Summer is finally here and that means gym rats everywhere are ditching their smelly sweat-soaked hoodies in favor of short sleeves to show off what they’ve been busy building over what seemed to be a never-ending winter. And there aren’t too many things more impressive than a pair of eye catching, head turning – “there’s no way that those things can be for real” – shoulders that simultaneously stretch sleeves and bend imaginations.
Dallas, Texas native and current IFBB 212 bodybuilder Kevin Ofurum has managed to construct a set of shoulders that would make Michelangelo himself stand back and applaud the artistry that goes into crafting the two enormous mounds of precisely sculpted granite that the 2013 NPC USA Light Heavyweight champion brings to the stage.
So what does it take to build a set of pro caliber cannonballs big enough to scare small children? Kevin decided to give Rx Muscle fans an exclusive inside look at a typical shoulder routine that he uses to help create his massive delts.
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mbbell Laterals
Kevin starts each workout with seated side dumbbell laterals to get the blood flowing and the muscles firing. Once he’s thoroughly warmed up, he typically does four working sets that decrease in reps as he increases in weight. Although he’ll work up to using 60lb dumbbells for a set of ten, Kevin always makes sure to use strict form and concentrate on keeping tension in the muscle by keeping his pinky pointed upward during the movement.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
After firing up his shoulders with dumbbell laterals, Kevin moves on to the exercise that has helped build some of the craziest cannonball delts in the history of the sport – seated dumbbell presses. Just like any other veteran of the iron game, Kevin knows warming up properly is critical to training longevity, and he starts off with a 20-rep set to get his body ready for action. Kevin likes to use four increasingly heavy sets until he normally works up to pressing behemoth 140lb dumbbells for ten strict reps.
Front Raises
Now that he’s crushed his shoulders using Coleman-esque weights Kevin changes pace and moves onto front raises. He often switches between using the traditional alternating hands with dumbbells method and using an E-Z bar with an overhand grip. Kevin continues to hammer away with four intense, increasingly heavy sets that result in him working his way all the way up to using 60lb dumbbells while making sure not to lose sight of his mind-muscle connection.
Rear Laterals
Once he’s finished with front raises, Kevin quickly moves onto rear l
aterals to work on sculpting his rear delts while adding a 3D dimension to his physique. As the old saying goes “variety is the spice of life” – and training, so Kevin will rotate between the reverse Pec Deck or incline bench rear laterals to keep things interesting. Kevin likes to do four sets of either exercise while making sure to put an emphasis on contracting the rear delts and not allowing the muscles of the upper back to take over.
Upright Rows
By this point Kevin’s shoulders are hotter than a mid-July day in Metroflex, but that doesn’t mean the job is done. Now it’s time to move on to upright rows. Although he’s already put in enough work to make most novice trainers pack their bags and go home, Kevin still managed to do four controlled sets of 15 reps with a 135 barbell to wrap up his torturous training session.
Years of hard training, married with proper nutrition, have helped Kevin’s shoulder grow into one of his most outstanding body parts. When I asked Kevin what he believes has been the primary element of success in his shoulder development, he said “FORM is key with shoulder development. Many people don’t understand which head controls a particular movement…I see too many people using poor form and they would make much better progress if they would simply decrease the weight and use better form.”
Look for Kevin and his colossal cannonballs to capitalize off the momentum he gained at the Dallas Europa – where he earned the best placing of his professional career to date – when he hits the stage again later this contest season looking to bring his all-time best to the stage and upsetting the standings in the process.
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