Boulder Shoulder and Titanic Tricep Training: Tom Venuto's Bodybuilding Secrets Blog

Boulder Shoulder and Titanic Tricep Training

Tom Venuto

Monday, September 26th, 2005. Allrighty then… another 2.8 weeks of hard work until the first show October 15th. Time to dial in the conditioning 100%, lose some more weight to make the Middleweights, and chisel out every nook and cranny of muscle detail and separation. Today’s mission: Keep dieting, two 30-minute cardio sessions, and blast the deltoids and triceps.

DELTOIDS

A1 Seated Dumbbell Press (palms front): 1 set X 65 lbs X 10 reps
A2 Standing Dumbbell lateral Raise: 1 set X 30 lbs X 12 reps; No rest between supersetted exercises A1 & A2
B1 Seated Dumbbell Press, parallel grip (palms facing each other): 1 set X 60 lbs X 10 reps
B2 Standing Dumbbell lateral Raise: 1 set X 30 lbs X 10 reps; No rest between supersetted exercises B1 & B2
C1 Arnold Press (seated dumbbell shoulder press with rotation): 1 set X 55 lbs X 10 reps
C2 Standing Dumbbell lateral Raise: 1 set X 30 lbs X 10 reps; No rest between supersetted exercises C1 & C2
D1 Incline Bench one arm lateral raise (lying on side), strict straight arm: 3 sets X 20 lbs X 8-10 reps
D2 Incline Bench one arm lateral raise (lying on side), bent arm, cross body: 3 sets X 25 lbs X 8-12 reps
E1 Standing two cable rear deltoid laterals: 3 sets X 35 lbs X 12-15 reps

TRICEPS

A1 Rope Pushdown (On Icarian cable cross machine): 2 warm up sets; Set 1: 100, 110, 120 lbs X 6, 6, 6 reps (ascending set); Set 2: 130, 120, 110 lbs X 6, 7, 7 reps (descending set); Set 3: 110 lbs X 10 reps, pull hands apart, 110 lbs X 10 reps hands together
B1 Lying Tricep Extension – multi angle technique: 3 sets X 85, 80, 75 lbs X 7 reps to chin, 7 reps to forehead, 7 reps behind head, rest 10 seconds between each 7 reps angle change
C1 Cybex machine dips: Set 1: 120 lbs X 14 reps; Set 2: 130 lbs X 12 reps; Set 3: 140 lbs X 9 reps drop weight to 90 lbs X 8 more reps

ABS

A1 Hanging straight leg raises: 3 sets X bodyweight X 15-20 reps
A2 Hanging Knee Ups: 3 sets X 15-20 reps; No rest between supersetted exercises A1 & A2, 60 seconds rest between supersets
B1 Swiss Ball crunch: 3 sets X 30 lbs X 15 reps
C1 Swiss ball side crunch: 3 sets X bodyweight X 25 reps per side

Workout Commentary

This was the first shoulder workout I did on my own in a while; most of the previous shoulder sessions were with trainer Richie smyth, who never fails to “kick my ass.” So, the onus was on me to “kick my own ass” (shoulders) today, and I did exactly that.

I started with three supersets of dumbbell presses with standing dumbbell lateral raises (post-exhaust superset technique). For each set of dumbbell presses, I used a different pressing variation: Set one – regular Presses (palms face front). Set two – neutral grip presses (palms face each other). Set three – Arnold presses. These combinations did a great job blasting the front and side deltoids.

Next it was some isolation work on the side deltoid and side/rear deltoid tie in with incline bench lateral raises. I set up an incline bench at about a 60 degree angle or so and lay sideways on the bench, with my knees on the seat. (I was sideways on the bench, not on my back). Then I used a fairly light dumbbell (20 lbs) for straight arm lateral raises, one arm at a time. I lowered the dumbbell down to about three inches off the side of my thigh, all the way up until it was over my head. The reps were performed very strictly and slowly with no pauses at the bottom or top so it was a continuous tension exercise.

When I reached failure with the 20 pounder, I grabbed a 25 pounder and continued with more lateral raises, this time with bent elbow, bringing the dumbbell in front and across my body and turning the thumb end down (“pouring the water”) at the top of every rep. These reps were faster and not so strict. This variation on the incline one arm lateral raise hits the side as well as the rear deltoid and is great for that split between the side/rear delts and your upper arm.

The final exercise for delts was a new one: Standing cable rear lateral raises in the cable crossover machine. Using the high pulleys I began with the cable handles just slightly crossed in front of my body, then pulling ALL the way back to full extension and holding in the contracted position for a concentrated squeeze of the rear delts.

Triceps started with rope pushdowns using a different technique on eat set: ascending set, descending set, and grip change set.

The tricep workout continued with the 3 way multi-angle lying tricep extension routine. I’ve been on this program for a while because I am getting superb results from it and still moving up in weight, albeit very slowly (using 2.5 pound plates on each side to increase in 5 lb increments from one workout to the next).

I finished up with tricep dips on the Cybex machine. Three sets with a drop set on the last one.

I weighed 182 lbs today. Since the contests I now have scheduled are NPC (National Physique Committee) competitions, I will need to make the NPC middleweights, and the cutoff is 176.25 lbs. Judging by how lean I already am at 182 lbs, I will be absolutely shredded at 176 lbs. This means more dieting and cardio, but it’s good news because I will be ripped and at the very top of my weight class.

Alright, let me log off… I have 5.75 more pounds to lose to make this middleweight division, so I gotta go do more cardio and eat some more chicken breast and “rabbit food!”

Published on 26 September, 2005