Week 8 Day 4 - Serious Shoulder Session!

21/05/15 Day 53 – Shoulders

Today was day 4 of the 2^nd week on the DTP Extreme trainer, today session was created and designed to complete annihilate the deltoids and that is exactly what it did. Feeling pretty darn tight in the legs, chest and back I made sure my body was prepared for today's session. Last night I began visualising what I wanted to get out of the session today, creating a mental game plan, so as soon as I stepped foot in the gym I knew what was I was going to do.

So here it is, today's session:

Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Cable Upright Rows – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Cable Shoulder Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cable Seated Front Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Cable Rear Delt Flyes – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Dumbbell Later Raises – 3 Sets , 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cable Rear Delt Flyes – 3 Sets , 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

I really had to make sure that I was thoroughly warmed up today, with the joints feeling a bit creaky and having quite hardcore DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) I wanted to be 100% sure in my own mind that I was ready for the session ahead, so worked through lots of rotator cuff work as well as some dynamic stretching to try and work some more blood into those tight muscles and aid their recovery.

Starting the session with a super set was pretty fun, jumping back and fourth between the Dumbbell Shoulder Press and the Cable Upright Rows really was a great introduction for the shoulder joints into the DTP Extreme massacre of the muscles. Working my way up the weights in these first sets was a nice eye opener for my strength, I sometimes lose track of how far I have come until I do a session like this where I am constantly going back to the rack to pick up heavier dumbbells because I am choosing to light a weight, which really felt fantastic. Working the front and lateral (outside) head of the deltoids in these two exercises allowed the muscles to share the work load, which was another contributing factor to the heavier reps.

Then came the first DTP Extreme exercise, moving on the the close cable system I lowered the handles, placed a bench down and began my journey on the Cable Shoulder Press. A bit of a bizarre exercise for me, as I have never really tired using the cables for any shoulder pressing movements, but I have to say it very much tested my ability and strength and will be something I come back to in the future. Really hitting the smaller fixation muscles in the shoulder as well as those big deltoid heads really allowed me to get a fantastic workout out of a very simple exercise.

With the deltoids screaming out after those presses it was only fair to work them a little bit harder, with around 1 ½ minutes rest I moved the bench out from the cables. With a relatively light weight on the stacks I set myself physically and mentally and began the next DTP Extreme set which was the Cable Seated Front Raises. Isolating the Anterior (front) head of the shoulder meant this already fatigued muscle group was being pushed to is complete limit, I loved every minute of this exercise but that isn't to say it was easy, I often found that I had to stop for a few seconds here and there because my shoulders were on fire, the build of of lactic acid really had me grunting out every single rep in the last few sets.

Giving the front portion of the should a bit of a break I moved over to the wide cable pulleys and set out on my second super set of the session, which was the Dumbbell Lateral Raises followed by the Cable Rear Delt Flyes. With a few minutes rest since the last DTP set I was ready to crack on, working with the high reps meant that I was working with quite light weights to start with, but as the sets went on I was slowly creeping up the weights and forcing my muscles to complete failure, this allowed me to breakdown more muscle tissue, which will then have to be resynthesised by the body to create larger and stronger muscles.

With the super set done and dusted it was time to move on to working the movements in isolation for the final two DTP Extreme sets! Starting with the Dumbbell Lateral Raises I worked with the same weight I performed for 20 reps in the previous exercise, to ensure I would reach failure on the 20 & 30 rep sets in this exercise. Remember: Do not be afraid of failure, working your body to its maximum is the only way it's going to grow.

With the end in sight I prepared the cable system for the last push through the soul shattering Cable Rear Delt Flyes. Here you may have noticed I was only working through a 10,20 and 30 rep range, keeping the duration shorter and thus the rest periods also dwindled, forcing more blood into the muscles, keeping them under tension for longer and if you have been following these blogs over the past 8 Weeks then you will know it is all about Time Under Tension (TUT). With the final set done and the weights completed, I ensured that I stretched out for a while, still having all the blood pumping around the delts made them tight and needed to be flushed out.

I hope you kill your session as hard as I murder mine today!

Happy Lifting,

Matt