FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

Prior to FT I was training a legs, push, pull, rest, lower, upper, rest split. I was training rear delts with a 4 sets (loading style) on pull days using 2 sets of 2 exercises. Then was hitting them again for 2 heavy sets on upper body day as well as doing 2 high rep sets on them at the end of my first leg session. Now that I've swapped to FT I have needed to drop this level of volume for rear delts. I am aware that with my improved recruitment of my rear delts and progressively overloading them I will be able to develop them well with a reduced volume.

I'm only on my second week of FT so wouldn't be able to assess whether they have receded, but I am confident they won't as long as I consistently attack the side lateral exercise on day 3 like you suggested. My only concern is that I won't be utilising any heavy loading for them, but I would rather not reduce rear delt volume in order to accommodate this.

I need to learn to accept that more isn't always more as I've previously buried myself from training. I suppose prioritising rear delts currently is the priority and in future training blasts I can increase lateral deltoid frequency, once I've established I can attempt tier 3 or when my rear delts have improved enough for me to be willing to reduce their weekly volume.

Great perspective!

As far as loading the middle head of the delts, one thing you can on your overhead pressing is to generally do these with the focus on pressing more to the rear vs. to the front.

So, if you can, behind the neck pressing vs. overhead front presses.
Reverse hammer strength presses (on the OH press machine) vs. the normal way.

And, this exercise is a winner.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLL7Qh1jQu2/...e_training

Check the comments in that link for who to do the exercise, but here's the gist (I did these as a pump sets in that vid).

"I'm sitting backwards on the bench, set all the way upright. (I'm blocking it mostly, but you can see it below my ears to the side of my neck.) You use the bench to keep a constant distance between your head / torso from the bench and NOT lean back. Doing them this way forces you to retract the shoulder girdle and calls the middle head of the delt in a great deal more. This drops the weight down most can yes by >50% compared to a typical OH press where the upper back is arched and the focus is on the anterior deltoids. If you decided to try these, you'll see that they feel very different than a DB OH press when leaning back on the bench. I'd suggest stretching out your pec beforehand. For those with shoulder issues, this may expose them, so be careful, for sure and START REALLY light. A set of 30+ reps with just the 10's, if you stay completely upright (and not lean back) feels AWESOME. "

-S