Back to Shoulders

This is one of my favorite combinations. Through the 15 combined years of lifting weight I’ve done many routines, from one muscle a day, 7 days a week, to 3 on 1 off, hitting everything twice a week and to push-pull combinations. Back and Shoulders together was always one of my favorites, the combination really gives you a nice total body pump and helps shape you too.

Recently I’ve been hitting this workout as follows

I start with wide grip machine pull downs or pull ups/chin ups, followed by a mass builder, the bent-over row, or sometimes something equivalent to the bent over roll on a machine.

The 3rd exercise is always the close grip low row or one arm rows or close grip t-bar rows, something the really hits the lower lat, followed by a reverse pull down or a close grip pull down and sometimes I like to end it with pullovers, straight bar off the end of a bench, because this really opens up the rib cage and hits the front part of the lats up high near your armpit

After a few seconds rest, it time for front presses sitting down on the free weight shoulder press rack or sometimes standing or on a machine or dumbbells

Doing shoulders while having a back pump is really nice, because your lats are so filled with blood you get this cushion on the back of your arms when you lower the bar down and this gives you a kind of spring to push off of when you’re driving the bar back up, you can really pump out some reps and boy do your shoulders feel good and the blood rushing into them happens pretty fast.

If I’m to doing uprights, then they would be next, I like to get the compound movements out of the way first before doing isolation movements, if not, then side laterals either free weights or the machine, I like them both, followed by rear laterals either free or machine or even one arm cables.

It all depends on how I feel that day and sometimes I feel the need to do some front dumbbell raises to end it all, then it’s off to shrugs either real heavy with a straight bar or dumbbells a little lighter concentrating on the contractions, I usually switch off every other workout.

4 sets of stomach crunches on a bench, ends the fun

Time for a protein drink!