Shoulders are some of the toughest body parts to grow. Users of anabolic steroids often have the most impressive shoulders, as the quads and deltoids are the muscle groups which explode instantly with AAS use due to the high density of receptors in those muscle groups. Natural bodybuilders don’t have such an advantage, and have to find other ways to create some shoulder growth. Shock-training using compound sets is one way to do that. Let’s learn more!

You’re going to need a decently-equipped home gym, or a fairly empty corner of the gym to complete compound training for shoulders. Start by choosing four exercises for shoulders. You’re going to want three movements that isolate the three heads, and a fourth which hits the trapezius muscle, which is typically trained with shoulders due to its close proximity and overlap effect. For the sake of this article, we’ll use the movement described below. You can swap out exercises based upon your own personal preferences as well as any limiting equipment factors.

Set 1

Seated military barbell press
1 set of 8 repetitions with a fairly heavy weight

Set 2

Standing cable side raises
1 set of 15 repetitions with a low weight, with the goal being to pump a great deal of blood into the area.

Set 3

Bent-over rear-delt dumbbell laterals
1 set of 10 repetitions with a fairly heavy weight. This area needs heavy yet safe weights for enough stimulation to grow.

Set 4

Choose from either:
Upright barbell rows or Barbell shrug
1 set of 15 repetitions with a low weight, with the goal being to pump a great deal of blood into the area.

Rest

Take about three minutes to rest, and then complete the four sets in succession again. You’ll need three to four compounds sets to completely fill the shoulder area with blood and achieve the most possible muscle growth. Don’t take too long of breaks, or the goal of the workout – the pump – may dissipate. This workout is effective because it keeps the pump in all four sections of the shoulder (plus the traps) for the full 30-minute workout.

This technique works well in other multi-muscled body parts as well. The quads can be hit with multiple sets in succession. Squats, leg press, leg extensions, then the adductor machine make a great similar impact. Give compound sets for shock training a chance, and see if you like the results!

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