next time, train hard, and be sure to “tune in” and “listen” to what your body is telling you. You might get better results with LESS frequent training or with MORE frequent training. Don’t rule out either possibility.

Posted 10 July, 2005 in Workouts

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