no shoulder pumps
Maybe someone can help me out on this one, whenever I have my shoulder and traps workout I cant get a pump no matter what rep range i use. Ill get a burn but no pump but I can get a pump with other muscle groups so I feel like something isnt right. My workout isnt the same everytime but here is an example of my shoulder workout from last night.
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joint warm up to get the blood flowing (habit from my martial arts days). idk the name of it but i just hold my arms out and make small circles then big circles 100 forward 100 backward.
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dumbell shoulder presses. 1set 25reps, 3sets 10reps, 2sets 8reps
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rear delt machine. 1 set 25reps, 4sets 12reps
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dumbell shrugs. I dont count reps here i just do them till I cant anymore. I start light then go up in weight every set untill I can only do like 3 reps. On my last set I start with whatever weight I had just gotten 3 reps with and go back down in weight only stopping long enough to take 5 breaths everytime I put down a pair of dumbells before picking up the next pair. I keep droping till i can only shrug only 20lbs dumbells, still no pump.
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machine shoulder press. 1set 15reps, 4 sets 8reps
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dumbell raises (medial head)- 3sets 12reps
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dumbell raises (anterior head)- 3sets 12 reps
-rear delt machine again. 12reps, 5 breaths then drop weight and rep till failure, again 5 breaths then drop weight and rep till failure, continue that cycle 5 or 6 times (didnt keep count)
My workout was only an hour (usually I knock em out in 45min)I rest 1 min between sets and normally 2min between exercises. For most body parts i like to stick to the 6-10 rep range, reps were a little bit higher here due to chasing the damn pump. As mentioned above I dont get the pump but I do get a burn in my shoulder muscles, medial and anterior delts more so than posterior, my traps on the other hand wont even get the burn unless Im 25 reps and up but I feel thats useless for getting bigger. At the end of this workout I could easily have done the shrugs all over again I think, only reason I didnt is I also work traps on back day, they never get tired. Input needed!!
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Are your shoulders small? Becasue it's had to get a good pump with small muscles. Based on that routine, you aren't training for size at all. I would try this.
dumbell shoulder press: 3 sets, 6-8 reps (to failure)
rear delt machine: 3 drop sets....go for 6 to 8...then drop the weight a few plates and then go to failure agian.
dumbell shrugs: I would personally do traps last...but thats just me. Again, 3 sets of 6-8 reps, getting a good squeeze at the top.
machine shoulder press: I would drop this exercise. You already did shoulder press with dumbells.
your dumbell raises look ok, but go heavier to get reps in the 8-10 range, and possibly try drop sets on the anterior raises.
you could also try doing upright rows. Be sure to use good form. Arch your back and pull the bar high. 6-8 reps again.
also, a good tip is to stretch after each set.
another issue could be your diet. If you're doing the low/zero carb/keto thing, then you can forget about getting good pumps.
Yea you called it my shoulders are small, shoulders are my weakness lol. I can press in the 5-8 rep range without any problems but if I do raises with heavier weight than I can do 10 or 11 reps with i have problems with my shoulders for some reason. I can literally hear cartilage or something cracking. Ill drop the machine press all together, I may go up to 5 sets of dumbell presses though since my raises are lighter. Havent used upright rows in a while Ill throw those back in too. The word "low" isnt anywhere in my diet hand me something low calorie and ill slap it out your hand lol. My metabolism burns through anything,Ive never not been able to see my abbs so Ive never watched calories or carbs in the sense of not wanting them. Never had a reason to cut. Good advice bro, Ill be tweaking my shoulder routine a bit.
Try different lift methods, Statics (hold the weight at contracted position til failure then slowly release) Negative accentuated (1 sec up, 6 sec down). Giant sets, super sets... For the delts try compound moves, (Front raise, lower, side raise, lower, front raise) That pumps my delts. On the Traps use a smith machine and do WIDE grip shrugs 10reps, close grip shrugs 10 reps, behind back shrugs 10 reps then repeat for 3 sets. If that doesn't get you a pump, check your pulse. LOL ;-P
i used to have same propblem i am also 6'1 i switched it up with kettle bell workout but most gyms dont have kettle bell so i would also recommand doing shrugs with the bars what ever weight you feel comfortable.
Shoulder bombs, use dumbells in a straight arm fly movement. Picked that one up from roelly winkler's workouts.
Frankiefront db raises are good for getting shoulder pumps but i realy train my shoulders and they are the best feature about me ,my front delts take a pounding on chest day due to heavy incline db work and rears get a pounding on back day with seated cable pulls ,i will add in riade rasie for side delts maybe once every 2 weeks but as said i realy train shoulders solo...i hit shurgs hard and heavy once a week makeing sure i pick a weight i cant shrug past 8 reps .
TxBigBoySounds like you might be over training a bit. I never go over 10 reps unless its shrugs then i hit 15 reps max. What really works for me as far as traps(I posted a pic earlier you should check it out) I use the smith machine for shrugs. I use a reverse grip(palms outward). Ive notice a big change since moving from DB shrugs. Ill also come back at the end of my workout and shrug again but with the bar behind me. And as Multi said the upright rows are good too.
Found the pic, thats what traps are supposed to look like lol. Great for a guy with your level of bulk. I know its hard at 6'5'' though Im 6'1'' and struggling lol
TxBigBoyThanks bro, yea it's tough for us tall guys. Just keep mixing it up until you get what feels right. Also if you have a smartphone that jefit app has a shitload of good workouts with tons of different variations.
Now that you mention it I could try a different exercise for traps. Usually I switch things up but with traps Ive just stuck to dumbell shrugs for the most part, sometimes standing straight up sometimes slightly bent so its a different angle. Ill try reverse grip and behind the back shrugs, in fact I once read where Melvin Anthony said that was his favorite trap exercise.
Just an idea but have you tried pre-exhausting? Every other shoulder workout I do iso before compound movements. I start with lateral raises and do what I call shoulder 21's. 7 reps side lateral raises, 7 reps front raises, 7 reps bent lateral raises. I do 3 sets of these then do 4 sets of presses (bar or dumbbell) then traps 4 sets either shrugs or pull ups. I actually did this routine today and the burn was crazy. Oddly when I do compound movements first I dont feel any where near the pump I do when I pre exhaust kind of like you are feeling I guess.
I hadnt thought of pre exhaustian, ill give that a try.
MultipurposeI get good pumps with this routine: military press 1 warmup set 4 working sets, dumbell side raises 4 sets, dumbell front raises 4 sets,dumbbell rear delt 4 sets, barbell shrugs 4 sets. Sometimes I'll add Arnold presses which are awesome or some upright rows. How long have you been doing the same routine? Maybe you just need to change things up.
Im especially concerned with traps cause no matter how hard i work them if I waite 5min I can go right back at it. High rep low rep, it doesnt matter. Probably useless info but my front and side delts are pretty dense and hard too. Ive got striations on my medial delts comparable to a sprinter if you know what i mean. Does density affect pump?
where do you hold the dumbells? in the front, or to the side? Try doing them to the side. Also, at the top of the movement get your arms involved a little to get some extra squeeze at the top.
usually i hold them to the side or more toward my rear, sometimes ill hold them towrd the front but rarely. normally i try to stay strict with my movements but using heavy weight with traps its hard to get the full squeeze at the top without some arm movement.