Barbell Military Press and Medial Deltoids

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]jskrabac wrote:
I do these on on incline. You can imagine this on a flat bench too. Maximum downward force at start of movement, as MarcF was saying.
[/quote]

Got it, thank you. I’ve done these holding on to a rack; we called them “lean aways”
[/quote]

Lean aways are great, but it’s a different force curve than what’s pictured here. Without getting into the physics, think about the part of the motion where the weight feels heaviest in the direction of motion. For the lying bench laterals it’s right at the start, for lean aways it’s at the top of the motion when medial delts are fully contracted. Hence on lean aways it’s a good idea to really emphasize the concentric and a forceful contraction, whereas on these good to focus on controlled eccentric–especially right at the bottom. Both movements are ingredients of a complete and healthy shoulder workout.

Lateral raise variations trump the MP wrt medial deltoid hypertrophy.
Constant tension lateral raise variations are my favourite.

Personally, if my posture or shoulder position isn’t right, laterals don’t really feel/work right. After a few Scarecrows, Cuban Presses, or something else to fire up the rhomboids and lower traps they feel much better.

But if you didn’t want to do lateral raises, what about the Arnold Press? That one was made up to hit medial delts, right?

Or face pulls, where you focus on pulling the hands apart at the top. In one of B. Contreas’ articles he mentioned how much these hit the side delts.

Ahren’s Press, where you push the dumbbells up and out, instead of up and together.

This one is complete speculation; Farmer’s Walk with dumbbells, using your shoulders to keep the dumbbells off your thighs. It would be like a heavy isometric.

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]trap_builder wrote:

(I�?�´m not a fan of lateral raises)[/quote]

why?[/quote]

Spidey I think you’re the only one who’s really asked this…

OP, it seems the majority of people find lateral raises to be the best/one of the best for medial delt development. So in the nicest way possible, maybe just man the fuck up and do them?! I’m not a fan of eating vegetables instead of cake and ice cream every day, but I do it anyway, because I want results.

Obviously this doesn’t apply if you have a legitimate reason, but seeing as all you’ve said is that you’re not a fan of them it doesn’t appear you have one.

Superset them with millitary press for a nice burn and maybe to make them more ‘enjoyable’ for you if you must, but you have to consider doing things you’re ‘not a fan of’ if they get you the results you want.

[quote]rusty92 wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]trap_builder wrote:

(I�??�?�´m not a fan of lateral raises)[/quote]

why?[/quote]

Spidey I think you’re the only one who’s really asked this…

OP, it seems the majority of people find lateral raises to be the best/one of the best for medial delt development. So in the nicest way possible, maybe just man the fuck up and do them?! I’m not a fan of eating vegetables instead of cake and ice cream every day, but I do it anyway, because I want results.

Obviously this doesn’t apply if you have a legitimate reason, but seeing as all you’ve said is that you’re not a fan of them it doesn’t appear you have one.

Superset them with millitary press for a nice burn and maybe to make them more ‘enjoyable’ for you if you must, but you have to consider doing things you’re ‘not a fan of’ if they get you the results you want.[/quote]

Get that common sense outta here, pal!

Not that I am a huge guy, but I’ve been pretty lucky with my delts. They’ve almost entirely been built on overhead barbell pressing

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]MarcF wrote:
I hate laterals as well, but here’s a trick for working the medial delts. Try doing laterals while laying on a bench. [/quote]

I can’t picture this. Can you help me?
[/quote]

Sorry, I was away from the forum for a while. For a lying lateral raise, the movement is exactly like a regular lateral raise, but you lie on your side on a bench. So, I lay on my right shoulder (medial part touching the bench), and grab a dumbbell in front of me on the floor, and lift it just like in the lateral raise movement. IT kills medial delts early in the movement, rather than higher up (like in a regular lat raise). I feel it works the lower part of the medial delt way more, and leads to more fullness.