How I Grew My Shoulders… FAST

Here's a picture of me three years ago back when my shoulders were completely flat and non-existent. And here's a picture of my shoulders now. I went from having six forearms to building 3D delts that get me more serious acquisition than Michael Hearn.

And all of that in less than 3 years. And in today's video, I'm going to show you exactly how I did it so that you can start getting comments like these two. You know why that is?

It's like big. Oh my. Now, before we get into the specifics, it is important to know that your shoulder is made up of three different heads.

First off, we have the front delts. These are activated during pressing movements, and they're responsible for that thickness on the front of your shoulder. And next up, we have the side delts.

So, these are honestly probably the most important part of the shoulder, and they are mainly key for width. So, if you want to have that superhero look, these are what you need to focus on. And last but not least, we have the rear delts, which are also often the most neglected.

And these give you that rounded back look and balance your physique from the side and the back. And now, before we jump into the exact exercises that help me blow up my shoulders fast, I'm going to run you through my training split and how often I train my shoulders. So, I like to train six days a week.

And this is basically what my training looks like. On day one, I like to do chest, shoulders, and biceps. And when I say shoulders, I mean my front and side delt.

On day two, I like to do legs and abs. And on day three, I train my back and my tricep, where I train also my rear delts on day three. And then I would either rest or do cardio and abs and repeat that cycle all over again.

And if you're new here, you might be wondering why I train them that way. Who the do you think you are? And the main reason is because most people like to hit shoulders only once a week.

But I noticed that I got far better results by training them at least twice a week instead of having one specific dedicated shoulder day. So technically, I'm training all three heads of my shoulders every 4 days. And this video is going to be split up into three different parts.

Part number one is going to be about the exact exercises that helped me blow up my shoulders. Part number two is going to be about the key tips that you need to know in order to maximize your shoulder growth. And last but not least, part number three is going to be about recovery and nutrition.

So, let's jump into the exercises. And we'll start with the most important part in my opinion, the side delts. And exercise number one for the side delts that I like to do is dumbbell lateral raises.

So, these have been my go-tos ever since I started training. And the main reason is because I remember my dad telling me that if I wanted to have broader shoulders, I would need to spam these. So, if you want wider shoulders, dumbbell lateral raises are crucial.

And here's how I like to do them. So, first thing I like to do is start with the dumbbells by my side. And I raise them just above shoulder level with a slight lean forward.

And I also make sure to keep my pinky slightly higher than my thumb to bias more of my side delt. And also, I make sure to have a slight bend in my elbows while performing them. And also one quick tip that I recommend to really feel this in your side delts is to keep your elbows slightly higher than your hands.

And once you get to the top, make sure you pause for one second and then control the negative down without resting at the bottom and repeat the movement. So for these, I usually like to do three sets of 10 to 12 reps. And on the last set, I like to do a drop set.

And also a quick tip for the dumbbell lateral raises, make sure you don't go too heavy because if you're swinging the weights, you're going to be using your traps a lot more than your side delts. So, make sure that you're using a weight that you can actually control to really feel that mind to muscle connection with your side delt. However, the thing that I don't like about dumbbell lateral raises is that they're going to be the hardest at the top of the movement and a bit easier at the bottom because of gravity.

So, only doing dumbbell lateral raises may lead to missing out on potential gains, which brings me to exercise number two, which is cable lateral raises, or if you have one at your gym, a machine lateral raise. And the reason I like these is because they allow constant tension on the delts and because they let you isolate one side at a time, which really helps you with that mind to muscle connection. But here's how I like to do them.

So, first thing I like to do when I'm doing cable lateral raises is that I set the cable around knee height to really feel that tension on my delt at the lowest position. And from here, I like to step away from the cable to create even more tension on my side delt at the bottom position. And then I raise my arm out to the side slightly higher than shoulder level with a slight bend in my elbow.

And then I squeeze at the top for one to two seconds before slowly returning back to the bottom position while controlling the weight and going back up again. So for these, I like to do three sets of 12 to 15 reps while going to failure. And that's it.

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Now, back to the video. And now we move on to the most neglected part of the shoulder, the rear delts. And the first exercise I like to do for the rear delts is the reverse peg deck.

And the reason why I like this machine so much is because there's absolutely no way to use momentum. So, there's no traps taking over. It's just pure rear delt tension.

And here's how I like to do them. So, first thing I do here is that I sit facing the pad with my chest up. I like to push my shoulders forward to really create that tension on the rear delts.

And from here, I like to imagine as if I'm trying to create the biggest circle possible around me, get to the bottom position, and then push as far as possible. And then once I get to the peak, I like to squeeze my rear delts for 1 to 2 seconds and control the eccentric all the way down without pausing once my hand get closer to each other. And then I repeat the movement again.

And for these, I like to do three sets of 10 to 12 reps going to failure. And that's basically it. And if you don't have a reverse peg deck machine at your gym, there's other alternatives you can do.

The first one I definitely recommend would be reverse bent over dumbbell flies. These are great because it's basically the same exact movement, but the reason why I prefer the peg deck is because of that constant tension and also because of the added stability. And now moving on to exercise number two for the rear delts, we have the face pulls.

So for these, the biggest tip I could give, and I've seen a lot of people mess this up, you need to be pulling the rope towards your eyes, not your neck. And also make sure that you're flaring your elbows out really wide to feel your rear delts working instead of your biceps. But here's how I like to do this exercise.

So for this exercise, I like to do it seated on the cable machine for more stability. First thing I do is that I attach the rope to the cable and set my feet on a platform to stay stable. And then from here, I pull the rope towards my eyes or forehead while keeping my elbows high.

Then I focus on squeezing my rear delts and traps at the top for 1 to two seconds. And then I slowly return to the start while controlling the weight. And for these, I like to do three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

And of course, I make sure to go to failure on every single set. [Music] And now, last but not least, we move over to the last part, the front delts. And exercise number one for the front delts is the machine overhead press.

So, this has been my go-to for building my front delts. And the main reason is because the machine keeps the movement strict and really lets me push heavy without compromising my form. Here's how I like to do it.

So, first thing I do is that I sit upright with my head slightly back. And then from here, I like to grab the handles slightly below shoulder height to really get that full range of motion. And there's two ways you can do this.

Some machines you can lower the handles. And for other ones, you're going to have to pull up the seat a bit higher so that you can really get that full range of motion. And once I'm in position, I press the weight up while keeping tension on my delts.

And I make sure to not lock out at the top to keep that constant tension. And then from here, I go all the way down and pause at the bottom position for one to two seconds to really feel that stretch. and I repeat the movement all over again.

And for these, I only do two to three sets of 10 to 12 reps while going to failure. And also a quick tip for any sort of overhead press, I always make sure to keep my elbows slightly in front of my body to really put more focus on my front delts and also to make sure that I don't injure myself. And if you don't have a machine overhead press, you can always do these alternatives.

So, first one would be a Smith machine overhead press. And the second option would be a dumbbell overhead press. If I had to pick only one, I would definitely do the Smith machine instead of the dumbbells because of the added stability.

and also you can push the failure a lot more easily without risking an injury. But whichever exercise you choose, make sure that you never set your bench straight at a 90 degree angle, but instead do the exercise at a slight incline because if you do it straight up, you might injure yourself. And trust me, I'm speaking from experience because it did happen to me when I first started training.

And now move on to exercise number two for the front delts, which is also the last exercise, the cable front raises. So this exercise is a great isolation move to really target your front delts and feel that burn. And here's how I recommend you do them.

So, first thing you want to do is set the cable at the lowest setting. And then grab the cable with no attachment or you can also do it with a rope if you want to do it two-handed and save some time. And then after that, face away from the stack and take a step forward to really create more tension on your front delt at the bottom position and raise your arm up in front of you.

Once you get to that level, pause at the top for one to two seconds to really feel that contraction. And then return to the start while controlling the eccentric. And also make sure to keep a slight bend in your elbow throughout the whole movement.

And for these, I like to do three sets of 10 to 12 reps while going to failure. And also, I always make sure to not go too heavy on this exercise to really feel that mind to muscle connection. And now we move on to part number two of this video, which is four key tips that made a huge difference in my shoulder growth.

And tip number one is don't move. So, one of the biggest mistakes I used to make, especially with lateral raises, was going too heavy and just swinging the weight up with no momentum. And I get it.

It might feel like you're training hard, but your side delts aren't actually doing the work as much as your traps or sometimes even your legs depending on how much you're swinging the weights. And here's what you want to do instead. First off, you want to drop the weight.

Focus on controlling the eccentric part of the movement. And also make sure that you're keeping constant tension throughout the whole movement on your delts. Tip number two is to train all three heads of the shoulder.

Most people just do loud raises and then they wonder why their shoulders still look flat. And the main reason is because there's three heads to the shoulder and they're also all important to train. So, if you're neglecting only one of them, you're going to miss out on that full 3D look.

So, make sure that you're training all three heads of the shoulder. Don't skip rear delts. Tip number three is to use machines and cables for more tension.

Dumbbells are great, but machines and cables are definitely superior if your goal is to build bigger shoulders. And the main reason is because machines and cables let you go to failure safely, and they also keep constant tension throughout the whole range of motion, which equals to more gains. So yeah, cables and machines will make it easier to do more quality reps, control the tempo, and also grow without messing up your shoulders.

And last but not least, tip number four is to train your shoulders twice a week. Your shoulders do recover quickly, so training them more often just makes sense. And what worked best for me was training them every 3 to 4 days because that gave me enough time to recover more overall volume every single week and also more chances to lock in my form and really focus on that mindto muscle connection, which is the most important part in my opinion.

And now we move on to part number three, which is recovery and nutrition. Training your shoulders won't do anything if your sleep and your diet is trash. And I say this every video because it really matters.

If you're only getting 4 hours of sleep every single night, and you're wondering why your shoulders aren't growing, here's your answer. So, make sure you're aiming for at least 7 to 9 hours every single night. And also, if you want to grow your shoulders, I recommend being in a caloric surplus of 300 to 500 calories above your maintenance and also eating at least 1 g of protein per pound of body weight.

And yeah, that's basically how I grew my shoulders fast over the last few years. If this video helped you, make sure to smash that like button, subscribe for more videos, and let me know in the comments what video you'd like to see next. And also, make sure to go watch another one of my videos if you want to learn how to grow your chest, your arms, or your back.

I've basically done it all. And as always, I appreciate you guys for watching. Love y'all.

Peace.