Shoulder day!

One of the biggest goals for a woman is to have toned arms! Likewise, the biggest misconception is that getting good arms comes from only working your biceps. This is partly true, but in reality it is the trifecta of working out the triceps, biceps and shoulders that will fully shape the upper body and give the look of sculpted arms! Also, having a full, round shoulder cap gives the illusion of having a smaller waist, this is why shoulders are such a HUGE focus for female fitness competitors, such as Amanda Latona, pictured here:

 

My shoulders aren't naturally very round, so I always spend a whole days workout on them. I try to really focus on my weak points in order to bring them up to par with my stronger muscle groups.

So here I will give a detailed shoulder workout, and also explain how I can burn almost 900 calories in a single workout!

 

I started off with 30 minutes of cardio, 15 min on the step mill and 15 on the tread climber machine. This burned about 300-350 calories.

 

Then I moved to the free weights and my sets went as follows:

 



Shoulder Press 25 lbs X 8 reps X 4 sets

I did abs in between shoulder sets, 15 reps X 4 sets of leg lift/ 10 lb plate raises

 

Rear delt flys 15 lbs X 8 reps X 4 sets

superset with front raise 20 lb barbell X 12 reps X 4 sets

15 Ab torso twists with a 10 lb plate in between sets

 

Then I did what I like to call weighted burpees to get my heart rate back up. These are KILLER! Great cardio and good for the shoulders. I take a barbell from 40-50 lbs and it's like doing a burpee, but with the barbell in your hands. So you go from a straight legged dead lift immediately into a shoulder press above your head and repeat 10 reps X 3-4 sets. Start off with 20 lb until you get the hang of it and if this doesn't get your heart rate up to almost 100 of your max heart rate, then increase the weight! After this I went to the cable towers and completed my circuit:

 

Rear delt cable pulls 110 lbs X 8 reps

Superset with upright rows 40 lb barbell X 8 reps

Superset with front raise with 20 lb plates X 8 reps

Repeat circuit X 4 with 1 min rest in between sets

(notice on this circuit I start with my heaviest weight first, while I'm the strongest, then as the super set continues, I drop weight with each exercise as the shoulders are starting to fatigue.)

 

To finish off abs I did exercise ball roll ins X 10 reps X 5 sets

alternating straight roll ins with angled roll ins to target the obliques.

 

The shoulders are made up of 3 different muscles, your front, medial and rear deltoids. In order to fully shape the whole shoulder, each muscle must be targeted, which is why I like to alternate between each muscle for each set of exercises.

 

This whole workout was around an hour and a half and burned almost 900 calories. I burned fat, and built muscle simultaneously. I don't make it into the gym everyday so when I do I make sure to make it count! Also I don't have time to do tons of cardioso I do a little before my workout to get my heart rate up and insert plyo intervals in between sets of lifting to keep the fat burn going!

Annie McDonald, HouseofGlutes@outlook.com, House of Glutes on FB!