Don’t bother suggesting anything to Juan Morel to make his workout easier. As a matter of fact, don’t even think about it. The native New Yorker has no desire to simplify his gym time and will even look to make it harder on himself to push it to the limit—with each and every rep.
Take the way he performs one of the staple movements for deltoid development, making sure to include behind-the-neck presses in his repertoire but choosing to do them standing instead of seated.
“I’ve been performing them like that since I first started training,” says Morel. “I just prefer picking the weight up from the floor rather than off a rack. It feels more hardcore that way to me. “I don’t want to be bothered with anything that seems too easy.”
This one exercise being done in that fashion is a microcosm of Morel’s entire workout routine, which consists of six days on and one off. Each and every body part is worked twice per week, with shoulders hit every Tuesday and Friday. But what makes it even more interesting is that Morel will do a two-a-day split with back on those same days, doing shoulders in the morning on the former and the afternoon on the latter.
MOREL'S TRAINING SPLIT
MONDAY: CHEST(AM), BICEPS & TRICEPS (PM)
TUESDAY: SHOULDERS (AM), BACK (PM)
WEDNESDAY: QUADS (AM), HAMSTRINGS (PM)
THURSDAY: CHEST (AM), BICEPS & TRICEPS (PM)
FRIDAY: BACK (AM), SHOULDERS (PM)
SATURDAY: QUADS (AM), HAMSTRINGS (PM)
SUNDAY: OFF
But even working two large body parts like shoulders and back on the same day does not deter Morel from continuing the trend. “Honestly, I am so used to doing it like that and know no other way,” he says. “Ninety percent of the time, I’ll get a two-hour or longer nap in between workouts and that will give me even more energy to get that second one in as strong as the first.”
When you have the type of V-taper that Morel has, it is important to utilize your shoulders to accentuate it as much as your waistline and lat spread. “The more you cap out the delts, the more exaggerated the V-taper look is,” he said. “It gives me a great shoulder-to-waist ratio.”
The first exercise that Morel will perform for his delts are presses, but he makes sure to keep things from getting stale by switching between the barbell and dumbbell variety and by doing these seated. On the days that he uses a barbell, ‘Juan Diesel’ will go heavier on one of his press movements (coupled with the standing) and lighter on the other. An example of a heavy day would be Morel starting off with two sets with 100-pound dumbbells and then going up to 130s and 150s.
When it comes to the dumbbell versus barbell argument, Morel casts a vote for both but has a specific reason why he prefers one slightly over the other. “I honestly think that they are both equally needed to obtain great shoulder development, but if I had to choose which I feel is superior, I would go with the barbell,” he says. “I believe that you can build more mass with them.”
Now that his shoulders are warmed up and ready to go, Morel will get a good stretch by doing three sets of standing dumbbell side lateral raises, supersetting them with bent over rear-delt flyes. On these movements, Morel emphasizes strict form and going slowly by using 20-pound dumbbells and going up in only 5-pound increments.
Morel will repeat the important sidelateral movement for three more sets and then jump on the rear-delt machine for the supersets. Again, he will sacrifice a heavier weight to ensure that the form is maintained by sticking with the lighter dumbbells. When he jumps on the machine, a little more resistance is added with 175 pounds being keyed on the rack, with 190 and 210 to follow.
Saving the standing presses for last gives a fatigued Morel the opportunity to push himself to the limit by having to keep proper form while executing a movement that requires impeccable balance. This is the type of exercise—with added emphasis on how and when it is done—that separates the men from the boys.
But with that in mind, it would be foolish to pack on the plates and risk serious injury. So Morel starts of with 135 pounds and that allows him to have complete control over the speed (or lack thereof) of the repetitions. He will then add a pair of “quarters” for set number two before moving up to two plates for the last set of the routine.
Seeing him today, it is almost laughable to think of a time when Morel’s shoulders were considered one of his weaker body parts. “When I started bodybuilding, I had droopy shoulders, no caps, and they weren’t big at all,” he recalls with a sheepish half-smile. “I started training them really hard and focused on a lot of lateral movements and made excellent progress in a year.”
The shoulder movements that Morel does today are not unlike the ones that he performed when he began making those gains. “I’ve been doing the exact same exercises for as long as I can remember,” he says. “I believe that if something works, you don’t change it.” Or make it any easier on yourself. – FLEX
