Shoulders That Will Look Like Boulders  

When somebody mentions their shoulder muscles, which specific muscles do you think of?  Well if you thought of the deltoids then you are right. according to Schuler and Mejia, “The three parts of the deltoid are the anterior the middle and the posterior” (13), all of which have different roles. According to Schuler and Mejia, “The anterior deltoid raises your arm in front of you, the middle deltoid raises your arm to the side and the posterior deltoid draws your arm backwards” (13).

The shoulders are weak muscles and most people can only lift lighter weights.  When I started exercising, I stayed in the ten to fifteen-pound range on all my shoulder exercises, from the lateral raises, to front plate raises, military press, and many more exercises. With proper exercise and form, I was able to increase my weight by about 5-pounds every two weeks.

Your shoulders are also very sensitive because of the rotators. This could cause people with very sensitive shoulders or previous shoulder injuries to not be able to workout the deltoids. Exercises like behind the head shoulder presses and rocky presses may cause intense pain for those with preexisting shoulder injuries. But if you’re someone like me with no injuries, the behind the head shoulder press and the rocky press are great exercises that you can do to round out those shoulders.

The rocky press is a combined exercise of both the military press and behind the head shoulder press. The behind the head shoulder press is a great exercise to strengthen the anterior deltoids, whereas the military press works all three of these muscles. Other exercises for the posterior include dumbbell bent over rows, dumbbell lateral raises, and rear deltoid raises.

Finally, some great exercises for the middle deltoid include the upright row, both barbell and dumbbell, and the Arnold press. So, if you’re looking for muscular, rounded shoulders, then look no further, incorporate these exercises into your workout and round out those shoulders. So, what is holding you back from getting the shoulders that you deserve?

Top Two Leg Workouts Sure to Get Your Legs Ready for Summer 

Spring is here and it is time to get those legs ready for some additional action.  If you want to get your legs in shape to show them off in your bikini or summer shorts, the workouts I outline will help.  Not only will you look good, but you will feel good.  You are sure to burn lots of calories and increase your strength – just in time.  I have found that legs are some of the most difficult muscles to train next to the back muscles, but with some proper technique and the right exercises, you will look good. 

Before I explain the exercises that will help, we need to cover the anatomy of the legs.  One of the most useful muscle groups in the body, the legs support parts of the rest of your body and help you to walk, run, ride a bike, ski, and many other fun activities.  There are several families of muscles including the major ones such as the quads (front upper thigh), gastrocs(calf muscles), the hammis (hamstrings), and the gluts (butt muscles).  Of course, there are several lesser-known muscles that provide secondary support including big-name muscles like vastus medialis and tibialis anterior. Your hammis are the main muscle that is used to bring your ankle all the way to your buttocks (Schuler and Mejia 16). While your quads extend your leg from a bent position (Schuler and Mejia 16).

Leg presses are a great exercise to develop your quadriceps, but they isolate the rectus femoris.  Like other exercises, switching your grip, hand, or body position, you will change the muscle(s) that you work (isolate). So, when I do leg presses, I start with my feet shoulder-width apart, feet parallel to each other.  I then move my feet shoulder width apart, with my feet facing outward.  I spread my legs apart and push the weighted press forward slowly until my legs are almost fully extended.  When I have reached a good stopping point, I slowly reduce the tension and return the weighted press to the starting position.  This exercise works all four groups of muscles (gluts, quads, hammis, and gastrocs).

Squats are a very common exercise that will produce results and help you show off the lower part of your body this spring.  Doing four sets of ten repetitions each is all it takes.  Just be careful.  Common failures associated with squats include poor form (leaning too far forward) and not dipping low enough during each repetition.  When I do squats, I stand with my legs shoulder-width apart.  I hold two weights at each side of my body and squat my legs.  I keep my back as straight as possible to maintain proper form and dip down approximately to a seated position.  I then lift back up to a standing position and repeat the exercise between eight and ten repetitions. 

So, if you want some great legs for this spring and summer, I highly recommend these exercises.

Your Arms Aren’t Just for Showing Off Your Guns

Arms aren’t just something that we use to show how much fire power we have, but they also are something that we use in daily activity and are pretty common in some exercises that you do in the gym. For example, when bench pressing, the triceps are the secondary muscle group that allow you to push the bar the last few inches at the top of your repetition.  The biceps are also the secondary muscle group that assist in chin-ups (Note:  Your palms face toward you with a chin-up grip, whereas your palms face away from your body when performing pull-ups.)

According to (Schuler and Mejia 15), “Your triceps are the muscles that help your arms straighten.” Imagine if you were to extend your elbows out as hard as you possibly can (I say imagine because you could hyperextend your elbow by doing this), you might feel a strong amount of tension behind you arm, that is because you are engaging the triceps muscle and are really flexing the triceps. Whereas when you take your fingers and try to touch your shoulders, you are really engaging the biceps.  The biceps do the opposite of what the triceps do, and according to (Schuler and Mejia 15), “The biceps serve as the muscle that help the motion of the shoulders and the elbow joints.”

Exercises to strengthen the Triceps and Biceps:

The most basic and the one that people probably do the most to build their biceps, is the bicep curl. It’s also one of the more common exercises that I see people do where people overload themselves with too much weight. I mean you’re not helping yourself by overloading yourself with too much weight, you just need to give your muscle time to develop and gain strength.

Proper way to do a Bicep Curl:

1. Grab a dumbbell, E-Z curl bar, or barbell with your arms fully extended and palms facing away from your body.

2. Slowly raise the dumbbell or bar by curling at your elbows (you’ll know if you have too much weight because you will have to use momentum to get the weight up).

3. Slowly lower the weight back down to the starting position to complete one repetition.

4. Repeat steps two and three 10 times.

A good exercise for your triceps are tricep curls (Skull Crushers). This exercise can be done with an E-Z bar or dumbbells. This is a very good exercise to isolate your triceps, and whenever I do it I get the feeling of blood immediately rushing into the muscle.

 
Proper way to do Skull Crushers:

1. Remove the E-Z bar from the rack. 

2. Bring bar out above your face.

3. Bend at your elbows until the bar goes behind your face.

4. Slowly begin to bring bar back to original position.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 ten times.

 

Just Because You Can’t See Your Back Doesn’t Mean You Shouldn’t Exercise It

            Your back is probably one of the hardest muscle groups to exercise in your entire body since you are not able to see the muscles contract and stretch. Additionally, there are many different muscles in your back from your trapezius (at the top) to the erector spinae (at the very bottom).

            According to Schuler and Mejia, the latissimus dorsi is “the largest back muscle, slanting up from your back to your upper-arm bone” (12). The latissimus dorsi “pulls your upper arm towards your body-either from overhead as in a pulldown or pullup, or from in front of you as in a rowing movement… (and is a) big player in throwing” (Schuler and Mejia 12). Other muscles in the back also include the rhomboids, teres major and minor, and infraspinatus.

Exercises:

Pullups

            Pullups are the number one recommended back exercise as they not only work the latissimus dorsi, but also strengthen the lower trapezius. While first trying to do pullups may mean the latissimus dorsi will get fatigued quicker, it still is the number one exercise to do to strengthen your back muscles.

            How to do a proper pullup:

1.     Grab a chin-up bar with a wide, overhand grip with your hands approximately shoulder width apart. Hang freely with your arms fully extended.

2.     Squeeze your shoulder blades together then begin to pull yourself up far enough to where your head goes above the bar.

3.     Slowly lower your body down to the start position with arms fully extended (by performing movement slowly you will engage your latissimus dorsi for a longer period of time).

4.     Repeat steps three and four 10 repetitions.

According to Schuler and Mejia, “Not only can pullups be done as a bodyweight exercise but they can also be done as a weighted exercise by holding a dumbbell or plate between your legs or wearing a backpack” (81).

            Another good exercise to strengthen your back is bent over rows.   

            How to perform a proper bent over row:

1.     Stand and hold a weighted barbell with an overhand grip and hands approximately shoulder width apart. If possible, stand and face a mirror so as to view your body position and form during the exercise.

2.     Bend at your hips until your body forms close to a 45-degree angle. It is important to keep your back straight and not to arch your back, as this will may cause an injury.

3.     Pull the barbell upwards over your thighs until you touch your stomach, then slowly the barbell down to the resting position to complete one repetition.

4.     Repeat step 3 and complete 10 repetitions.

Pullups and bent over rows are two of the best exercises for developing overall strength in your back muscles.  Don’t worry if you can’t do one pullup or have to use light weights on your bent over rows, just keep working at it and you will quickly see improvements and increased strength gains.