If you have a shoulder training day coming up, then you might be looking for a great workout to try for yourself. It would also be nice if you could get some advanced tips and tricks to make the most out of that session.
Look no further, because the Sleeveless duo of Don Saladino and Frank Sepe can be your virtual training partners. In this shoulder workout video, they are joined by Jordan “Muscle Doc” Shallow, who brought a wealth of knowledge and muscle to the gym.
Watch this video before your shoulder training day, or keep it on your smartphone to have on standby between sets. In the meantime, some of the cliff notes are below.
Standing Barbell Press: 5 sets, 6-8 reps
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The trio begin the workout with a classic exercise – the standing barbell press. All three men begin with the barbell below the chin and press the weight up in a strict manner without generating momentum from their legs.
Saladino and Shallow perform their repetitions to a full lockout before lowering the bar back down. Sepe perform some reps in his sets by stopping short of lockout, which keeps tension on the deltoid instead of the triceps. While Saladino performs one of his sets, Sepe shared a tip that can help you make the most out of this exercise.
“That soft bend in the knees (pointing to Saladino) will keep pressure off of your lower back,” he said.
They also discussed hand position on the bar, and Saladino explained that he likes to keep his hands just outside of shoulder width apart. Shallow pointed another key point that can help you figure out what is best for yourself.
“It’s going to largely be dictated by how much you can externally rotate,” he said.
Upright Row: 4 sets, 8-12 reps
M+F Magazine
All three men stay at the rack for the next exercise. Once again, Saladino leads off on upright rows. Sepe addressed how far up to bring the bar when performing this exercise.
“Some bring it up all the way (to the shoulders), but we’re stopping at around the chest,” he explained, referring to himself and Saladino. “Modify it based on your own needs.” Shallow opted to bring the bar up much higher, sometimes going up over his head.
“I make it work kind of like a side raise,” he told Sepe. “I go up until the upper arm is at least parallel.”
Saladino tried Shallow’s method, and he appeared to like it.
“That felt good.”
Single-arm Cable Lateral Raise: 4 sets, 8 reps
M+F Magazine
The party moves upstairs to Saladino’s cable station, and Shallow opted for a lateral raise as the next exercise. The cable keeps constant tension on the side delts, and allowing the handle to move in front of them maximizes the range of motion.
Sepe added some partial reps to the end of his set to ensure that he completely fatigues the side delts.
Rear-delt Cable Flye: 3 sets, 8-12 reps
M+F Magazine
They conclude the workout with another cable movement. This time, they’re focusing on the posterior deltoid. They opt to hold on to the cable itself instead of a handle, so they can get greater engagement of the rear delts.
When Shallow performed his first set, he stepped away from the stacks to maximize the range of motion. He also leaned forward slightly to help isolate the rear delts.
“Do not forget rear delts, especially if you compete,” Sepe shared. “When you turn around to do any pose from the back, they are going to be on display.”
“Yeah, buddy,” Saladino exclaimed as a tribute to Ronnie Coleman, who also enjoyed this exercise.
Take the four-movement workout for a test drive yourself to see how it works for you. Sepe and Saladino share workouts live on the Muscle & Fitness Instagram page, and you can see more content from them by subscribing to the M&F YouTube channel.
