Egor Fukalov
fitness trainer
What exercises to do with weights to pump up your shoulders? What is special about shoulder training?
If you want to build powerful shoulders, use kettlebell exercises. This sports equipment is designed to develop strength, strengthen ligaments and tendons. That is why many athletes love him so much. One of the brightest representatives of the old school strongmen, who constantly proves the versatility and coolness of weights, is Victor Blud. The athlete has repeatedly noted that thanks to this projectile he is able to maintain phenomenal shape and high strength indicators.
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What is important to know about shoulder training?
The shoulder muscles are the anterior, middle and rear deltoids. Each segment has its own exercises. Organize your training process to use them all. The shoulder muscles are actively activated when we work the chest, back, trapezius and other muscles. Therefore, it is very important to correctly distribute the training load and choose a day to pump the deltas so that they have time to recover. If your shoulders are constantly overworked, there will be no growth. A couple of workouts a week will be enough for you.
Photo: istockphoto.com
Lifting two weights up
This is one of the variations of the bench press, but here the amplitude already increases. Try not to cheat and concentrate on your deltoids as much as possible.
Technique:
- Grab the weights and throw them towards your shoulders. Place your feet hip-width apart. The weights should be placed on the outer sides of the forearms on the sides of the torso, with the elbows pressed against the torso. The inner sides of the palms face each other.
- As you exhale, lift the weights above your head, turning the insides of your hands outward. This places the weights behind your forearms.
- As you inhale, bring your arms back to your shoulders.
Standing Kettlebell Press
The exercise involves all segments of the shoulders and triceps.
Technique:
- stand straight with a slight arch in the lower back;
- lift the kettlebell in front of you so that it rests on your forearm. The fist is pointing up and the elbow is pointing down;
- as you exhale, lift the weight up above your head with a powerful movement;
- while inhaling, smoothly lower the projectile to its original position;
- lift the weight using the strength of your arms, without pushing your legs or swinging your body.
Perform three approaches 10-12 times. Rest between sets is a minute.
Photo: istockphoto.com
Is it possible to pump up your shoulders with kettlebells alone?
The kettlebell is a fairly versatile piece of equipment . You can perform a huge number of exercises with it, not only on the shoulders, but also on other parts of the body. But today we will talk about how to pump up your shoulders with a kettlebell, and we will not talk about other parts of the body.
Departing a little from the topic, I want to warn you that if you pump up your huge shoulders so that the girls sit on them confidently enough, then fragile legs, like a grasshopper’s, can give way at one moment and this whole unstable structure of conquering the female will fail.
Therefore, I recommend paying equal attention to all parts of your body. There is information about this in my other articles.
Now let's get back to the shoulders. In a couple of seconds of thought, at least 3 basic exercises with kettlebells on the shoulders come to mind that will turn you into a little Hulk.
That is, the kettlebell allows you to perform all the basic basic movements that are required to work out your deltoids. Accordingly, it is definitely possible to pump up your shoulders only with kettlebells.
Lifting a kettlebell in front of you while standing
The front and middle parts of the shoulders are involved in the work.
Technique:
- stand straight with a slight arch in the lower back;
- take the weight in your hands so that it is in front of your thigh;
- as you exhale, with a powerful movement, raise your arm to shoulder level;
- while inhaling, gently lower your hand to the starting position;
- lift the projectile using the strength of your hands, without swinging your body.
Perform three approaches 10-12 times. Rest between sets is a minute.
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The main attribute of the equipment is a 16 kg weight
Perhaps most Soviet families had cast iron weights weighing 16 kilograms. There were also heavier versions of shells (24 and 32 kg), but such examples were less popular. However, for our training a 16 kg weight will be quite enough. So look in your closet or garage to see if such a shell is lying around. If not, you can always buy such a weight in a sports store or find it in an ad and buy a second-hand weight from the USSR era.
The kettlebell is one of the best equipment for training the deltoid muscles.
Raising arms to the sides while bending over
The exercise involves the back of the shoulders and trapezius.
Technique:
- lean forward so that your torso is parallel to the floor. The back is straight, with a slight arch in the lower back;
- in the starting position, the weights hang on straightened arms. Feet shoulder width apart;
- as you exhale, with a powerful movement, spread the weights to the sides, trying to raise your arms until they are parallel to the floor;
- As you inhale, slowly lower your arms to the starting position.
Perform three approaches 10-12 times. Rest between sets is a minute.
One kettlebell – pumping all muscle groups
Surprisingly, with one such projectile you can pump up all the main muscle groups.
You can put a good load on your legs by fixing a weight on your chest and starting to squat. You can also pump up your back, arms, calf muscles and trapezius. Well, and, of course, shoulders. This is what we are talking about today. The 16 kilogram kettlebell is ideal for performing exercises that will help every man build beautiful, massive shoulders.
Shoulder training with kettlebells is really effective. Working with free weights allows you to grow muscle mass at a rapid pace, unlike isolation machines and elastic bands. With weights weighing 16, 24 and 32 kilograms, every man can build shoulders of decent volume.
Victor Malykhin, fitness trainer
Raising arms to the sides while standing
The exercise involves the middle part of the shoulders.
Technique:
- stand straight with a slight arch in the lower back;
- in the starting position, the weights hang on slightly bent arms, touching the side of the thigh. Legs are narrower than shoulder width;
- as you exhale, spread your arms to the sides with a powerful movement, trying not to bring them slightly parallel to the floor;
- while inhaling, slowly lower your arms to the starting position;
- lift the projectile using the strength of your arms, without swinging your body and legs.
Perform three approaches 10-12 times. Rest between sets is a minute.
Photo: istockphoto.com
What exercises can you do with kettlebells on your shoulders?
We divide exercises with kettlebells into 3 types:
- bench presses;
- traction;
- flywheels
There are the most pressing movements with a kettlebell. There are also quite a lot of execution variations:
The most basic and familiar to everyone, perhaps, will be the one-handed kettlebell press . If you have 2 weights, then you can press both at once.
also press one kettlebell with both hands , holding the bottom of the kettlebell rather than the handle, or turning it upside down and pressing while holding its base.
Pulling movements also work the deltas very well and are very effective. This could be a two-handed kettlebell row to the chin . Or one-arm kettlebell row.
Swing movements can be performed in several variations. For example, you can lift a weight with both hands in front of you by force, this is quite difficult. And if you ate a lot of porridge as a child, or you simply purchased a weight in the children's department, then you can generally lift the weight with one hand.
You can also perform kettlebell swings not using force, but using inertia. This method also includes the muscles of the legs and back, which removes most of the load from your deltoids. But, nevertheless, deltas still work and work quite well.
Again, if you have a pair of weights and they don’t weigh like a KAMAZ (as your sparrow arms feel), then you can do dumbbell swings to the sides .
So we figured out how to pump up your shoulders with kettlebells using various exercises, now it’s time to combine them into a full-fledged training program.
Sequence of exercises[edit | edit code]
Main article:
Procedure for performing exercises in the gym
Be sure to start your workout with a warm-up. Kettlebell training is much harder and more intense than training with barbells and dumbbells, so you need to warm up your muscles, ligaments and tendons much more carefully.
It would be a good idea to spend a few minutes doing joint exercises, working on a treadmill or pedaling an exercise bike. This will significantly increase blood supply to all muscle groups and reduce muscle recovery time.
An intensive warm-up will allow you to train more often, and muscle growth will accelerate.
Each new exercise should be performed with light weight at first. There are several reasons for this:
- even the strongest joints can suffer from unusually heavy load;
- the movement may turn out to be unusual and therefore not very convenient, which will have a negative impact on the results. You will have to either completely exclude such an exercise from the program, or gradually get used to it, which is easier to do with light weight;
- caution wouldn't hurt. Even a minor sprain can prevent an athlete from training for a long time, which will greatly slow down progress;
- A thorough warm-up and getting used to uncomfortable movements will allow the athlete to quickly increase the working weight and complicate the exercises. If it becomes possible to increase the intensity of the workout, you should increase the weight or make the exercise more difficult;
- Kettlebell training develops functional strength, and muscle mass grows by continuously increasing the weight lifted and the number of repetitions. Having completed the next task in kettlebell training, it is advisable to return to training with dumbbells, barbells and exercise machines for a while. Such a harmonious combination will lead to the most comprehensive development of the body. When returning to weights, increasing the load will ensure another increase in performance. The optimal cycle duration (depending on the individual characteristics and goals of the bodybuilder) is from 1 to 3 months;
- The blood supply to muscles and joints during a long kettlebell set reaches incredible intensity. Ligaments in this mode are almost not susceptible to injury and, remembering the load, are intensively strengthened, just like tendons and muscles. This process is favorably affected by the fact that the weight is always lifted in a comfortable position of the joint;
- multiple repetitions in the kettlebell training mode contribute to the natural restoration of cartilage tissue, which, together with the previous position, provides a unique means of protecting the musculoskeletal system from damage;
- Each bodybuilder has the opportunity to choose the best options for using certain exercises - the basics of the technique, as well as choosing weights, the number of repetitions, their speed in accordance with the main goal of the lesson.
Only a thoughtful approach to body development can bring quick and significant results.
Preparation before training
Warm-up is the most important part of functional training. Thanks to warmed up muscles, saturated with blood, the results of training increase significantly. In addition, the risk of unpleasant consequences, such as pressure surges, or muscle strains or injuries, is reduced.
The universal warm-up complex consists of:
- Joint gymnastics. It is necessary to pay attention to the shoulder and elbow joints, as well as the wrists.
- Stretch marks. Lunges, various bends of the torso and placing the upper limbs behind the back will perfectly prepare the muscles for work.
- Cardio elements. These include running and any kind of jumping. You can also do squats at a fast pace.
At the end of the warm-up, it is recommended to rest for a minute to allow breathing to recover, and then proceed directly to training.
The total time for warming up is from 10 to 15 minutes.
