It’s easy to go stale in the gym so you always need to update you training to keep your body guessing and your muscles burning.
Shoulders is one of our favourite days of the week. One – because it’s not leg day and Two – because it’s not leg day.
But once you’ve worked through the standard dumbbell press, lateral raises and reverse flyes you might be left wondering how you can mix it up.
We’ve got three lesser know exercises you can try that will hammer those delts into submission. Give them a go in your next session.
Ahrens Press
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDmvMMeMDA
You might have never heard of this move before. It’s not a new thing, but a press that was created back in the 60s by reclusive powerlifter Chuck Ahrens who was considered to have some of the biggest shoulders of his day.
His eponymous exercise is different than a regular press in that you press the dumbbells up and outwards – making a ‘V’ shape with your arms.
It puts the shoulders under a completely different stress and is brilliant for hitting the lateral deltoids.
The Z Press
This shoulder exercise is named after the legendary World’s Strongest Man four-time winner Zydrunas Zavickas, so you know it’s going to be tough.
The Lithuanian strength God is known for his world record overhead press, which requires incredible shoulder, core and tricep strength and stability.
This is why he developed the Z press. Performed in a seated position on the floor which takes your back and legs out of the movement, which often assist when the weight gets heavy. So the exercise consequently puts all the emphasis on the core and shoulders so you get more bang for your buck.
It’s absolutely vital to keep your legs stretched out, your knees locked, your back straight and not slouched the perform it safely and correctly.
This is a ‘no cheat’ exercise as you have nothing to drive the bar upwards with except your shoulders.
The Klokov Press
https://youtu.be/RLPxwuGUZBY
Russian Olympic weightlifter Dmitry Klokov is one of the strongest men on the planet.
The silver medal-winning Olympian is huge in CrossFit and weightlifting circles because of his incredible technique, his freakish strength and his unique training methods.
One of the moves central to his training, which he has given his famous name to, is the Klokov Press.
Again it’s a variation on the overhead press, except it’s performed in the deep squat position with a wide ‘snatch’ grip.
The wider the hands are along the bar the less your triceps are worked in the movement (it’s the same on bench press) – which means there’s more stress on your shoulders.
The Klokov press is brilliant for developing strength and size in your lateral delts and the upper portion of your traps (trapezius) – great for filling vest.
You can do the standard behind the neck snatch grip press (shown above).
Or the turbocharged version that Klokov does at the bottom of the squat (similar to a Scots Press).
It’s a great way to improve your shoulder mobility and strength as well as your core.
