illustrations: katy leigh
fitness
Get pumped-up
shoulders like
an action hero
shoulders like boulders will fill out your suit
jacket nicely, but if your boulders are more
like pebbles then these exercises are for you.
the shoulder consists of three areas: the
medial, anterior and posterior deltoid (that’s
middle, front and back). your shoulder
workout should include exercises that target
each of these areas to give you ‘delts’ that
look full and round. Do pressing movements
first as these will add size, finishing with
single-joint exercises such as lateral raises
that will help with definition.
your shoulders are involved in most other
upper-body exercises, so it makes sense to
combine a shoulder workout with another
body part – after chest or back exercises,
or before a triceps session, for example.
When doing shoulder presses using
a bench, a common mistake is to have
it on a slight incline. the more the bench
is inclined back, the greater the contribution
Your workout should
target the medial, anterior
and posterior deltoids
of the chest, which takes the focus away
from the shoulders. Make sure the back of
the bench is upright at 90 degrees to the
seat: this will ensure the exercise will
work the shoulders alone. Don’t be surprised
if you have to drop the weight a little, but
it’s worth it to get the best results. Before
you know it you’ll be bursting out of your
now-too-tight t-shirt.
dumbbell press
(back supported)
adjust a bench so that the back
is at 90 degrees to the seat. hold the
dumbbells so your wrists are level with your
shoulders, with your palms facing away
from you. Press them straight up overhead,
bringing them together slightly at the top.
lower slowly and repeat. Don’t shuffle
forwards so your lower back’s away from
the bench. also ensure your hips stay directly
underneath your shoulders.
Do four sets of eight repetitions
1
barbell press
(back supported)
seated on a flat bench, begin by
holding a barbell level with your collarbone,
2
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kristoph thompson’s personal training tips
hands slightly wider than shoulder-width
apart. Press the barbell overhead and
back slightly so that your hands are directly
over your shoulders. lower slowly and
repeat. there should be a small curve in
your lower back but don’t excessively arch
or lean backwards.
Do three sets of 10 repetitions
seated lateral raise
set up a bench as for the supported
dumbbell press (no 1). With a slight
bend in the elbows, bring your hands up and
out level with your shoulders, raising your
little fingers slightly higher than your
forefingers. Don’t allow your upper back
to come away from the bench at any point.
Do two sets of 12 repetitions
3
1
3
All you need is Eye Of
The Tiger turned up loud
cable reverse Fly
adjust the cables so that the
handles are level with your
shoulders. grab the right handle with your
left hand, and the left handle in your right
hand with palms facing each other so the
cable crosses in front of you. Bring your
arms out to the sides so that your hands
are slightly behind your shoulders, then
back to the front and repeat. keep your
torso perfectly upright – don’t lean back
or push your chest forwards.
Do two sets of 12 repetitions
4
2
4
kristoph thompson is one of the uk’s
leading strength and conditioning trainers.
Visit kristoph.co.uk for a free Q&a service
providing the answers to all your questions
health news
Stub it out to keep it up
recent research in the american
Journal of epidemiology found
that men who smoked
had a 41 per cent
greater risk
of erectile
dysfunction than
men who didn’t.
in fact, men who
smoked more than
20 cigs a day had a
65 per cent greater chance of
suffering erectile problems.
Lose pounds with weights
if you are weight training to aid
weight loss you should lower the
weight slowly, then drive it up
quickly, so says a study published
in Medicine & science in sports &
exercise. it found that more energy
was expended during explosive
weight lifting than slow lifting.
The 10-second rule works
according to bacteriologists at uW
Madison, dropping your food and
putting it back on your plate is
unlikely to result in deadly germs
unless it lands in an area infested
with e coli. even if a few germs latch
on to food particles, the body’s
defences can easily fight them off.
Fitness product
oF the week
Is a sandwich safe
if you drop it on the floor?
Kettlebells These odd-looking
weights are cast iron and hugely
versatile, providing a workout
for your whole body. Kettlebell
training builds ‘real world’
strength and the technique,
which appears difficult, is
surprisingly easy to master. All
you need for strength training,
core stability or weight loss is
one bell. Get the 8kg-40kg range
from extremekettlebells.com.
Prices start at £25.
Are you
as droopy as
these butts?
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