Size-Surging Shockers

Q: I’ve been using your Power/Rep Range/Shock training method for years and have made wonderful overall progress. That said, my shoulders are lagging a bit behind my other muscle groups, and I was wondering if you could recommend some shock techniques to jolt my delts besides the normal supersets and drop sets in P/RR/S. Can you shock my shock workouts?

A: I’m pleased to hear that you’ve done so well with P/RR/S. As to your shoulders, there always has to be at least one stubborn bodypart, right? Well, as “shocking” as the Shock workouts in the P/RR/S protocol can be, there are certainly ways to up the ante in order to ultrashock a stagnant muscle. Here are a few of my favorites:

Add-on sets. Start with a single exercise for a given muscle and then add a new movement on each successive sequence so that in one session you work through a superset, a tri-set and a giant set for the targeted bodypart. That protocol will definitely give those delts the hint to hypertrophy. Here’s a sample program:

 

Laterals 1 x 8-10

Superset

Lateral raises 1 x 8-10

Wide-grip upright rows 1 x 8-10

Tri-set

Lateral raises 1 x 8-10

Wide-grip upright rows 1 x 8-10

Machine rear-delt flyes 1 x 8-10

Giant set

Lateral raises 1 x 8-10

Wide-grip upright rows 1 x 8-10

Machine rear-delt flyes 1 x 8-10

Military presses 1 x 8-10

 

Heavy/light supersets and drop sets. In the basic P/RR/S protocol supersets generally are done with each exercise going for eight to 10 reps to failure and drop sets for eight to 10 reps to failure, followed by four to six more reps—again to failure. While that’s certainly intense, after years of doing it that way your muscles might need even more stimulus on occasion to stimulate the anabolic machinery, as well as to give the central nervous system a little wake-up call. The heavy/light method is a great way to get it done, as you first hammer the target muscles with big weights and then flood them with growth-inducing blood and nutrients through a higher-rep isolation attack. Here’s a sample workout that can destroy your delts:

 

Superset

Seated dumbbell presses 2 x 4-6

Standing lateral raises 2 x 13-15

Superset

Wide-grip barbell upright

rows 2 x 4-6

Close-grip barbell front

raises 2 x 13-15

Bent-over laterals

(drop set) 1 x 4-6 (13-15)

Editor’s note: Eric Broser’s new DVD “Power/Rep Range/Shock Max-Mass Training System” is available at Home-Gym.com. His e-book, Power/Rep Range/Shock Workout, which includes complete printable workout templates and a big Q&A section, is available at X-Workouts.com.