On March 25, 2024, Joe Bennett, known as the Hypertrophy Coach, published a video on his YouTube channel wherein he led Wellness pro Tefani-Sam Razhi and Figure pro Melissa Brodsky through a hypertrophy-focused shoulder workout.
Bennett believes many athletes have underdeveloped rear delts, resulting in deflated-looking shoulders. To address this, Bennett prioritizes medial and rear delts during training to cultivate the coveted 3D look.
Joe Bennett’s Delt Workout for Hypertrophy
Here is a summary of the training session:
- Lying Cable Lateral Raises
- Seated Cable Rear Delt Flyes
- Seated Barbell Overhead Press
- Incline Face Pulls
Check out the complete video below:
[Related: Personal Trainer James Smith Learns Why Male Athletes Should Do Pilates]
Lying Cable Lateral Raises
Lying cable lateral raises bias the medial deltoids, which are responsible for abduction (lifting the arm away from the body). Coach Bennett recommended keeping the shoulder externally rotated throughout the range of motion (ROM) to limit rear delt engagement.
Bennett positioned the functional trainer’s cable pulleys to hip level, attached wrist straps, and placed a weight bench in front of it. His trainees wore the right strap around the left wrist and vice versa.
Brodsky lay supine on the flat bench with her legs toward the pulley. Brodsky’s arms were parallel at the bottom of her ROM. Limiting the movement to the shoulders, Brodsky raised her arms laterally as high as possible to contract the medial delts to their fully shortened positions.
Seated Cable Rear Delt Flyes
Targeting the posterior delts (on the back of the shoulder that helps with external rotation), Bennett maintained the cable pulleys’ hip height from the previous exercise. Still, he switched the flat bench for a utility bench. He grabbed the cables with the opposite hands and sat on the bench with his chest against the back pad.
While keeping her chest proud, scapula depressed, and elbows slightly flexed, Razhi pulled her arms to her sides and paused at peak contraction. After reaching mechanical failure (where form breaks due to fatigue), Bennett performed partial reps to further stimulate the target muscles. Bennett emphasized proper form when approaching failure to minimize the risk of injury.
Seated Barbell Overhead Press
The overhead press is a compound exercise that biases the anterior and medial deltoids. Bennett lowered the barbell to his upper chest at the bottom of his ROM and stopped just shy of elbow lockout at the top.
Bennett advised keeping the elbows slightly in front of the midline to achieve greater ROM and reduce shoulder strain.
“It’s not that pulling the elbows back is bad,” said Bennet, “but the further back…more people will have discomfort, pain, and tightness as they try to press straight up and down.”
Bennett recommends performing three to four working sets of eight to 12 repetitions for optimal hypertrophy results. This rep range allows sufficient mechanical stress on the target muscles to stimulate growth. (1)
Delts generally respond to a slightly higher training volume than other muscle groups. This can be attributed to their smaller size and involvement in various pushing and pulling movements.
Incline Face Pulls
The trio concluded the workout with face pulls. Bennett favors face pulls toward the end of a workout since they engage all three deltoid heads and help train external rotation.
Bennett positioned the cable pulley at eye level and secured a rope attachment. He set an incline bench to 45 degrees in front of the pulley, grabbed the ropes with an overhand grip, and positioned his back flat against the bench’s back pad.
Bennett fully extended his elbows in the starting position. His hands and elbows were behind his midline at the top of his ROM.
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References
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel). 2021;9(2):32. Published 2021 Feb 22. doi:10.3390/sports9020032
Featured image: @teffanysam on Instagram
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