I can candidly say that they have had no noticeable effect on my physique.
Ymmv I guess.
Also, (legit question) how hard have you been working them?
If you peruse my log, as frequently as anything else. I have gotten stronger at them, but I have seen no visible difference in the shoulders at all. They werenāt tiny to begin with, but Covid weight limitations have forced me into some of this isolation work with more dedication than normal.
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Yeah, I guess I should have been more specific. What I meant was, is the level of effort very high? To give you an example, all the sets of raises I do are to failure, and I frequently add in partials, dropsets, and cluster sets.
Anyway, I can see your point and you surely know yourself better than anyone else. Generally speaking, when physique is the goal, the shoulders are a big deal, and you could say that shoulder width alone can make a physique to some degree.
The middle delts are hardly worked by any exercise, save for lateral raises, so thatās where the rationale comes from. You could surely get shoulder growth from other exercises, but shoulder abduction is one movement that is hardly present in any other exercise.
For me, I can say that my delts were nonexistent when I started lifting. I focused on them a lot and I still do, and now I wouldnāt consider them my weakest body part anymore. So I guess my approach worked. But we also donāt have a machine to travel to a parallel universe and see what wouldāve happened had I not done lateral raises, so thereās that.
I would say snatch grip high pulls have a much bigger visual impact. You can really load these up, and the traps grow pretty quickly.
That said, I never cared for lat raises or small muscle isolation exercises in general. I feel like emphasizing smaller moves like this give an odd, unathletic look.
I would say the essential exercises:
Bench, OHP, DL, Squat, pull ups, and dips. These moves are all krypteia uses, and will give you awesome results.
Sure, traps create a very big visual impact too. I forgot to add that this is mostly from my own perspective, as somebody that is trap dominant and has always had overpowering traps that make their delts look small(er).
Personally, I want to de-emphasize my upper traps as much as possible when training delts.
Lastly, I donāt really agree with this statement:
Donāt really have an elaborate response, but I have never found myself saying āthat guy looks very big but he also looks like somebody who only does isolation work.ā
Maybe you could provide an example as to what you mean?
I have very little use for any of these. I am doing sets of 7 or 8 for 4 sets with 70 lbs atm. Not any different visually than when I used 35lbs or when I did not do them at all. Deads and OHP seem more effective as mass builders honestly.
You are doing lateral raises with 70 lb dumbbells?
Yes.
This is interesting, as small muscle isolation makes itās way into strongman training, as itās helpful to train the muscles at odd angles in order to get strong from odd angles. I do a fair share of curls, raises, pull aparts, shrugs, etc.
Are there any videos of those sets in your log?
I think my admitted bias comes from those at the gym that focus almost solely on isolation work, machines, cables etcā¦ and donāt do any big compound moves, play sports, or do any explosive work. You know, they look like they workout, but look odd and stiff.
That said, I donāt mean to come off as knowing more than anyone else, and Iām sure they could be used effectively as part of an intelligent workout plan.
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no, maybe Iāll do one tomorrow during daylight. I have an old one on my old phone with 65, but I felt like I used a little body English on those and have tried to make them stricter since then. It wasnāt dramatic, but I try to not move anything but the arm for these and videos can be revealing.
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Do you mean the medial delts?
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Clown dickās gonna clown dick
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Yup, sorry my bad
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Itās in the log now. Over 35 section.
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Actually i found that for meā¦BTNP blows up my medial delts like nothing else.
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I might have to switch back to these. I find everything seems to improve my front delts lol and canāt make the middle ones grow!
A truly under-rated exercise. People are terrifird that it will cause a shoulder injury.
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