Final Push

Relevant

Hi Guys,

I know there are alot of these threads up here lately so sorry for that in advance.
I'm just looking for a bit of advice on my workout and was thinking after i get a bit of advice maybe I could get this moved to fitness logs so i could keep a log of my progress.

Basically I'm going away on the 18th of July and decided a few months back that i was going to get in shape. So I got my diet in order and ditched the sole cardio programme that i'd been given in the gym and started lifting weights on a fairly regular basis.

The programme i am on is a three day split between Chest/Back, Shoulders/Legs & Triceps/Biceps. I've seen some great results so far and feel better in myself and definitely notice the difference. I normally go 4/5 days per week and lately i haev been cycling up and back to the gym and walking to/from work (30 mins eachway)

Since i just have 5 weeks to go I'm going to put a real push on to get in shape.
My problem is that some of my exercises just aren't showing results, namely my legs and shoulders. Can anyone suggest some exercises that would be good for these? Would squats be more beneficial that calf press, leg curl and leg press that i do now?
My shoulders have always been small but what exercises would be best to improve them?

I should mention that my diet is in a good way, so that isn't a problem.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Malteaser!

Yup, squats would deffo be superior to the exercises you listed.

What are you doing for your shoulders at the mo that isn't working??

Hanley

You can beat 3 sets of 10 reps on Bradford Presses for shoulder size http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=kXPh_mfueFo

(1 rep = one press to the front, AND one to the back, most people would probably call this "2 reps").

pvt.joker

Interesting...I'll be incorporating those bradford presses into my programme

Relevant

I'm currently doing Lat raises and bent over lat raises. It isn't that they aren't working at all but I wouldn't mind something else to suppplement the development.

Would the squats get rid of the need for the other leg exercises of should i do both?


Bradford presses look good too. I'll give em a lash.

talkin4

Bradford press looks good but looks like an advanced exercise, the rocking involved, if done without caution, could lead to injury, might be better to start with Military press, if doing standing instead of seated, keep very slight bend in the knee (unlocked knee, rather than a bend) to take pressure off the lower back. Either way these exercises are a lot better than the raises you are doing as they involve the complete shoulder muscle group. I think 1 rep front plus 1 back is 2 reps, anyone I've seen doing this exercise doesn't generally go to 10 reps i.e. 20 movements as this can over-tire muscles and may lead to greater definition than size in the long term. Just an opinion!!

Hanley

talkin4 wrote: »

Bradford press looks good but looks like an advanced exercise, the rocking involved, if done without caution, could lead to injury,

You're not rocking, the bar moves back and your head moves forwards slighty.

I think 1 rep front plus 1 back is 2 reps, anyone I've seen doing this exercise doesn't generally go to 10 reps i.e. 20 movements as this can over-tire muscles and may lead to greater definition than size in the long term. Just an opinion!!

For the purpose of a Bradford press, the press to the fron followed by the press to behind IS one rep. It's not meant to be a heavy movement. There's too much going on with it. I certainly wouldn't like to be trying to move a near max weight forwards and backwards, thus the lighter loads and higher reps are a better option.

I'm just wondering what practical experience you have with this exercise because I do quite a bit of pressing and shoulder work, and the most dramtic increase I've noticed from any exercise is Bradford Presses done for sets of 10. Unlike other movements there was actually a noticable difference in my shoulder size after doign them for 6 weeks.

Relevant

I tried the bradford press over the weekend. I can really feel it, I kept the weight light and did 4 sets of 10 reps (front and back counting as one single rep) Hopefully it will give some good results.