The delts have three heads, and I like to start my workouts with a compound movement that trains all three, and standing dumbbell presses is one of the most challenging of these for building shoulders. Later in the workout, I also include standing military presses after I’ve hit a couple isolation moves.
It’s important that you incorporate both compound moves and targeted isolation exercises that emphasize each head of the shoulders. I choose a move that targets each of the three heads—dumbbell lateral raises, dumbbell front raises, and rear-delt flyes.
OPERATION AESTHETIC NOTES
*Standing dumbbell press is a compound move that involves your abs—it’s the more challenging route, and I like to take that. Don’t cheat on this move because you not only risk injury but you reduce the work in your delts.
*Dumbbell lateral raises and dumbbell front raises hit your larger shoulder muscles.
*Then we’ll hit the rear so that we’re performing an isolation movement for each of your delt heads in addition to two compound movements that hit them all.
*Finish off this workout with barbell shrugs for traps to tie in your shoulders and back muscles.
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Early morning cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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Perform this session upon waking before consuming food.
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EXERCISE
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COMMENT
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Standing dumbbell presses
You don’t need to go to full extension, but bring your elbows as low as you comfortably can. This creates constant tension on your shoulder muscles.
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6 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15, 15 REPS
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Dumbbell lateral raises
Never swing the weights, and begin at your thighs rather than in front of your body.
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5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS
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Dumbbell front raises
I prefer to do these in alternating fashion to focus on each of my front delts.
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4 SETS / 12, 9, 6, 15 REPS
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Standing military presses
This is my second compound movement of this workout, which helps target all heads of your delts after you’ve performed isolation work.
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5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS
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Barbell shrugs
SUPERSET: I like to hit traps with rear delts in a superset. I start with barbell shrugs and follow with rear-delt flyes. For supersets you don’t rest between sets, and then you take about 1 minute or so before the next superset.
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4 SETS / Burnout*
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Rear-delt flyes
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4 SETS / Burnout*
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Post-Workout cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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You can get in RE-KAGED as you’re performing your post-workout cardio.
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*Choose weights that allow you to get in about 12–15 reps for each set, reaching failure for both exercises in all supersets. Reduce weights as needed.
TIP: You may already be noticing some shifts in your physique and energy level even though you’re only 5 days deep in Operation Aesthetic. Remember that scale weight is not an important component of success on my program. Keep your calories moderate and protein high to make sure you have the energy to complete all exercises, sets, and reps.
