My wife just competed in her 4th figure competition, and she’s getting pretty frustrated. She competes in the Natural division but is often nowhere near the other girls in her class. She has been lifting for a little over 2 years, we started her with heavy barbell training and then switched over to more of a bodybuilding split about a year ago.
We progressively increased her calories to a point that she was around 3200kcal a day, without much fat gain. She’s a beast in the gym (she has trap bar deadlifted 325), but her physique is not showing her work. Her biggest complaint is her deltoids, they really aren’t there, or signs that she works them 3x a week. She’s had two coaches try their methods with her with little success.
So my question is- she wants to stay natural, but what would be the next step up from the normal supplements of whey/casein, creatine…etc?
I feel her pain. If you don’t have the genetics for effortlessly giant delts it can be a struggle getting them to grow – even with tons of work. But no need to stress, have her look into these:
They’re perfect for females (or males) wanting to grow.
And I know you said that she lifts heavy but sometimes women get so attached to feeling a muscle burn for many many reps that they cheat themselves out of going heavy enough to really change that muscle. And on the flip side, sometimes women get so attached to lifting heavy that they just move a weight from point A to point B without actually feeling the muscle work. So have her vary her rep ranges, focus on the mind-muscle connection, and make sure that her strength isn’t stagnating. (Most women don’t realize their own strength.)
With that said, if she’s only been lifting for two years she needs to stop everything and take a moment to celebrate that sick body! She looks incredible!
Tell your wife to not be so hard on herself. She has a stunning figure! Also tell her not to be a stranger because we’d love to see her on here. And one last thing, this article has some great info and vids on delt training: <a href=“Shoulder Training: The Mountain Dog Way”>Shoulder Training: The Mountain Dog Way
