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A shoulder workout for hardgainers must do more than just advise you to train heavy. Heavy lifting is important for hardgainers to begin to build muscle mass and size, however it isn’t the only key element of shoulder training. In this video, I’m going to show you how important it is to learn how to lift lighter on certain exercises and how to lift heavier on the right exercises, if you want to start adding serious size fast to your shoulders.
Before even getting started however, one of the most effective shoulder workout tips I could give anyone (not just a skinny guy looking to add muscle) is to train shirtless. Now of course, this advise is best followed if you are training in the comfort of your own home gym! That said, many hardgainers find themselves in this exact situation because they feel self conscious about going to the gym and training in front of the much larger and more muscular guys.
When you train without a shirt, you not only face your insecurities but you allow yourself a chance to watch your muscles as they work and use the visual feedback to more accurately focus your effort on the muscles you are actually trying to build. Let’s face it, if you are a beginner lifter or are not carrying large amounts of muscle you are likely not mastering the mind muscle connection with the muscles you are trying to develop. You don’t have the “feel” of what the muscle is supposed to feel like that you are training.
Training shirtless allows you to watch the muscle contract and therefore tweak your form to enable a stronger contraction in the target muscles. When you do this, you will be surprised just how much quicker you can get that muscle to respond.
Next, you will want to change the smaller, more targeted exercises (like the shoulder dumbbell side lateral raise) to lighten the weights that you are using in an attempt to feel more tension on the shoulders when performing them. This may mean that you need to put the ego lifting aside and stop being tempted to lift more weight than your muscles can handle simply because the guys around you are lifting bigger. Drop down and make the shoulder muscles do all of the work (using the one and a half rep style shown here) and you will feel an immediate difference.
That said, heavy weight lifting is important for overloading the muscles of a hardgainer to build more muscle size and strength. Just be smart about the exercises you choose when doing so. To me, the standing military press is not the smartest or easiest way to get a hardgainer lacking the appropriate strength to get stronger. Likely, they are going to alter their form too much to accommodate a bar that has a fixed path rather than using a push press with dumbbells that allows for more natural biomechanics and freedom.
The tips shown here are just a few of the best ways to build big shoulders with your shoulder workouts. The complete ATHLEAN-X Training System available at is a step by step 90 day program that will transform your entire body by training you like an athlete.
For more shoulder workout videos and tips on how to get bigger shoulders and size, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at
42 comments
Jeff is the best trainer on all of YouTube , hands down!
It's hard for me to listen to any of your muscle gainer exercises because your small. Athletic build and ripped yes but you are small your size is what a 18-23 year old man should look like.
Wish Jeff was my uncle.
Jesse you a true entertainer , your sense of humor, expressions are simply amazing and man you have really put on more pure muscles, thanks to the these videos now we are able to understand more about the science and psychology behind bodybuilding,
5:00 Jesse's back curves taking the weight..
4:57
Best version of teacher and student ☺
i dont have a mirror in my backyard jeff
3:10
jesse thicc
Thank You for this video. It helps with essential information about the form and technique required to form shoulder muscles. Plus knowledge about the muscle mechanism.
Having both of You help explain, the purpose of the video is sevrved in a subtle and clear way.
2:47 dat look Jesse
Skinny Guy looks like je used coke
3:40
What’s up guys! Jessie’s tattoo. Athlean X.com
I wish Jeff was my dad I’d be jacked
What do you mean by you take off your shirt sometime. You mean you put it on sometimes right? Hahahaha on of jeff’s rare videos with a shirt on.
Wow Jessie. You really have come a long way
Great angle on training. I too am naturally slim and sometimes end up using too heavy weights and straining myself …. but really also good to start understanding how to make gains safely .
Anterior Pelvic tilt, Forward Shoulders…The Old Jessie…
can i start at lighter weights like 5 lbs?
he did 7/8
OK so am I the only one who thought hardgainer stands for HARDCORE GAINER
Which is the video where you isolate front, mid, and rear delts utilising a bench to angle the body to get a better stretch?
2:25 the moment Jessie realised that Jeff knew he was doing it wrong and did not want to correct him because he wanted to film a video
Its awesome that any problem i haveor question. when i search youtube, jeff videos come up andhe has an answer for everything
3:00 Side Lateral Raises(Mid delt)
I just got little taste of shoulder injury 3 days ago, now i understand Jeff better
Use kilos, join the world
This literally help everything and noticed a big difference
When people used to try to force their gym advice on me when I was starting out, I’d just say “It’s okay, I’m friends with Jeff” and for some reason they would just back away 🤷🏻♂️
I've trained all the way through this lockdown.. Every single day and watching these vids help me so much. Thankyou
Thank you very much for these videos. Your work is just amazing Jeff!
jesse…
jesse pinkman XD
Really appreciate what your channel is doing across the board…from newby to veteran, still my go to source.
thank you so much. i just started training going two months now. ive been having a hard time with my shoulder like its being left behind compare to my other parts like it feels so weak. I really appreciate the video.
crazy to see how far Jesse has come now after almost 5 years
Jeff is like a guardian angel. He will not only show what excercises are bad but will demonstrate alternatives. No one else explains like Jeff.
Thing is with shoulders the muscles can't really move much and they're so dense it takes ages to tear them and they heal by the next day or two, I'm gona train them at home back to back cos going to the gym to do shoulders is taking too much time
No such thing as a hardgainer….. it's all about metabolism and calories.
GREAT ONE
THX 🏆
damn that trainee is sooooo coked out