My goal is to build dense, strong shoulders. To achieve this I have started doing power snatches from the hang position and the power clean and muscle press. I haven’t addressed rear delts because I do face pulls religiously in addition to wide grip pullups (though I will not hesitate to add direct work if the evidence bears it out). I use cluster sets of 3 reps (six sets max) and perform a warmup with 60% of my working weight. Like you, I like to develop a dense physique moreso than a wide one. My shoulders are in good health according to the tests available on T-Nation. I have a tall ecto build with long arms (about 2.3 meters). Would you please comment on my programming and please add anything you believe I should try. I trust your expertise. Thank you for your time.
Yeah, man… demand that answer!!
After all, you did post that question YESTERDAY and waited patiently all this time until TODAY!! So what if it was sunday and CT is answering all this question for T readers for free… you have a right to be answered immediately.
A few days back I came across someone talking about a method CT used called “activation days” or something to that effect. The jist was priming the CNS for the next few days by first performing a workout that primed the CNS somehow. The search function is not returning any articles. Does anyone happen to know where this is at?
I think some of you are misunderstanding me. I made my second post because I wasn’t sure if I was submitting my post in the right thread. To be clear, I was trying to find out if I was going through the right channels. I knew it was the weekend, and I was thinking myself lucky if CT saw my post because I see he answers many questions.
I’ve been on the internet since the early 90’s and I am very much aware of forum etiquette. I’m sure CT spends some serious time on the forums alone and I know he has his own business run. This is my first time posting on BB forums in 3 years, specifically because I dislike the negativity, the quarreling, and the unproductive hostility.
Thank you for your reply CT. It seems the consensus is that the shoulders are a time intensive bodypart. I have spent the last 7 weeks intensively training my rotator cuff and scapular depressors to prepare for the increased passive tonus produced by upper trap development. I am doing mild antagonist activation between sets as I believe O’Bompa recommends and starting to experiment with Poliquin’s doublea training that he borrowed from Pierre Roy. All of this is fit within a step-wise progression scheme with a 4th week deload.
Right now my stress levels from work are too much for the H2H. I do 3 lifts a workout and I am exhausted.
I apologize if I came across as demanding or impatient. I saw a Q&A thread for CT existed and thought maybe I needed to post in there - not to get an answer seconds later, but to go through the proper channels, if there were any. I was hoping to avoid this very situation. BB forums create a lot of unproductive hostility, IMO, so I avoid them. For this reason I have avoided posting in them for the past 2 years. We should be working together toward our common goals. Sharing and exchanging information, sources, experiences, etc.
CT: Thank you for replying to my question. I have never doubted that I would need to put a lot of time into my shoulders. The long timeline clearly emphasizes the need for solid, cogent programming. I have been reading your articles on shoulder training. I have just completed 8 weeks of intensive work on scapular depression and downward rotation to create a stronger passive tonus to balance that produced by the trap growth created by Olympic lifts.
MAF14: Thank you for answering my question. I will read the thread in its entirety. I am curious though, how you came to know such things about the CNS? Can you recommend me author(s) or book(s)?