Look wider in 15 minutes: build bigger shoulders in no time flat with our comprehensive deltoid blast

You've got 15 minutes to kill before meeting your girlfriend for tonight's DVD viewing. Unfortunately for you, she hasn't picked up a copy of The Swedish Nurse but rather The English Patient. This means you better use your few remaining minutes in the gym wisely, because after that, it's three hours of wishing you were dead.

The first thing you need to do is stay calm. Fifteen minutes gives you plenty of time to do something productive--say, complete a comprehensive shoulder workout. That's right, an all-out muscle-building, muscle-burning shoulder routine, using just dumbbells.

"Most guys feel that because the shoulders are so complex, they must be given a lengthy workout to get them fully developed, says Rob Fulton, C.S.C.S., an American College of Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer in Westmont, Ill. "The fact is, size, definition and muscular endurance can all be achieved in a short period, as long as the right combination of exercises and techniques is, incorporated into the routine."

Designed by Fulton, this shoulder program focuses on the big, powerful deltoid as well as the smaller muscles that make up the rotator cuff.

THE WORKOUT

This routine can be done in about 15 minutes if the rest time in between sets is kept equal to the time it takes to complete a set (i.e., a 1-1 work-to-rest ratio). To avoid overtraining or injury, execute this routine no more than twice a week, allowing a minimum of 48 hours of test between sessions. Also, choose a weight that allows you to complete the prescribed number of reps without reaching failure.

THE EXERCISES

1. THREE-PART LATERAL RAISE (medial deltoid) All three parts are to be done as one set with minimal test in between parts. The starting position for each phase is identical: Stand tall with your knees slightly bent, abs tight, arras at your sides and a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing your thighs (1a).

* Raise your arras out to the sides (straight but unlocked) until they are parallel to the floor (1b). Return to the starting position and repeat.

* Raise your arras out to the sides (straight but unlocked), rotating your hands so the pinkies face up (1c), until they are parallel to the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat.

* Raise your arras out to the sides" (straight but unlocked), rotating your hands so the thumbs face out (1d), until they are parallel to the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat.

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2. FRONT RAISE (anterior deltoid) Stand tall with your knees slightly bent, abs tight and a dumbbell in each hand. Position your arras so your hands are in front of you with your palms facing your thighs (2a). Maintaining a slight bend in your elbow, alternate lifting each arm in front of you to eye level and back down again. When your arm reaches eye level, pause for a one-count before lowering the weight. Keep both arras moving--as one goes up, the other comes down (2b, 2c). To avoid shoulder injury, do not raise arms higher than eye level.

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3. SINGLE-ARM DIAGONAL RAISE (posterior and medial deltoids) Stand tall with your knees slightly bent, abs tight and a dumbbell in your right hand. Position your arm so your right hand is in front of your left thigh (3a). Maintaining a slight bend in your elbow, raise your right arm in a diagonal motion from a "low left" position to a "high right" position, stopping when the arm comes back in line with the body and your palm faces forward (3b). Return to the starting position and repeat. After completing the prescribed number of reps, switch to your left arm.

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4. SEATED MILITARY PRESS (anterior, medial deltoids) Sit on an upright bench reclined 5 to 10 degrees. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, with your palms facing forward and your elbows directly under your hands (4a). Keeping your back flat against the bench, press the dumbbells upward and slightly toward the midline of your body (4b). Do not lock out the elbows. Hold for a one-count at the top, then slowly lower the dumbbells to shoulder height on a three-count and repeat.

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WORKOUT

Complete all sets of one exercise
before moving on to the next.

EXERCISE           SETS    REPS

Three-part
  lateral raise      2      8 *

Front raise          2    10-12 **

Single-arm
  diagonal raise     2    10-12 **

Seated
  military press     2     10-12

* Eight repetitions for each part. One
complete set totals 24 reps.

** Each side

COPYRIGHT 2003 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning