QUESTION 

Coach Merlin, I have read in articles and seen in videos that you generally recommend training most muscle groups once per week, except in the case of a lagging area, where you suggest one full workout and one “mini” workout. Can you provide an example of how you might set this up if shoulders and biceps were someone’s stubborn muscles?

 ANSWER 

I believe that each person has one or two body parts that require more frequent stimulation in order to significantly hypertrophy. But as you mentioned, in most cases I do not have anyone perform two full workouts for lagging areas per week but rather one normal-volume session and one of about half-volume. Now, to answer your question specifically, the following is an example of how the body-part split might look when specializing on shoulders and biceps.

  • MONDAY: Chest/Mini Shoulders/Calves
  • TUESDAY: Back/Mini Biceps/Abs 
  • WEDNESDAY: Rest
  • THURSDAY: Quads/Hams 
  • FRIDAY: Shoulders/Traps/Calves 
  • SATURDAY: Biceps/Triceps/Abs 
  • SUNDAY: Rest 

Here are examples of both mini and full workouts for the shoulders and biceps utilizing my hybrid Power, Rep Range, Shock, Mass training system.

MONDAY: Mini Shoulder Routine

  • Seated Dumbbell Press | SETS: 2 | REPS: 4-6 
  • Lateral Raise | SETS: 2 | REPS: 13-15, 10-12
  • Reverse Pec Deck | SETS: 1 | REPS: 7-9, drop, 4-6

FRIDAY: Full Shoulder Routine

  • Smith Machine Press | SETS: 3 | REPS: 4-6 
  • Bentover Lateral Raise | SETS: 3 | REPS: 13-15, 10-12, 7-9
  • Machine Lateral Raise | SETS: 3 | REPS: 10-12
  • superset with Wide-Grip Upright Row | SETS: 3 | REPS: 7-9

TUESDAY: Mini Biceps Routine

  • Alternating Hammer Dumbbell Curl | SETS: 2 | REPS: 4-6
  • High-Cable Curl | SETS: 2 | REPS: 13-15, 10-12
  • Machine Preacher Curl | SETS: 1 | REPS: 7-9, drop, 4-6

SATURDAY: Full Biceps Routine

  • Barbell Curl | SETS: 3 | REPS: 4-6
  • Incline Dumbbell Curl | SETS: 3 | REPS: 13-15, 10-12, 7-9
  • 90-Degree Barbell Preacher Curl | SETS: 2 | REPS: 7-9
  • superset with Reverse Barbell Curl | SETS: 2 | REPS: 10-12

 FLEX