Deltoids – importance of deltoid development

Where are the delts?

This is an old progress picture but I’ve chosen it because it immediately draws your attention to the right deltoid, highlighted in red. The delts are the most prominent muscles in this photograph and fill the width of the t-shirt creating the desirable v-taper upper body shape. 

Significance of the delts

At all levels of bodybuilding the deltoids add significant width to the physique and must not be neglected. Below is 2011-2012 Mr Olympia Phil Heath (pic from Bodybuilding.com), his delts are prominent and add explosive width. 

The deltoids add significant upper body width helping to create the v-taper body shape and must not be ignored. 

Androgen receptors 

The deltoids contain a large number of androgen receptors. Androgen receptors are receptors in the body which are sensitive to male hormones such as testosterone.  The deltoids typically develop after puberty, broadening in width when testosterone increases and subsequently developed deltoids are a symbol of masculinity. Developing the deltoids makes your physique appear dramatically more masculine helping your body to move away from “young boy” towards “developed man”. 

Why is deltoid training often neglected?

For the deltoids to develop properly they must be isolated and trained appropriately. Many bodybuilders complain shoulder training is painful and neglect it in favour of additional chest exercises which usually also target the shoulders. Most young bodybuilders rarely make the effort to learn to train deltoids properly and their delts are not significant when their physique develops. Delts should be targeted with individual exercises in addition to chest and back training. 

Dissecting the delts 

The delts consist of three heads shown below (picture from Wikipedia)

Anterior / Front delts – front raises target the front deltoids which are found nearest the pecs

Lateral / Side delts –  lateral raises target the side delts which are found between the front and rear delts

Posterior / Rear delts – often neglected, these are usually targeted by rowing exercises for the back but can also be isolated with exercises such as bent over rear lateral raises and face pulls

Until my deltoid training post I recommend checking out Dorian Yates’ training video for bodybuilding.com where he covers some solid exercises for deltoid development which have really helped me and could help you too http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dorian-yates-blood-guts-4.htm

 

BMW