Medial Delts

[Sesshomaru]

I would just like to make two points here. First the name of the delt this thread is about is actually "Medial deltoid" it is the middle delt out of the three heads. many do call it lateral which is also correct. There are three distinct parts to the deltoids. The anterior or front head, the medial or middle (lateral as some call it) and posterior head or rear delt.

There's no such thing as a "medial" deltoid. Medial means "toward the midline." The middle deltoid fibers to which people are trying to refer are actually lateral — not medial — in the anatomical position. Glance over a few dozen articles and look for this mistake; it'll tell you who the coaches are who don't know functional anatomy nearly as well as they think they do.

 

[oldfella]

There's no such thing as a "medial" deltoid. Medial means "toward the midline." The middle deltoid fibers to which people are trying to refer are actually lateral — not medial — in the anatomical position. Glance over a few dozen articles and look for this mistake; it'll tell you who the coaches are who don't know functional anatomy nearly as well as they think they do.

All the physio's that come to the gym with client refer to this as the medial delt. i always tell my clients it is the middle head. I can see where the mistake comes from, so we'll call it the middle head, as it is called in the anatomy and physiology book does that I just looked in. My bad and i will be more than happy to tell the physio's this as well. i have always refered to it as the middle head or middle delt. I generally do not use the proper latin names when training people. They are not usually interested beyond "Shoulders" LOL. Thanks Sess!!

 

[TooPowerful4u]

I was at JS tonight with my little bro for his cardio....so il be there more often now. How bout you call me before you go do delts one day and il show u in person lol problem solved! If you want to train shoulders with me for a day....bet i make u cry (lol yea right, tatt is a sick fuck...hed probably love every minute!)

 

[Mr_Magoo]

if u can safely press behind the neck it can work very well for side delts, elbows back, the problem is that many people do this wrong the same way the do bheind the neck pulldowns wrong and mess up their rotators

 

[TooPowerful4u]

if u can safely press behind the neck it can work very well for side delts, elbows back, the problem is that many people do this wrong the same way the do bheind the neck pulldowns wrong and mess up their rotators

This is how i do ALL my press'...elbows back. I tried to upload a video from my phone but its :18 and my phone says too big to compose i have a clip of me doing 6 plates per side (yes per side) cybex press for like 6 reps full ROM.

this machine
**broken link removed**

 

[Mr_Magoo]

knuckle alignemnt is also important and will dictate how the elbows go

 

[JThomas]

On many individuals the medial delt is located more posterior than anterior.If you are one of those like i am,what you need to do is strict Laterals leaning slightly forward (about 20 degrees).To test yourself bring a light pair of dumbells to the top Lateral position while standing straight,then,keeping the dumbells in the top position lean slightly forward,if you feel the resistance transfering to the middle of your delt then this is the way you need to do them.

 

[Dictator]

Can you hit the lateral head good with the military press? your head gets in the way and you end up using more anterior head than the lateral, no? With dumbbels you can sort of do something between BTN (behind the neck) and front which is perfect but you cant use dumbbells forever. I would think that BTN is superior to the front style with the elbows down.

 

[Max32]

There's no such thing as a "medial" deltoid. Medial means "toward the midline." The middle deltoid fibers to which people are trying to refer are actually lateral — not medial — in the anatomical position. Glance over a few dozen articles and look for this mistake; it'll tell you who the coaches are who don't know functional anatomy nearly as well as they think they do.

This is true, I figured we were trying to help answer a question on stubborn bodypart growth though, not proper latin terminology which is SUPERDUPER important in the gym.....just bustin your balls man

 

[Sesshomaru]

Can you hit the lateral head good with the military press? your head gets in the way and you end up using more anterior head than the lateral, no? With dumbbels you can sort of do something between BTN (behind the neck) and front which is perfect but you cant use dumbbells forever. I would think that BTN is superior to the front style with the elbows down.

Yes you can. The key is to not lean back and get full range of motion. Additionally, your arms should be in line if not slightly behind your ears to be truly overhead.

Ive seen too many strongmen take a log and turn it into a steep incline press by leaning their torso back and/or not pushing directly overhead.

As far as your head, you should be looking up a bit as you push up and your head should come through inorder to get the arm position I described. As the bar comes back down, naturally your head comes back.

As far as elbows, your arm structure will determine where they point, but if you want to minimize anterior influence, then place the bar about inline with your chin/lip/nose, which evevr allows for your forearm to be verticle. Do not take it down to the clavicle because this increases stress on the shoulder rotators but also recruits more anterior deltoid.

 

[Dictator]

i was pressing with elbows more tucked in instead of back. i just did BTNs right now for the first time and I wasnt able to use much weights. Ill try the military u described next time.

Yes you can. The key is to not lean back and get full range of motion. Additionally, your arms should be in line if not slightly behind your ears to be truly overhead.

Ive seen too many strongmen take a log and turn it into a steep incline press by leaning their torso back and/or not pushing directly overhead.

As far as your head, you should be looking up a bit as you push up and your head should come through inorder to get the arm position I described. As the bar comes back down, naturally your head comes back.

As far as elbows, your arm structure will determine where they point, but if you want to minimize anterior influence, then place the bar about inline with your chin/lip/nose, which evevr allows for your forearm to be verticle. Do not take it down to the clavicle because this increases stress on the shoulder rotators but also recruits more anterior deltoid.