In previous weeks, we’ve started with shoulder moves that target individual heads of the delts. Today, we’ll be starting with a compound movement — seated dumbbell shoulder presses — that targets all heads of the delts at the same time. But we’ll also build that into a superset that includes side raises, also known as lateral raises. You’ll perform lateral raises from a standing position, but you’ll keep your form strict to really work the middle heads of your delts.

After this, you’ll perform another superset that begins with a compound movement followed by one that targets front delts. That means you’ll perform Smith machine shoulder presses in a seated position followed by plate front raises while standing.

Next up is our third superset. This one begins with machine shoulder presses (unilateral or bilateral) followed by dumbbell rear-delts raises. At this point, the rhythm of this workout is likely clear to you: You perform a superset of a compound movement followed by an isolation move for one of the deltoids heads, rotating from middle to front to rear for the last superset.

That completes your shoulder workout for today. But we’ll train calves using a seated machine to hit the soleus muscles. Note that you’ll still perform 20 strict reps, but I have taken up the speed work at the end to 20 reps per set. Again, you’ll only rest 1 minute between each of these 3 sets.

And don’t forget about your cardio—it’s a crucial component of your 12-Week Lean Muscle Program. I really cannot emphasize this enough.

Workout

Seated dumbbell shoulder presses 3 Sets/10 Reps SUPERSET: Perform seated shoulder presses followed immediately by standing lateral raises, and then rest 2 minutes between supersets
Standing dumbbell lateral raises 3 Sets/15 Reps
Seated Smith machine shoulder presses 3 Sets/10 Reps SUPERSET: Perform seated Smith machine shoulder presses followed immediately by standing plate front raises, and then rest 2 minutes between supersets
Standing plate front raises 3 Sets/15 Reps
Machine shoulder presses 3 Sets/15 Reps SUPERSET: Perform machine shoulder presses followed immediately by dumbbell rear-delts raises, and then rest 2 minutes between supersets
Dumbbell rear-delts raises 3 Sets/20 Reps
Seated calves presses 3 Sets/20 +20 Reps For each set perform 20 strict reps followed immediately by 20 bouncing reps, and then rest 1 minute between sets

GETHIN’S GO-TO:

When it comes to pre-exhausting small muscles within a group or working the full group first, it’s important to remember that both strategies are beneficial. To get the most from this 12-Week Lean Muscle Program, I switch things up from week to week to promote more efficient muscle growth. For Week Five, we began with compound moves for shoulders. In previous weeks, we targeted smaller shoulder muscles first. And we’ll continue to mix this up as the program continues.

WHAT SUPP?

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