One Plate Big Shoulders Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training One Plate Big Shoulders The Most Effective Delt Finisher by Gareth Sapstead June 24, 2021September 19, 2022 Most people say shoulder presses and lateral raises are your meat and potatoes for delts. And if you truly want delts that look like bowling balls, you'll add some kind of rear-delt flye into the mix as well. But what about front raises? Here's what the average lifter will say: "Front raises are unnecessary because your anterior delts get hit with other lifts." Or he'll say they just feel awkward. So should we just toss the front raise out completely? I vote no. Sort of. The front raise just needs a massive update. Here's a new take on front raises that'll train all areas of your delts and add some extra fire to your shoulder workouts: To get the technique right, start with a lighter plate until you perfect the move. If possible, use full-size bumper plates because your hands will be the same distance apart even as you go up in weight. And if you go super light, you won't be gripping a teeny plate. Get the plate directly over your head on each rep. This helps keep your shoulders and elbows nicely aligned. Think of the bottom (pushing arm) as performing an uppercut-type motion. Think of the higher arm (raising arm) as doing somewhat of a face-pull motion. If you're doing it right, you'll almost be able to kiss your biceps each time. I won't judge if you actually do. Do sets of about 20 reps (10 on each side). Although you can go all the way up to 50 reps (25 on each side) to really balloon up your delts. The delts tend to respond best to methods that create a lot of blood occlusion and metabolic stress. This exercise works well at getting a load of blood occluded in your delts. Sure, train them heavy on occasion. But you'll be missing out on some size gains if you don't chase the pump sometimes... particularly for this muscle group. Many don't train their delts efficiently. They merely swing heavy weight around and use momentum without actually feeling the muscle work. So chasing a pump is a good way to build awareness of this area. Plate delt uppercuts do a great job at maintaining targeted tension in your delts for longer duration sets. And they're not boring, like your standard front or lateral raise. Think of them as a combination of a front raise, Arnold press, lateral raise, and face-pull. How can that not be fun? Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip The Truth About Rate Coding What you need to know about the 10 percent rule. Training Christian Thibaudeau October 5 Training Tip The Number One Thing That Needs to Change The longer you've been lifting hard, the more this advice applies. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training Christian Thibaudeau November 15 Training Tip The Bodyweight Leg Extension Pump up your quads, stretch your tight hammies, and work your abs too. No gym required. Training Gareth Sapstead April 17 Training A New Angle on Cable Training Your teacher always said that ditching math class would come back to bite you on the butt and she was right. Luckily, Nick Tumminello is here to show you how vector mathematics can improve your workouts. (Really.) Training Nick Tumminello December 18