Shoulder Workout

Roman workout his shoulders

So, some say that broad shoulders is something that makes a woman feel safe. Yes that statement has a lot to do with the back training really. But hey, this is the text regarding shoulders! And we like broad shoulders, don't we?

If we pretend to be into this whole V-shape as the model for how we would like to look, then shoulders are important. I am not saying we should look like the cartoon character Johnny Bravo.

We might want to have a pair of legs that match the rest of us ;)

In comparison to other parts of your body, your shoulders can be considered fragile. When you hold your arms above your head, you don't want to use heavy weights The shoulders have three major parts that I am trying to hit with different exercises. The picture below shows you the Deltoid and its three parts.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise 

I am very aware of the angles on my elbows during this exercise, making sure I do not extend my arms fully. You can see the exercise by pressing the name of it and that will link you to a video showing you how to perform it. However I would like to add one more tip regarding this exercise. Imagine that you are holding a bottle in each hand and that you are pouring water out of the bottles during the exercise. Slowly pouring the water as you raise your arms. 

Dumbbell Front Raise

This is one of the exercises where I am using really low weights. These muscles are not huge, they are not superstrong but they are important. That means you have to swallow that pride, pick up low weights and get to work! ;)

Lever Seated Reverse Fly

When I do this one in the machine I feel that I can use a little bit more weight without risking injury but I am still watching myself in the mirror to make sure that I still do the exercise properly. Another great exercise for the rear deltoid is the one below as well.

Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise

I don't do this one very often and when I do it I do it with low weights. Due to an old injury I still can't really do this one properly with heavy weights. That is a shame, if you do this one in front of the mirrors you will know why I miss this exercise so much! It can also be done seated which is quite comfortable.

Smith Shoulder Press

This is a safety thing. I use this one to avoid injuries. When I do it in the Smith I will have to move the bench back and fourth until I am satisfied with my positioning and I still won't be fully. But it is worth it because I would not dare use such heavy weights above my head. If the balance would be a little bit off I could suffer some injury which I can prevent by doing the exercise in the Smith. 

There are other exercises as well in the Gym Exercises Section of this blog. I sometimes go with a few other exercises but the ones above is the most frequent ones for me personally.

This applies to ALL training using weights but even more so during your shoulder workout. Start out low! Make sure you are comfortable and have the balance during your exercises! Then you might start to add more weights. Like I said above, swallow that pride. Even the biggest body builders sometimes use lighter weights (our definition of light is not quite the same but if we say percentage of what they COULD lift it really is light). 

Workout split

Which parts should I do in the same training session?

This all depends on your rest. Rest is the key for muscle growth. You would like to have at least 72 hours between your workouts for a particular muscle. 

That's easy, so I don't do chest too often. How hard was that?

But here is the thing. When you exercise your chest, your triceps are doing some hard work. Which means, that you will have to think about your schedule thoroughly to get the best results.

Another big thing that some people got all wrong. If your muscles feel sore the day after going to the gym. Fine, that's okay. But you should not feel really sore for several days afterwards. Then you are most likely working out harder than your body actually can take at the moment.

When you lift heavy weights. That basically injures your muscles a tiny bit. The outcome is positive though, because when your body repairs the damage it will make the muscle stronger. So this is one reason why protein is a key to all of this, since protein helps your body repair and build up to a higher level than it was at before.

First split - Four days a week

So this is how my schedule might look if I know that I will go to the gym four times a week. And this is primarily if I can rest well in between the sessions.

Day 1 Chest - Triceps

Day 2 Back - Stomache

Day 3 Rest

Day 4 Rest

Day 5 Biceps - Shoulders

Day 6 Legs

Day 7 (like the lord himself, on the seventh day he rested) Rest

This is like how it could look like. The parts that I want to seperate here are back and legs for example. I want a few days between so that my back is ready to lift since I use it when I exercise the legs. That also applies to the biceps since I use the biceps when I lift and pull stuff for my back.

Second split - Four days a week

So here is another one where I go approximately four times a week but when I use this one I will have to do some physical work in between the workout sessions.

Day 1 Chest - Hamstrings

Day 2 Biceps - Shoulders - Quads

Day 3 Rest

Day 4 Triceps + Glutes

Day 5 Back + Calves

Day 6 Rest

Day 7 Rest

Here I seperated my leg day into one part each session. I mean, the day after leg day you don't want to sit down and stand up too much. And if I know that I will have to be agile in my every day life I will split my workout like this to avoid 'the day after leg day'.

Third split - Two times a week

This is me with a packed schedule and there is hard for me to prioritise the gym. I am well aware of the fact that I often preach that there are always time for shorter sessions of training no matter what. 

At the same time though. We are all different persons with different ideas of what makes us feel good. So I could either just use one of the schedules above but shorten them down with less exercises or I can use this one below. The most important point is this, it has to be fun! It is on your own terms that you do this. Sure it might not be fun at the last repetition of your heaviest leg exercises but the general idea of going to the gym has to be fun. Otherwise you will just stop going eventually.

First session

Chest - Legs - Shoulders

Second session

Back - Stomache - Triceps - Biceps

Since I only go two times a week the rest between the sessions should not be a problem. Unless I use five straight days for rest and then go to the gym two days straight.

Work out session: LEG DAY!

I guess we can call this the least popular day in most peoples life. The LEG DAY! Very often, the day after can be called DEAD LEG DAY. Which does not help motivating you to go leg day in the first place.
Lets get on with it. The exercises are listed below with a link to a video.

-  Barbell Full Squats
-  Lever Seated Calf Raise
-  Lever Standing Calf Raise
-  Lever Leg Extension
-  Lever Lying Leg Curl
-  Sled 45 degree Leg Press
-  Sled Hack Squat

During the podcast I mentioned that I do two different calf exercises for a reason, but I could not explain it. Well, here is the exercise that I throw in there. The Lever Seated Calf Raise.
Apparently, it works like this. When your knees are bent in that position you will not use gastrocnemius (a strong part of your calf) and instead you will activate soleus. Now when I read about it I can see that some think it is a small muscle not worthy of focusing on. But hey, I can´t see why I should not target it by doing one exercise. So I will keep doing it. It is like other exercises that focuses on the small muscles supporting your bigger ones, to avoid injury when doing the big exercises I would like to think it is an advantage to train the smaller ones as well.
Even if it is the big exercises that will give me the results of looking buff.

The other exercise I use to exercise the calf muscles is the Lever Standing Calf Raise or a seated version where I have extended legs. The standing one is having some down sides. Often those machines leave marks on your shoulders after a few sets. Since I load the machine with such heavy weights, the pads supposed to protect my shoulders are too weak. And I keep getting questions whether or not I went to the gym or hade crazy ass sex with some chick clawing at my shoulders.
Like always when working your legs you have to be careful not to injure yourselves. Your legs can carry huge weights and that means if you fuck up, it might cause some real damage. One thing I always think about is not to allow my knees to bend in the wrong direction. It is like your elbows when exercising other body parts. Make sure you don´t over extend them, keep them a little bit bent. If you keep it straight you lose strength and risk them bending in the wrong direction and that might be disastrous.

The big exercise for your legs is the squats. There are a lot of different ideas about how to do it. Some say that your knees takes way too much weights if you go all the way down while some says you have to do the full exercise.
I say always stay safe. Like Bas said on the podcast, you have to start out with low weights. Allowing your body to get used to the exercises, allowing you to learn how to execute the exercise properly. Then you can add weights without problems. 
I enjoy this exercise and go a few sets as a warm up before I increase the weights. I usually go at least three sets with the heavier weights.

My favorite exercise is lever leg extensions. That is because I am an old soccer player and I still enjoy the advantages of all that training. Even though it was a long time ago I played soccer I still have quite strong legs. However I need to work out my legs regurarly just like anyone if I don´t want to lose that advantage. 
I usually go a few sets with lighter weights here as well to make sure that my body is prepared for this movement with really heavy weights.

Leverl ying leg curl is not something I look forward to at my gym session. However I really like the effects from it afterwards. This is a exercise where you often can change a few parts of the machine depending on how long your legs you have. Make sure you tune the machine fo fit your body. 
I had a few problems finding the correct setting for my legs and I often felt weird in the knee area. So start with light weights, does it feel good? Then you can start to use heavier weights! 

The hack squat and the 45 degree leg press are nice exercises where you basically are in a machine with safety features. That is nice since you can go ham with heavy weights and be safe. 

Like I said on the podcast I rarely do a "leg day". I go one part of the legs on "chest day" and then another part of my legs on "back day". 

Work hard, stay safe!

What about triceps?

In the latest episode of "The Fit Gamer Podcast" the topic of discussion was triceps at one point. The fact that the triceps more or less is two thirds of your upper arm is reason enough to spend time at the gym to make it grow!

All the pushing exercises that you perform while training chest is also hitting your triceps. Even so, you should spend time doing exercises that are aimed at your triceps. We want big arms!
So which exercises do I use to hit the triceps?

- Barbell Close Grip Bench Press http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Triceps/BBCloseGripBenchPress.html
- Cable Pushdown http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Triceps/CBPushdown.html
- Cable Pushdown with a rope
- Dips http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Triceps/ASTriDip.html

Hit the links to see a video of how the exercises is executed. I actually did this routine a few days ago. 
I started out at the bench press. As warm up I did loads of lightweight sets, alternating between close grip and a wider grip. I also did the wider grip to get my chest muscles fired up.

Even though I am primarily going for the triceps during this session, I will still be using a lot of my chest muscles. Eventually I was done warming up and I started to add some weights to the barbell. I increased the weight each set until it started to get too heavy, then I started to remove weights after each set instead. Since I gradually went heavier my muscles got warm and prepared for the heavy weights, to avoid injury. And after I had done the heaviest set I went for more sets but with lesser weight to really make those triceps work hard!

This is really the only exercise I do that requires proper balance and where I risk injury. Because of that I felt that I could go almost to failure since this exercise is so good for the triceps and I wanted to get as much as I possibly could from it.

After I was done with that one I walked over to the cable cross. Since it was me, I started to play around and did a few chins before I went on to preparing the machine for my pushdowns. 
If I were to go to the gym five times a week I would not play around very much between the sets, but since I am not working out that frequently I can do some random back exercises without ruining my back day.
I prefer to switch between the rope and the normal pushdowns which means I set up them both at the same time. The advantages of the cable cross is that there are two identical sides.

After these two exercises I have a nice pump going on in my triceps. There are however a machine that is similar to dips. I usually like to use that one as a final exercise to be able to really get that last energy out of the triceps.

And since I am not going to the gym as frequent as I would like to I did some hacksquat as well during this session. I feel there are advantages to split the leg training into several different sessions to avoid feeling too much pain when moving the days after the workout session. Especially when your everyday life demands you to jump up and down etc, you do not want to be really sore from leg day.

Training session - Back day

Work out for the back

This is something that many people don´t like to do. Maybe because it is "boring" exercises or some might even be afraid of looking dumb. The exercises for the back is often free at the gym while the benchpress and the dumbbells are crowded.


Here is a list of a few exercises and links to videos showing how they are done:

- Barbell Deadlift http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/BBDeadlift.html
- Barbell Bent-Over Row http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/BBBentOverRow.html
- Dumbbell Bent-Over Row http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/DBBentOverRow.html
- Chin-Up http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/WtChinup.html
- Cable Pulldown http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/CBFrontPulldown.html
- Cable Seated Row http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/CBSeatedRow.html
- Dumbbell Shrug http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/TrapeziusUpper/DBShrug.html
- Lever (T-Bar) Bent-Over Row http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/LVBentOverRow.html

Like when I wrote about chest training, you can´t do all exercises in the same training session obviously. There are however some exercises that hit the same areas of your body. If you want to do your back training in one session you should try to hit every part of the back. 
But you might as well have a different split for your different training sessions. We will talk more about how to split your body into different training sessions later.

How do I train my back?

Since the back is such a huge part of your body I am careful before I engage in heavy exercises. I want to warm up properly by using lighter weights. When I got my biceps warm I often go to the Deadlift and play around with lighter weights, occasionally doing Barbell Curls for the biceps. Showing the people around me that I am just fucking around with these weights and warming up!

During the warm up part of I mess around with Deadlift, Bent-Over Row and some similar stuff just to get my body ready to go to war. Well, it is actually already. Just walking through the gym makes me fucking pumped up and ready to go. 

The first exercise I usually do is Deadlift. The reason for that is that it is such a big one. Depending on tecnique you can hit a big part of your body. There are one tecnique where you stand up straight with your legs in order to hit your legs more. I use the one on the video above though. How heavy I lift will depend on how I feel right there and then. Usually I go many repetitions on lighter weights at first to warm up properly and then I go for the heavier sets with fewer repetitions. 

Sometimes I use straps for the grip and to be able to lift heavier. I am however aware that by doing that I am not training my wrists to actually lift those weights. But to hit my strong back muscles I often go a few sets with straps. The back is stronger than my wrists which makes straps valuable to be able to lift as much as the back can handle.

Then I go Barbell Bent-Over Row since I am already holding the barbell. And I go lighter weights at first and then a few sets of heavier ones. 

Now it is time for the Romanized expression. Lats-gasm! Referring to the word orgasm, but here the feeling is in the lateral muscles. After I have been doing the Bent-Over Row I go to the Cable Pulldown. And since I have already done some exercises my back is pumped up. By doing the Cable Pulldowns I can feel the muscles work and it feels fan-fucking-tastic! 

This is another exercise where you can use your straps to hit the back harder. But it is good to do some repetitions without them as well.

After this I might finish with T-bar or the Cable Seated Row. Since the back is such a massive area of the body you can definetly do more exercises during your session than you can with for example biceps.

I do Shrugs somewhere in between the other exercises. I don´t use very heavy weights on that exercise and because of that I use it to relax a bit between heavier exercises.

The Deadlift is the major exercise for your back. If you think about it, it is the one exercise that is similar to lift something off the ground in real life situations. It also hits so many different muscles that makes it a really good basic exercise. Be careful and pay attention to your form in a mirror before you lift heavy. 

Chest day!

Chest day

During our latest podcast (episode 2) we spoke about chest work out. I figured it would be a good idea to write a bit about it as well. 

Chest is probably the most fun session for most people out there. It is the training session that you look forward to the most. Because of that the Internet is full of funny pictures with texts like "I'm not missing chest day" or "day after chest day". Just hit those words on google and you will find some good ones.

Some different exercises for your chest:

Behind each exercise there is a link to a site where you can see the actual exercise.

- Bench Press http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/BBBenchPress.html
- Incline Bench Press http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralClavicular/BBInclineBenchPress.html
- Dumbbell Press http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/DBBenchPress.html
- Dumbbell Incline Press http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralClavicular/DBInclineBenchPress.html
- Smith Incline Bench Press http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralClavicular/SMInclineBenchPress.html
- Cable Standing Fly http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/CBStandingFly.html
- Dumbbell Fly http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/DBFly.html
- Chest Dip http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/WtChestDip.html
- Pec Deck http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/LVPecDeckFly.html

How one of my own chest work outs might be

First of all, I don´t use treadmills or other cardio machines for a warm up. It is important to some people, and if you prefer to do just that then you should continue doing it. 

Just by entering the gym I go into "the zone". However I will use lighter weights at first. When I feel that the muscles are warm I gradually increase the weights.

I usually start at the cable cross. I do that simply because I can do many different exercises for a warm up without having to go between different places. 

Sometimes I will use light weight dumbbells to warm up my shoulders and biceps as well. I am usually already warm and pumped up when I enter the gym, after walking to the gym with some fucking awesome music that makes me want to instantly go and lift stuff caveman style.

When I am ready to begin for real I want to start out with some exercise that requires the most power. For example the Dumbbell Incline Press. To avoid getting injured during this exercise I want to do that one early, otherwise I am tired and I risk losing balance. 

As soon as you hold weights in the height of your shoulders you have to be careful with the form of the exercise to avoid injury. If you think of it, when you train your shoulders - they are not very strong. And when you do your chest exercises and those heavy weights go high near the shoulders and you lose control of the weight for even a split second. That might hurt your shoulders badly and force you to stay away from heavy lifting for quite some time.

So I go the Dumbbell Incline Press. It takes some tecnique to learn how to start the exercise, you will soon handle heavy weights and the toughest part might be getting into start position. The amount of weight will vary depending on how strong I feel on that particular day. I will start out with lighter weights and work my way towards the heavier ones. And I will go about 3 proper sets. 
The amount of repetitions on each set is different depending on what you want to achieve with your training. More on that subject later.

After that exercise I will usually go to the Pec Deck, either in machine or in the Cable cross. I will go both light weight sets and really heavy sets. The sets using lighter weights will make sure I really finish the muscles. And when doing Pec Deck in a machine you can go to the absolute limit without risking any injury like with the previous exercise.

Now I would probably go for the Bench Press. Since I am already tired I will not go heavy, especially not if I don´t have a spotter. I will go 3 proper sets at least on this exercise.

I think that Dumbbell Flyes are quite relaxing. A nice stretching motion to the sides and then feel the peccs squeeze nicely on the top. Since I have been hitting that chest for three exercises already I should have a great pump. I don´t always go very heavy, but I often do. By this time into the work out I am so damn pumped up and even though the peccs are totally done the devil in me has awakened. 
It makes me just want to go to fucking crazy and move on to another part of the body like legs or back. Since I have been focusing on the chest I think that I have lots of juice left in the rest of the body. When I go directly to a back exercise though, I quickly discover that I am not as filled with energy as I thought.
If I have been doing the chest exercises the way I meant to, there should not be any gas left. 

You will notice that I completely left out many of the exercises in this example. Since there are so many exercises, you have to choose which ones to do. You might want to change them from time to time which is a good idea. But there are however some things to consider. You should always have at least one exercise with the Incline position like Bas explained in the podcast. 

The concept of how to build your schedule and which body parts to combine will be on another post. And then you will discover that I rarely JUST go chest on one day.