Training your shoulders is tough, since the joints can be touchy—and it gets even tougher when you try to lift heavy loads overhead. This two-move shoulder superset from trainer Jay T. Maryniak is great for shoulder size and stability without putting your joints in harms way.
“The series gets in solid shoulder work without pushing peeps to go overhead, and we all know most humans lack proper overhead shoulder mobility,” Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. “But you still hammer your shoulders, and you get the rear delt and rhomboid action that’s great for shoulder health in the long term.”
For the first move in the series, the dumbbell T-raise, maintain a solid, braced core throughout. Avoid swinging the dumbbells up, using any momentum, or leaning your torso backward. If that means going down in weight, so be it.
If you look closely at the clip, you’ll also notice that Maryniak never lifts the weight straight out to his side. Instead, he keeps it forward ever so slightly. This keeps the deltoids in a stronger position and reduces the risk of shoulder joint impingement.
The second exercise in the superset is the resistance band reverse fly. Again, maintaining a tense, solid torso is critical to really engaging the rear delts and rhomboids with your reps. Move with control, and don’t let your traps take over the exercise. If your shoulders raise toward your ears, pause, lower them down, and focus on keeping them there at all times.
Do 12 reps of each exercise with no rest in between. Perform 3 to 4 sets, resting for 60 seconds between sets. Maryniak notes that he’s doing it here as a finisher, but you can also integrate it into the meat of your shoulder, upper-body, and total-body workouts.
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