Last month I began a monthly diary on a specific muscle within the body that we can impact and improve as we continue the path to a more healthy body and life. Last month was exclusively on the three muscles that make the Triceps. I will continue this series on the first Monday of each month for those that may want to follow the series.
What do we want to accomplish with this series? I want to offer some diagrams/photos of the muscle and talk about its relationship to other muscles. We will explore function, strengths, and weaknesses of the muscles and how it effects us as we age. Through this series you will learn specifc terms that are used to describe the actions of the muscles and hopefully offer you some insight into your daily activities and how these muscles are utilized. And finally, we hope to learn a few practical exercises that you can perfom at home 2-3 times a week with either no equipment or inexpensive equipment like dumbbells or resistence bands.
Join me below for some housekeeping and this months diary on your deltoids.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
We had a very productive week last week with diaries as we continued the series on Kessler's latest book led by Edward & Clio2 and and had first time diaries on WHEE from kismet (2), bonsai superstar, MarkMarvin, and Chico David RN. There are several open slots listed for this week. Look at your schedules and respond in the diary if you can contribute.
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
November 2
Mon PM - Cusoon
November 3
Tues AM - ???
Tues PM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 20)
November 4
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock - Geek My Fitness: "He's the DJ, I'm the Rider"
November 5
Thurs AM - cdkipp
Thurs PM - ???
November 6
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - ???
November 7
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 21)
November 8
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - ???
November 9
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
The Anatomy Lesson
Although the picture quality is somewhat weak in this video, the visual description of the origins and insertions of the three deltoid muscles of the shoulder is very clear and important. As you watch the video, please pay close attention to the functions of each of the "heads" or separate muscles that make up the deltoid. We will discuss the anterior (front), lateral (side), and posterior (back) deltoids in full below the video.
Why the focus on the Deltoids?
First as the video stresses, the shoulder joint has the most flexibility of any joint in the body. But as a weakness, it is also very unstable. It is the most prone to injury from overextension or a fall. When you fall, your natural response is to protect your face, head, and neck by quickly extending your arms to the floor. This often results in damage to the wrist or the shoulder joint. A strong set of deltoid muscles along with their supporters in the shoulder can prevent major pain and injury to the joint. As any one who has experienced a shoulder ball and socket displacement can attest, the resulting pain and damaged can be most severe. For older adults, the shoulder surgery is the second most performed joint surgery after knee but ahead of hip. If as we age, we allow our muscles around the shoulder to weaken and atrophy, we will be more susceptible to long term pain and handicaps.
Image that you are standing in the kitchen and planning to fix yourself a quick breakfast before you start the day. Where is your box of cereal? Most people place it on one of the shelves in an upper wall cabinet in the kitchen. First, you must raise your arm to above shoulder height just to reach the knob of the upper cabinet. You pull the door open and now must reach even higher to grab that box of cereal off the shelf. All of these actions are easy and almost automatic if you have no injury and your muscles are strong. However, as we get older, we are placing our daily activity at risk if we don't take actions today to make improvements.
First, let's discuss the anterior deltoid.
Anterior refers to the front of the body. Based upon your conditioning and your body fat percentage, you can stand in front of a mirror and lift your arm directly out in front of you. Place your opposite hand on this muscle area as you lift and lower your arm and you should be able to see or feel the muscle contract as you lift the arm. No! Then grab a small weight like 3-5 lbs or a large can of tomatoes and lift your arm. Just this small amount of weight will activate the muscle fibers and you should see or at least feel the action of the muscle. Still can't feel the muscle kick in? Make sure that you have the palm down as you lift your arm. Remember I ask that you play attention to the video on the function of the muscle. The anterior deltoid is primarily activated when you rotate your arm internally and lift your arm. Keep the arm extended but the elbow should not be locked open but with a slight bend but maintain that same angle the entire lift. Now, you feel it?
For most people who do regular strength training, the anterior deltoid gets sufficient training from bench presses or pullups. Again, think about the function of this muscle. It is activated when the arm is internally rotated and the palm faces away from the upper body as you move the arm away from your chest. The anterior deltoid most often joins with the stronger pec muscles for performing these exercises. If your bench presses are weak, you may want to consider training the anterior deltoid more because if it is weak, it becomes a limiting factor in your performance in the bench press.
As I described just above, one of the most effective isolated exercises for the anterior deltoid is the front raise. I have included a very short video to illustrate this exercie. It can be performed either seated or standing. Tighten your core, avoid stress in your neck, and select a very low weight to start. I would recommend 2-5 lbs for females and 5-10 lbs for men. Use slow methodical movement and a count of either three or four on both the up and down movement. Please notice that the video shows palms down. I would recommend that you also perform this exercise with palms facing each other (hammer style) and palms facing up. With palms up and arms externally rotated, the difficulty increases so make sure to use a slightly lower weight. Remember from the video that by externally rotating the arm, it brings the posterior delt into action as well. No weights in the house? No problem. Grab a two cans of soup, two same weight books, or any other item in the house that can be grasped easily.
Perform these simple exercises with a solid core and good posture and you will feel the burn beginnning to develop before you reach 12 lifts. Don't over exert these muscles with isolated exercises like the front lift because all the load is on the delts and not other muscles. Perform this 2-3 times a week for 2-3 months and then go back for your mirror check. I'm certain you will see improvement.
Now let's discuss the lateral deltoids.
First, here is a diagram to show you exactly where it is located.
The lateral deltoid is the largest of the three shoulder deltoids. Have you ever known why these muscles are called "deltoids". It comes from the shape. They are like the greek symbol delta which of course is trianglar in shape. If you raise your arm laterally (to the side), the lateral (also called medial) is the primary muscle activated. Again, use the mirror test or place your opposite hand on this muscle and feel the contraction as you lift your arm to the side.
Just as with the front raise, I have included a short video to illustrate the exercise. Because the lateral deltoid is slightly tilted toward the front of the body, many people get maximum benefit from this exercise if they tilt slightly forward (10-15 degrees forward) from the hips when doing the lateral lifts. Again, use lighter weights and a slow methodical movement when making the lifts. Keep your knees flexed and "soft", core tight, and breathe. Raise your arms no higher than ear level. If you feel any impingement in the joint, please either lower the weight or only make the movement to shoulder height. Again, this is an isolated delt exercise and these muscles will tire quickly so do not over exert them with more than three or fours sets of 12-15 reps.
Finally, let's look at the posterior deltoids.
The posterior delts are the smallest of the three delt muscles. Because the posterior delt is teamed with the powerful trapezius muscles on many moves, it is not needed to be as developed or strong. However, we can't neglect then either. Again, to fully understand the function of a muscle you need to know where it originates and inserts to a bone. In this case the posterior delt connects along the posterior of the scapula right where the lower traps also connect. In fact, almost any exercise that activates the posterior delts also uses the lower traps. I can often use isolated exercises for the posterior delts and then two days later feel a soreness in my lower traps all the way back to my spine if I retract my shoulder blades and stretch those muscles. Take a quick look at the lower traps at .ExRx.net and notice how the lower traps connect near the posterior delts and also involves support for the spine.
Any time you develop the muscles unevenly, it will result in posture issues or or problems with pain in areas where your body has had to over compensate. Although you can exercise the posterior delts using light dumbbells as you bend over almost 90 degrees either standing or sitting on a bench, I want to show you a slightly different exercise for the rear delts that I find easier on the neck. I didn't find a great video of this exercise at youtube but I found what I wanted at one of my favorite exercise sites.
Lying Lateral Raises for rear delts at ExRx.net
Again with this exercise, it is very important to use low weights such that you begin to get that burn in the muscle at about rep 10-12. Use slow deliberate movements with a 3 or 4 count on each up/down motion. Do not twist the wrist nor the arm. This motion is about arm abduction and not rotation. There is a very similar exercise for the rotator cuff muscles that allows the upper arm to rest on the body as you rotate the forearm. This is different.
Conclusions
The three deltoid muscles cover the shoulder joint and provide strength and stability to the joint. When doing these deltoid exercises, it is important to exercise all three muscles equally. It is also important to complete more complex upper body exercises first before doing these isolating exercises. So you want to complete all rows, military presses, bench presses, pushups, or chinups before doing the isolated movements. The reason is simple. The deltoids will tire quickly and you should use them where they provide support to other muscles first. If you still have some energy left, then focus on these three muscles at least twice per week.
I saw this one last video of a young lady in her early 40's who has great definition in her arms and shoulders. You can see the definition line between her biceps and triceps as well as the definition of her front delts to her pecs. I have no idea of her body fat % but I would say she is very low. If I had to guess it would be in the 15-18% range. She certainly is not bulked out but I think her arms and shoulders look very sexy. Please notice in the video the difference in the side lateral raise from the video above. This side raise places more emphasis on her pecs than the one above. Try it at home in front of a workout mirror and feel the muscle difference. I can't over emphasize the idea of feeling your growing muscles as you exercise. By doing this, you know that the muscles you want to stress are the ones performing the exercise. This is just one illustration of why proper form is sooooo... important.
As we lose more of our body fat, the shoulders are one of the first places that normally drops excess fat. Again, as the diary yesterday pointed out and many others here have echoed, everyone is different on how they shed excess body fat. If indeed, it is your shoulders, take advantage of this by defining the muscles of the shoulders and allow them to shine. Re-read the diary on triceps and work on both adjoining muscles and you will be wearing sleeveless blouses or shirts come next spring. Now is the time to plan.
I hope all of you will have a great week. I'll be here today until about 12:00 PM and then I need to work in the yard. It's leaf season