Posted on January 16, 2019 by Jenny Cromack

For this workout blog I’ve decided to explain the strength program that myself and my personal training client Sam are currently following to try hit our strength goals – new year, new PBs! Firstly as a disclaimer I didn’t create this program, it is an adaptation on Wendler’s 531 program. There are numerous ways this program can adapted in order to suit your individual goals; for example, this shoulder workout is a hybrid between strength training and hypertrophy to get the best of both worlds.

The basics of the program are that you get your 1 rep maxes for bench press, deadlift, squat and overhead press then use percentages to figure out the weight for each set. Progression is done by adding 5kg to your lower body 1RMs and 2.5kg to the upper body 1RM’s then recalculate your percentages each month.

Sample Shoulder workout

Shoulders

You do the main strength component first:

Barbell overhead press 5 reps at 65%, 5 reps at 75% and 5 reps at 85%. Rest for 3-5 mins between each set to give the muscles time to recover.

After resting some more, you follow it up with some “accessory” exercises to ensure you get enough volume for the muscle group:

A1) 3×12 Arnold press

A2) 3×12 Barbell upright row

B1) 3×10 Face pulls

B2) 3×10 Dumbbell side raises

C1) 3×15 Rear delt flyes

C2) 3×15 Plate front raises

As always, for the accessory exercises, you need to choose a weight you can complete the specified reps for.

Give this shoulder workout a go – it will definitely fatigue those shoulders!