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Strengthening the shoulders will help in exercises for other sections of the body and ultimately enable lifting more weight.
The Upright Row is a great shoulder exercise that many people do not know about and those that do know, do it incorrectly. If you are trying to develop huge shoulders then this exercise is a must have in your arsenal. It can be done with a barbell or with dumbbells. Although using dumbbells will help develop the deltoids better it is recommended to start with a barbell first to get used to the movement. Doing an Upright Row will mainly target the entire deltoid and indirectly on the biceps, triceps, and traps. The first thing you should do for the Upright Row is stretch the back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps to get ready for movement. Fitness Drive recommends starting without weights at first to obtain the proper form (Pick weights that you can comfortably manage). To start use a close grip on the bar so that the hands are no more than one hand distance away (this position will help protect the wrist and enable a good range of movement; can go closer but stabilizing the bar is harder on the wrists). To gain the most for your effort, Upright Rows should be done with smooth controlled movements. To perform the Upright Row keep tension in your muscles and lift the bar off the ground or from the platform keeping arms slightly bent. and hands at the waist Begin raising the bar to your chin while inhaling and pointing your elbows upwards (Do Not use effort from your lower back to perform the row). Finish by returning to the starting position while exhaling but keeping tension in the arms (This is 1 rep). Use the routine below to build this exercise into your workout.
Make sure to use controlled movements.
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The video below shows how to perform exercise with dumbbells, if using barbell keep hands same distance away (EZ-Bar would reduce the most stress to the wrists).
Remember that smooth controlled movements is key especially if you are elevating the exercise to include higher weights.
Depending on your goal, 3 different techniques you could follow are listed below. Pick the one that will work the best for you and watch the results start to develop.
The Fitness Drive Fat Burn technique only takes 6 minutes to execute. It consists of fast motions with short rest periods to maintain a high caloric burn rate. This is a timed exercise and should be done using something that would help tell how much time has gone by (i.e. stopwatch, phone, clock…). This will force you to keep pushing yourself even when you are exhausted.
- Fat Burn: (Time = 6 minutes)
3-4 sets of as many as you can in 1 minute with only 30 second rest periods
(5 times per week)
The Fitness Drive Muscle Build technique only takes 8 minutes to execute. It consists of slow reps to stretch and define the muscles with a longer rest periods. This is a weight training technique that forces the muscles to lift your weight for a longer period of time.
- Muscle Build: (Time = 8 minutes)
3-4 sets of 10-12 reps slowly with 1 minute rest periods
(4 times per week which is every other day)
The Fitness Drive Extreme Build/Burn technique only takes 11 minutes to execute. It consists of fast and slow bursts with a mixture of short and long rest periods. It is a technique that incorporates muscle confusion to elevate the heart rate to bring the body into the fat burning zone while utilizing weight training techniques to push muscles to work even harder.
- **Extreme Build/Burn: (Time = 11 minutes)
Total 6 sets
-1 set of as many as you can do in 1 minute
-Rest period 30-60 seconds
-3 sets of 10-12 reps slowly with 1 minute rest periods
-1 set of as many as you can do in 1 minute with only a 30 second rest period
-1 set of as many as you can do until failure
(3-4 times per week)
*Make sure to follow a strict diet and exercise regiment to expedite the results and further propel your goals.
Regardless of how defined you want to be you need to make sure you set a goal, establish a routine and keep following it. Results do not happen overnight and it is hard to see what progress you are making if you are a mirror-junky (staring at yourself in the mirror every chance you get). Do yourself a favor and take a before picture of yourself, save it and do not look at it again until the time is right. Each week take another picture of yourself. The time to analyze is on a month-to-month basis. Compare your before picture against the 4th week then again on the 8th, 12th, 16th, and 24th week picture. This way you can see the transition your body made and determine each month if the routine you are following is making an impact. *Discipline is the key!
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