Use This Formula for a Great Arm and Shoulder Workout

Ready for an arm and shoulder workout? I have already told you about the best biceps exercises , the best triceps exercises and the best shoulder exercises . Today I’ll give you the formula for combining them and it’s customizable so you can change your favorites if you don’t like mine.

Structure

We’re going to start with a heavy (almost) compound exercise that works the arms and shoulders together. Then we’ll move on to moderately heavy exercises, starting with those that don’t put too much stress on the compound. We will use supersets of exercises where possible to save time. It will look something like this:

1. Shoulder press of your choice – 5 sets with a heavy weight, 3 to 8 reps, with 2 minutes of rest between sets.

2. (optional) Work on the rear deltoids – 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

3. Superset for biceps/triceps – 3 sets of 8–12 reps each.

4. Shoulder superset – 3 sets of 10+ reps each.

5. (optional) Light superset for biceps/triceps – 3 sets of 12-15 reps each.

For a 30-minute workout, skip the extra sections and just do shoulder presses, biceps/triceps supersets, and shoulder supersets. The first 15 minutes will be spent doing shoulder presses and resting between sets; you can complete the remaining components with virtually no rest.

To get more work done , spend a little more time and complete the extra sections. If you try this and find that you’re recovering well, you can add more bi/tri supersets or double up on any of the workout components you’d like to spend more time on.

How it fits into your week : Once a week is fine, but ideally this workout should be done twice a week. You can also do this workout once and another upper body workout another time.

Please note that this workout does not target the chest and back , so it is not a full upper body workout. You can do this in a rotation that looks like this:

• Arms and shoulders

• Legs

• Chest and back

• (rest or repeat)

How to turn this into a full upper body workout : Replace one or both biceps/triceps supersets with a push/pull superset that targets the chest and back muscles. We’ll discuss this when we get to this section.

Read on to get more detailed information about each component of the workout and the options you have for each section.

Part 1: press

Here you can perform any type of shoulder press or overhead press using any suitable equipment. Here are some good press options:

• Strict standing barbell press

• Seated dumbbell shoulder press (vertically, without bending over)

• Standing Single or Double Kettlebell Press

• Z-press (sitting on the floor with legs spread for stability)

• Mine press (my top choice for those who have shoulder pain when their arms are directly overhead)

If you have another favorite press, feel free to replace it. I don’t recommend pressure presses here; keep your knees straight during any of these standing presses. Push presses are great, but not anymore.

Rest time: 2 minutes or more. This bench press at the beginning of your workout is intended to be a heavy strength-building exercise (we’ll do some pumping work later), so make sure you get plenty of rest between sets .

Reps per set: about 5 . The number of repetitions must be unambiguous. You can only do 3 reps per set, but I wouldn’t do more than 8. If you want to think of it as a “5×5” program, this might help you remember.

Weight used : Any weight that will allow you to perform the desired number of repetitions. You can use different weights for each set if you like, but try to make the last set your heaviest.

How to Proceed : Choose your own adventure. Look at last week’s workout and add weight or reps to at least one set. For example:

• Last week you did 50 pounds for 8 reps for all five sets. This week, lift 55 pounds for the last two sets and see how many reps you can do.

• Last week you did five reps with weights of 20, 25, 30, 30, 30 pounds. This week, do five reps of 25, 30, 30, 30, 35 reps.

Of course, you could do a simple double progression , but I like to give myself the opportunity to change things up depending on how you’re feeling. Variety is fun and can be good for us.

Part 2: (optional) rear delt work

The deltoids are muscles that sit on the top of the shoulder, like the big shoulder pad of the 1980s, and each one is made up of three parts: the front, the side, and the back. The front and side delts get a pretty good workout from the overhead press, so the rear delts may need some extra work at this point in the workout. Here are some good options:

• Reverse bent over dumbbell swing

• Reverse flight with support on an incline bench (lying face down)

• Striped pullaparts

• Facelift on a cable machine

• Return flight on a trainer, such as a chest trainer.

Rest time : 90 seconds or less. If you think you’ll get tired of waiting, grab a pair of dumbbells and do curls between sets.

Reps and weight : 3 sets of 8–12 reps. The weight can be anything that will allow you to perform the appropriate number of repetitions per set.

How to progress : Add more weight or more reps each time. If you use a resistance band, you will have to work by feel, but over time, try to use a stronger resistance band or a narrower grip.

Part 3: Biceps/Triceps Superset

This is where we get to the fun part! You can choose anything for them. A few classic biceps isolation exercises:

• Barbell curls (or barbell curls)

• Bayesian twists described here (this is cable twisting in an extended position)

• Dumbbell Curls

• Hammer curls

• Zottman curls

• Cable twists

And for the triceps:

• Skullbreakers

• Triceps extensions with dumbbells overhead

• French press

• Triceps kickbacks

• Cable push-ups

If your goal today is to work only your arms and shoulders, stick to these lists. But if you’re trying to turn this into a total upper body workout that includes the chest and back, use a deadlift exercise instead of a biceps isolation exercise, such as:

• Chinups

• Pull-ups

• Seated cable rows

• Bent-over barbell row or Pendley row

• Croc rows

And use a push exercise instead of triceps isolation:

• Close grip bench press

• failures

• Push ups

• Incline or Overhead Press (choose a different option than you did at the beginning of the workout)

We’ll do another bis/tris superset at the end of the workout, so you can always do the push/pull here and save the isolation exercises for another superset.

Rest time : as needed. Try resting 30 seconds after performing both exercises, but without resting in between.

Reps and Weight : 3 sets of 8–12 reps with a weight that allows you to complete the desired number of reps. You can use a wider range if you like (5 to 15?).

How to progress : Add reps each time, and when you can perform three strong sets at the top of your rep range, add weight or change the difficulty (try diamond push-ups, for example).

Part 4: Shoulder Superset

To do this, we’ll take one of two shoulder supersets from my best article on shoulder training . Most people will choose the classic three-head deltoid isolation:

• Lifting dumbbells in front of you

• Dumbbell Lateral Raise

• Reverse bent over dumbbell swing

Perform them in a circle, immediately moving from one exercise to another, without lowering the dumbbells. I like to choose a different starting point for each round: maybe front/back/back the first time, side/back/front the second time, and so on. Don’t worry if the number of reps varies from set to set; Tiring your shoulders is more important than counting reps.

Rest time : as needed between cycles, about 30 seconds.

Reps and Weight : Aim for 10-15 reps of the first exercise, and then continue working with that weight, even if it means the reps will drop (maybe 15, 12, 10 in the first round, 12, 10, 8 in the second round). …Everything is fine).

How to Progress : When you can easily perform more than 15 reps in multiple sets, add weight.

Part 5 (optional): light biceps/triceps superset.

For this finisher, we do another biceps/triceps superset, but this time with a lighter weight. Refer to the list of options above, but choose exercises that are different from those you have previously performed in your workout. You may have done push-ups and pull-ups before, so this time you’ll be doing Zottman curls and skull curls.

I offer you two setup options:

Rest, Reps and Weight Variation 1 : 3 sets of 12 or more reps. Rest for at least 30 seconds between supersets. Add weight when you can do more than 15 reps for all three sets.

Rest, Reps and Weight Option 2: Choose a weight that you think you can handle for at least one set of 15 reps. Set a timer for 5 minutes and do as many sets as possible with as little rest as possible until the time is allotted. up. Expect the number of reps to drop dramatically – you might do 15 at the beginning, but at the end you can only manage 3. The point is to keep moving as much as possible for 5 minutes.

So there you have it: a complete arms and shoulders workout that can be modified into a full upper body workout that you can complete in just 30 minutes or supplement with additional sets to fill an hour or more in the gym. Track your progress in a notepad or app (or even a note on your phone) and enjoy watching your arms and shoulders get stronger over time.

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