As important as great shoulders are to a beautiful physique, the workouts that craft them can be pretty mundane. Just like the monotony of a pre-contest diet—“Chicken breast, rice, and vegetables, again?”—advice on training delts has always revolved around seated presses and lateral raises, ad nauseam.
If you can no longer stomach that same old routine, Candice Lewis-Carter has an exciting new recipe for you. The 2017-18 Arnold Classic Figure champ and all-time winningest figure pro—who recently announced that she was stepping away from competition to start a family—has her own delt routine that doesn’t rely on any of those traditional moves. Here, she serves up a five-course delt developer that she’s used to perfect her showcase body part. Ready to give it a try?
The Y-raise keeps the middle delt head engaged throughout the exercise, as compared with the lateral raise, in which it relaxes in the down position.
Rotator Cuff Dumbbell Raise
Lewis-Carter prefers to do these one arm at a time so she can focus on each rotator cuff complex individually. She errs on the side of using a lighter dumbbell—because the rotator cuff is small relative to the deltoids, going too heavy makes it more likely that larger muscles will come into play.
Bus Driver
This move may look easy, but it can get challenging in a hurry, since it keeps your shoulder muscles under stress as you hold a weight plate out in front of your body for an extended period.
Around-the-World
Transitioning from bus drivers to around-the-worlds is easy, as you’ll be using the same 25-pound plate. Only this time, you’ll be circling it around your head, which targets all three heads of your delts.
Upright Band Row
While upright rows are often used earlier in shoulder workouts, Lewis-Carter likes them as a finisher. She chooses a medium resistance band, one that allows her to get about 20 reps before her muscles falter, preferring that to dumbbells or a barbell for the continuous tension the band provides.
