Question About DeFranco's Shoulder Shocker

Heres the article: http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_...oulder_shocker

its suppose to be an effective way to train your shoulders by using lighter weights doing tri sets.

the 3 exercises are:

  • Front raises
  • Latteral raises
  • Seated Clean and Press

although i dont have shoulder issues, i do have tricep tendonitis which effects my pressing. i was thinking of doing this after a back workout, since the routine is more to ‘finish the shoulders off’.
will i see much growth doing this? and what do you think about the routine?

Thanks.

it’s great as a finisher provided you don’t just go through the movements.

will you see much growth with it? depends on how else you’re hitting your shoulders and your diet.

looks like it gives a good burn

[quote]fr0IVIan wrote:
it’s great as a finisher provided you don’t just go through the movements.

will you see much growth with it? depends on how else you’re hitting your shoulders and your diet.[/quote]

diet is pretty good, my back is growing so im doing something right. as far what else im doing for shoulders. just rows and pull ups. i cant bench press because of the tricep issue. im not bothered about having a small chest. id much prefer to have big broad shoulders.

if i do the “shoulder shocker” after my back session, am i likely to see much growth?

another thing i was thinking of doing is, pre fatigue my shoulders with laterals and then go straight into the shoulder press. so its similar to the shoulder shocker, but you arent completely burning them out. i would have thought this would be better in the long run.

I see no reason for

  1. Using a plate rather than DBs
  2. Doing front delts first, for most people they are the strongest - prioritise your weak points not the strong points.

If you have the above injuries and this doesn’t hurt then go for it

I don’t see how this would benefit your shoulders after a back workout. some face pulls and rear delt flyes would probably work better as your rear delts/upper back are getting hit by rows and pullups anyway.

have you considered a partial rom shoulder press?

[quote]fr0IVIan wrote:
have you considered a partial rom shoulder press?
[/quote]

^That’s what I do when my left tricep issues flare up (always following DB front raises with my palms facing up to really nail the anterior head!)

S

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]fr0IVIan wrote:
have you considered a partial rom shoulder press?
[/quote]

^That’s what I do when my left tricep issues flare up (always following DB front raises with my palms facing up to really nail the anterior head!)[/quote]

i didnt think about it to be honest. ive always thought of partial rom as cutting myself short and losing the benefits of the exercise.

do your shoulders pump up just as well? and how does this stress the triceps less, is it because you dont go quite as near to lockout?

[quote]Shadrack wrote:
do your shoulders pump up just as well? and how does this stress the triceps less, is it because you dont go quite as near to lockout?
[/quote]

Yes and Yes :slight_smile:

S

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]fr0IVIan wrote:
have you considered a partial rom shoulder press?
[/quote]

^That’s what I do when my left tricep issues flare up (always following DB front raises with my palms facing up to really nail the anterior head!)

S[/quote]

I agree that partial ROM presses would be useful for you at this time.
I love this video:

In essence:
Shoulders raise the elbow
Triceps extend/straighten the arm at the elbow (very simplified version, please no-one be a nob and get too pedantic about it)
So yeah yeah the top part of shoulder press, ‘lockout’ is going to be predominantly tricep-strenuous (with some trapezius and deltoid involvement.

very cool. adding partials today.

I do the shoulder shocker, its a good burn that is for sure.

I love the shoulder shocker - I’ve had a rotator issue for years and dont like shoulder pressing movements.

One thing to note about growth and the shoulder shocker. As was mentioned - don’t just go through the motions, make progress (rep or weight wise)

Secondly, if you do the shoulder shocker as your only direct shoulder work (like me), then you need to do your bench press using a powerlifting technique; and seated rows using strict form - these two elements are key (coupled with the shoulder shocker) for gaining size without using any other shoulder press movements. If you re-read that article you will get more info on that.

I recently dumped the front plate raisers, and now do seated side laterals, then bent over laterals, then the shrug/clean & press. It’s harder than the original version, but I need the extra rear delt work. Loving it.

Anyway, stick with it, push hard, and see what results you get. My benching has progressed so much since I dropped the shoulder pressing movements.