I need to build up my lateral delts, I was thinking neutral grip pressing would do the trick. Im really not a fan of shit like raises. Are there any good compound exercises that hit the posterior and lateral delts?
If you don’t have the structure to get a lot of lateral activation with presses, then you won’t.
Dumbell presses with your elbows at 90 degrees are your best bet.
Or you could just do some raises. Not exactly hard to chuck in 3 or 4 sets between other exercises
There’s also some more unconventional ways that might help you more. I know upright rows are poo-pooed on a lot here, but if you use dumbbells and only pull the handle up to your nipple line, they can work well without causing your shoulder to self destruct.
I personally like seated dumbbell muscle snatches. Start with the bells hanging at your sides. Use just a little bit of body English and a shrug to get them going and pull the bell up to your shoulders. Once the bell is at the shoulders, start pressing them up using the momentum you’ve generated. It’s a naturally fast movement so I use very high reps to get the right TUT.
Overhead barbell carries can do amazing things too.
Neutral grip for me just focuses on the tricep more.
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that’s a good shout, forgot about those
If you can do them pain free, try behind the neck presses. I do them as an assistance move on bench day (as opposed to overhead press day), at 50% of my training max for 5x10. For me currently, that’s 85 pounds.
Why don’t you like lateral raises? Doing those consistently after OHP has helped quite a bit. I’m using complexes though, designed for width - so they aren’t quite as boring as just linear sets of raises. They kind of suck, but I get a good pump. Two examples:
#1 - A. Seated lateral raises with the bench at 45 deg (still lowering and raising arms as straight up and down as possible) - 8-12 reps (full ROM)
B. Seated lateral raises with bench at 90 deg - 8-12 reps (full ROM)
C. Seated partial raises at 45 deg - 8-12+
D. Seated partial raises at 90 deg - 8-12+ (the plus depends on how you are feeling - I typically get about the same number of partials as I did full ROM reps)
#2 -
A. Seated incline hybrid raise (bench at approx. 45 deg, movement somewhere between front and lateral raise) - 8-12 reps
B. Seated lateral raises (bench at 45 deg, lying face up same as previous complex) - 8-12
C. Standing lateral raise - 8-12
These two get a good burn and pump going. My delts stand out more since I started doing these and the behind the neck presses, compared to when I was just doing OHP and regular lateral raises.
You have a problem and choose to avoid the most direct and effective solution. That’s pretty much the definition of deliberate ignorance.
And, no, neutral-grip pressing is generally more front delt. Odds are your training has a bunch of pressing in it already. There’s nothing wrong with some isolation work.
I can’t quite picture what you’re talking about, but I do like this movement. Basically a partial-ROM Arnold press variation. I prefer bringing the weights a little further down at the bottom and more in front of the face than he shows here but still only going up to barely-above-head-level. (Ha, not that I’m saying Larry Scott trained shoulders “wrong”.)
Pressing with your elbows out to the side like you’re dancing the YMCA.
Not a million miles away from the variation you posted