Tip To Build Big Delts Train Multiple Angles 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 Tip To Build Big Delts Train Multiple Angles The big lifts are foundational but isolation and time under tension are crucial for shoulder size Here' s how to do it by Christian Thibaudeau December 1, 2015June 2, 2022 Tags Tips, Training Do This Lateral Raise Complex This medley isolates and annihilates the delts. It hits them from multiple angles, which is important for full development. Four different variations are used, all done back-to-back without rest to increase time under tension. Perform 3 sets, 90 seconds in between each set. A. Top-Half Front Raise (from parallel to the floor, to overhead) 4-6 reps B. Lateral Raise 4-6 reps C. "Y" Lateral Raise with thumbs up 4-6 reps D. Outside-In Raise 4-6 reps But What About the Big Lifts Sure, if you add 100 pounds to all your big lifts you'll definitely have a lot more muscle mass. But it's not necessarily the fastest route, especially for muscles like the delts. The shoulders are fragile. The shoulder joint is the least stable joint in the body and very complex. There are more than ten muscles that directly influence the way the shoulder moves, and that joint can move in pretty much every direction. So it's very easy to become unbalanced and develop nagging and persistent shoulder aches, if not severe injuries. That's the problem with relying only on the big basics: You stand a much better chance of developing strength imbalances that will impair your performance and ultimately your size. Furthermore, many strong muscles assist the deltoids. As such, it can become hard to stimulate the delts fully with only big lifts. Sure, the delts receive some loading, but other muscles can contribute disproportionately more and will grow faster. As they grow faster, the shoulders become proportionally weaker and harder to involve – the body will use the stronger muscles to do the job. Injury is then more likely. This is why I like to use time under tension as well as multiple angles to develop the shoulders. In fact, I want to use as many different angles as possible when working the delts directly. This will not only make the shoulder more functional and injury-proof, but it'll also maximize size. 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 Do This Exercise Combo to Prevent Shoulder Pain Strengthen your scapular stabilizers and you'll prevent shoulder injuries and get stronger. Here's how to do it. It Hurts Fix It, Tips, Training Dean Graddon March 10 Training Tip 3D Sets for Chest Development Build your pecs, work through a plateau, and break out of your chest-day rut with this strategy. Bodybuilding, Chest, Tips, Training David Otey August 19 Training Tip 6 Weeks to Bigger Biceps All you need to do is to focus on the upper-arm muscles you've been missing. Here's how. Training Christian Thibaudeau October 6 Workouts The 100-Rep Trap Bar Workout A brutal trap bar program that uses insane volume to build muscle over your entire body without destroying your knees or lower back. Deadlift, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Ben Bruno December 24