Anybody got some good rear delt exercises to share?
I have a hard time hitting them
Band pull a parts with a pause are working for me. They make my shoulders feel pretty good too.
Rear delt flys.
Hi guys! I hv spent 1 night finishing all 16 pages! Thx for all the exprience shared! I m currently on the 4th week of WS4SB3, and I feels my body getting more balance and my injuries rehabbing is on its way! All the best!
I didn’t hv any lower body DE/ME last week as I accidentally pulled my ham (not from lifting) , instead I hv done ergometer and Bodyweight squats/lunging variations. Today was my lower body de day and I did some vertical jumps (reduced sets) and bulgarian split squats w/ added rom.
Got weaker in the split squats but expected. I also sub. romanian DL with supine single leg fitball curls. That really gave my ham a burn! Will do ergometer tmr as conditioning exercise and see how it goes.
As for training log I put it on facebook LOL. Maybe I should also put it on the log section!
Get Strong brothers!
By the way, my schedule is like this:
Mon: ME Upper body
Tue: DE Lower body
WeD: Rest
Thurs: Upper body Repetition Day
Fri: ME Lower Body
Sat & Sun: Rest
What do u guys recommend to do on the non-training days if my goals are strength, hypertrophy, maybe lose a bit of fat? I know these are 3 distinct goals. I m just a bit greedy…
On elitefts.com, Joe Defranco posted a washed-up meatheads version of WS4SB.
If you are not playing sport I would do that one. 1 day for Max effort upper, 1 day for vanity, 1 day for max effort lower and 1 day for rep-upper. As well as 1/2 cardio days as well, varying intensity.
If you do play sport I’d stick with the tried and tested template, there’s enough there for strength and hypertrophy gains.
Yeah I read that version.
Though I don’t play sport I wanna bring up my legs as they are so small. Now that you mention it maybe I should give it a try because my ham is still recovering and 2 lower body days maybe too much for it.
Any recommendation for that bodybuilding day?
Wanna get a broader shoulder and bigger arms so definitely will throw in sets of lateral raises, curls and extensions. Fear that I will go crazy on this day and affect the ME day.
Max effort day:
Focus on working upto a 1-5RM in a bench variation.
Then the supplemental/accessory work you feel neccasary for your bench press, back work etc.
Vanity day:
If I was you I’d be doing a few sets of stuff like chest flyes, after all it is vanity day! lol
I’d also be doing some sets of curls.
And maybe calves if you want, this day is for working on weakest body parts really.
Max effort lower body:
Work upto a 1-5RM
Squat or deadlift variation
then your supplemental/accessory work
Rep-Upper:
Typical rep-upper day, high reps on your first exercise. All out sets, or a few sets of 12-15 reps.
Followed by supplemental/accessory work.
The DE legs day isn’t in the program as there is no need really for someone not competing in sports to be doing box jumps etc.
After receiving a PM from a fellow T-Nation member with some questions about WS4SB, I thought it would be a good idea to include some of the information I gave him.
This is in response to his questions, and I’m sure others may find this valuable:
1. In regards to ME exercises:
You’re supposed to rotate the ME movement every 2-4 weeks.
Try four weeks on ME movements and 4-6 weeks on assistance exercises.
[u]2. In reference to the types of lifts used for ME exercises:[/u]
These are the exercises I use.
ME Upper: Bench press, floor press, incline bench press, 2 or 3 board press, close-grip bench press.
I alternate between a full-range-of-motion exercise with a partial-range-of-motion exercise each phase.
ME Lower: Box Squats, Deadlifts, ATG Back Squat, Rack Deads, Front Squats, Sumo or Snatch Deadlifts.
RE Upper: DB Bench presses (flat or incline), Blast-strap pushups, band pushups, barbell pushups, weighted pushups, barbell bench for reps.
[u]3. In reference to assistance/supplemental exercises:[/u]
In addition to rotating my ME lifts, I try to use a variety of assistance exercises as well.
A) For ME upper body day, I use the following exercises after my ME lift:
Bench Assistance (2 sets of 15-20 or 3-4 sets of 6-8): DB bench presses (incline, flat or floor presses), various pushup exercises (as listed above).
Horizontal row (3-4 sets of 8-12 reps): Barbell rows (pronated or supinated), seated rows (various grips), Dumbbell Rows and T-Bar rows.
Rear Delt/Upper Back (3-4 sets of 8-12 reps): Seated dumbbell power cleans, face pulls, cuban presses, rear delt raises, YTWLI, seated rope pulls to the neck.
Traps (3 sets of 8-12 reps): I alternate between dumbbell shrugs and barbell shrugs.
Biceps (3 sets of 8-12 reps): Zottmann curls, barbell curls, iso-hold curls, hammer curls, alternating dumbbell curls (seated or standing), incline dumbbell curls.
Triceps (3 sets of 15-25 reps): V-bar pushdowns, straight-bar pushdowns or rope pushdowns.
B) For ME Lower body day, after my ME lower body exercise, I chose from the following:
Unilateral movement (3 sets of 8-12 reps): Lunge variations, step-up variations and Bulgarian split squats.
Hip-dominant movement (3 sets of 3-15 reps): RDL’s, Good mornings, SHELC, Pull-throughs, leg curls or GHR’s.
Abs: hanging leg raises, russian twists, barbell rollouts, decline ab cruches or raises, GHR ab crunches, etc.
Finisher: Prowler sprints, sled drags, etc.
C) For RE upper body day, I use the following exercises after my RE upper body lift:
Vertical pulling (3 sets of 8-12 reps): Various chins and pull-ups, various lat pulldowns.
Rear Delt/Upper Back (3-4 sets of 8-12 reps): Seated dumbbell power cleans, face pulls, cuban presses, rear delt raises, YTWLI, seated rope pulls to the neck.
Shoulders (3 sets of 8-12): Dumbbell lateral raises, L-lateral raises and sometimes I’ll do a dumbbell overhead pressing movement. Most of the time I stick with some sort of lateral movement.
Biceps (3 sets of 8-12 reps): Zottmann curls, barbell curls, iso-hold curls, hammer curls, alternating dumbbell curls (seated or standing), incline dumbbell curls.
Triceps (3 sets of 10-15 reps): Flat or decline dumbbell extensions.
For me, I rotate my accessory/supplemental exercises on a weekly basis. I’ve found that this works great for me. For most beginners, I would recommend sticking with them for 4-6 weeks.
Depending on how I feel I may also end with a finisher after my upper body workouts and/or additional ab exercises.
A few questions:
-
Are you supposed to break the 3-5 rep record every session? I understand that you change ME exercises every 2-3 weeks. But anyway? Basically always strive to break the record of the previous week?
-
Don’t you lose somewhat of the gains made when you for example switch from box squats to rack pulls as ME for a couple of weeks?
Control,
Yes, break your PR every week. Even if it is by doing an additional rep or adding some extra weight.
You may lose a small amount of the gains but, in the long run, it pays off. You will continue to break PRs even if you have to take 1 step back before moving 2-3 forward.
Where does it say you change the max evey 2-3 weeks? I changed mine every week in a macrocycle of 4 different lifts (one month): rack, floor, dip, flat for bench, and box, atg, rack, deadlift for lower. My gains were good.
Page 6, the first full paragraph (not the one that continues from page 5).
[quote]forevernade wrote:
Where does it say you change the max evey 2-3 weeks? I changed mine every week in a macrocycle of 4 different lifts (one month): rack, floor, dip, flat for bench, and box, atg, rack, deadlift for lower. My gains were good. [/quote]
I started out changing my ME lifts every week, but I found that it worked better when performing the ME lift for two weeks and then changing.
Joe has recommended (in his Q&A) changing ME lifts on a weekly basis only for his most advanced guys.
Progress report:
Things have been going well with my training for the last several months. I’ve been using the Strength and Speed template for the past 16 weeks. This particular template has worked well for me since I play ultimate frisbee on Sundays.
I’ve become faster and stronger, and it has become noticeable when playing the game especially the last four or five weeks.
I recently changed the way I set up my ME lifts beginning on Week 14 when I started using the 5/3/1 Method.
I still follow the same Strength and Speed template, but I am now using 5/3/1 for the bench and squat on my ME days. All other assistance/supplemental exercises have stayed the same.
After next week’s deload week, I am going to try another variation. After I complete my ME lift, I’m going to follow it with 5x10 with 50% of my max for benches or squats. This is from the Boring But Big template in 5/3/1.
After doing that, I’ll go into my regular accessory lifts.
My overall template will look like this for my second phase (second month) of 5/3/1 with the new variation:
Monday - ME Upper
- Bench Press 5/3/1
- Bench press 5x10 @ 50%
3A) Rowing movement 3x8-12
3B) Rear delt movement 3x8-12 - Shrugging movement 3x8-12
5A) Biceps 3x8-12
5B) Triceps Pushdown variations 3x15-25
Abs and/or Finisher
Tuesday - Speed/Conditioning
I’ve used workouts from WS4SB 2 & 3 and also my own workouts similar to those and even the P90X Plyometrics workout most recently.
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - ME Lower
- Squat 5/3/1
- Squat 5x10 @ 50%
- Unilateral Quad movement 2-3x8-12
- Hip movement 3x8-12
- GHR’s 3-4x3-8
- Abs
Finisher - Prowler pushes (most often)
Friday - RE Upper
- Dumbbell presses or pushup variations 3xmax reps or 3-4x12-15
- Vertical pulling 3-4x6-12
3A) Rear delts 3x8-12
3B) Side delts 3x8-12
4A) Biceps 3x8-12
4B) Triceps Extensions 3x10-15
Abs and/or Finisher
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Ultimate Frisbee!
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Progress report:
Things have been going well with my training for the last several months. I’ve been using the Strength and Speed template for the past 16 weeks. This particular template has worked well for me since I play ultimate frisbee on Sundays.
I’ve become faster and stronger, and it has become noticeable when playing the game especially the last four or five weeks.
I recently changed the way I set up my ME lifts beginning on Week 14 when I started using the 5/3/1 Method.
I still follow the same Strength and Speed template, but I am now using 5/3/1 for the bench and squat on my ME days. All other assistance/supplemental exercises have stayed the same.
After next week’s deload week, I am going to try another variation. After I complete my ME lift, I’m going to follow it with 5x10 with 50% of my max for benches or squats. This is from the Boring But Big template in 5/3/1.
After doing that, I’ll go into my regular accessory lifts.
My overall template will look like this for my second phase (second month) of 5/3/1 with the new variation:
Monday - ME Upper
- Bench Press 5/3/1
- Bench press 5x10 @ 50%
3A) Rowing movement 3x8-12
3B) Rear delt movement 3x8-12 - Shrugging movement 3x8-12
5A) Biceps 3x8-12
5B) Triceps Pushdown variations 3x15-25
Abs and/or Finisher
Tuesday - Speed/Conditioning
I’ve used workouts from WS4SB 2 & 3 and also my own workouts similar to those and even the P90X Plyometrics workout most recently.
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - ME Lower
- Squat 5/3/1
- Squat 5x10 @ 50%
- Unilateral Quad movement 2-3x8-12
- Hip movement 3x8-12
- GHR’s 3-4x3-8
- Abs
Finisher - Prowler pushes (most often)
Friday - RE Upper
- Dumbbell presses or pushup variations 3xmax reps or 3-4x12-15
- Vertical pulling 3-4x6-12
3A) Rear delts 3x8-12
3B) Side delts 3x8-12
4A) Biceps 3x8-12
4B) Triceps Extensions 3x10-15
Abs and/or Finisher
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Ultimate Frisbee![/quote]
Nate your the man to adjust and play with ws4sb!!
This week i doing 5/3/1 bodybuilder template but starting next week i joined the train and will do your new template.
I play ice hockey once or twice a week(monday or wednesday,sometime both). I also work 40h a week on different shifts so my week are never the same but very similar to your set up! But i really like the 5x10 after the 5/3/1 scheme…Seems like a good powerbuilding template.
Maybe Jim should update the book with a new version 5/3/1 for skinny bastard template!!
[quote]crankMAN wrote:
Nate your the man to adjust and play with ws4sb!!
This week i doing 5/3/1 bodybuilder template but starting next week i joined the train and will do your new template.
[/quote]
crank, you have program A.D.D.! How am I supposed to know what the bodybuilding template is if you keep changing your program every week?! 
Thanks!
What I like the most about how I set up my template is the flexibility I have within the training week. Also, I have my max-effort lower body workout scheduled several days after I play Ultimate Frisbee in order to give my legs time to recover.
If needed (and I’ve had to do it a few times), I can adjust when I perform my Tuesday (Speed/Conditioning) workout, my Thursday (ME Lower Body) workout and even my Friday (RE Upper) workout.
For example, this week because of Thanksgiving, I’m performing my week as follows:
Monday - ME Upper
Tuesday - Speed/Conditioning
Wednesday - ME Lower
Thursday - Cardio/Conditioning in the AM (Turkey eating in the PM!)
Friday - RE Upper
Saturday - Off (Gators vs. FSU - I might be going to the game)
Sunday - Ultimate Frisbee
I’ve also done my Friday workout on Saturdays when needed (but I don’t like doing that because there isn’t enough rest between Saturday and Monday’s ME Upper Body Workout).
So there is plenty of adjustability when I need it.
The 5x10 after the main lift of the 5/3/1 is directly from the “Boring But Big” template from Jim’s Three Days A Week manual.
I know many people are using that template, but I decided to try using it as a part of my WS4SB template since the supplemental lift after your ME lifts is usually directly related to the ME exercise. This is just another twist of what to do besides what is shown in WS4SB.
I’ll keep you posted on how it works. I will be expecting extreme soreness after the first week of 5x10. Others who have used that have stated how hard it was and how sore it made them on the 5/3/1 thread.
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
The 5x10 after the main lift of the 5/3/1 is directly from the “Boring But Big” template from Jim’s Three Days A Week manual.
I know many people are using that template, but I decided to try using it as a part of my WS4SB template since the supplemental lift after your ME lifts is usually directly related to the ME exercise. This is just another twist of what to do besides what is shown in WS4SB.
I’ll keep you posted on how it works. I will be expecting extreme soreness after the first week of 5x10. Others who have used that have stated how hard it was and how sore it made them on the 5/3/1 thread.[/quote]
I.am.sore. Maybe not sore, fatigued could be a better adjective. After squatting, I did leg curls and left. I really did not have a lot energy or desire to do anything else. Good stuff!
Nate, comment on the following:
[quote]
Thursday - ME Lower
- Squat 5/3/1
- Squat 5x10 @ 50%
- Unilateral Quad movement 2-3x8-12
- Hip movement 3x8-12
- GHR’s 3-4x3-8
- Abs [/quote]
What is your unilateral quad movement and hip movement? Are these high on the intensity level or … what are they for? I think you might find that you will skip those two exercises, do the GHR then go home. Then again, you are in A LOT better shape than I and could manage just fine.
For my unilateral quad movement I rotate between lunge variations, Bulgarian split squats and step-up variations.
I usually use a moderate weight (~70% 1RM) and stick with the 8-12 rep range for 2-3 sets. I use them to help get in some quad work without it being too taxing on my body.
For my hip movement, I rotate through the following exercises:
DB RDL’s
Good mornings
Leg Curls
SHELC
Pull-Throughs
Barbell RDL’s
I usually use a little more intensity and weight on these exercises than I do with the unilateral quad movement, but it also depends on the day and the exercise I’m using.
For example, I used leg curls two weeks ago and used a moderate weight that kept me within 8-12 reps. They were tough, but leg curls are not nearly as demanding as DB or barbell RDL’s. I tend to go heavy and hard on the RDL’s.
How much intensity and weight I use typically depends on how tough the ME exercise was before that. On that particular week when I used the leg curls, I skipped doing the Bulgarian split squats because I just didn’t have the energy that day and knew I needed to back off a bit.
I worked harder the following week when I did use the Bulgarian split squats and used pull-throughs for my hip movement.
This week, I have step-ups scheduled for my unilateral exercise and good mornings for my hip exercise followed by the GHR’s and abs/Finisher.
Next week is my deload week, so I’m going to use some easy lunges for my unilateral movement and SHELC’s for my hip movement.
After that, I’ll be using the 5/3/1 with the 5x10. So depending on how tore up I am, I may need to back off on the unilateral and hip dominant movements that day. If so, I can pump it up on weeks 2 and 3 before deloading again on week 4. 