In this article you will learn about one of the best shoulder exercises ever created: The Poliquin Shoulder Raise.
My shoulders are stubborn and don’t like to grow.
I have to MAKE them grow with relentless training.
Even after pummeling my shoulders with an ungodly amount of repetitions, gains are hard to come by.
That was until I discover the best damn shoulder exercise in existence.
It’s called the Poliquin Lateral Raise, and it’s how I built 3-D delts.
What is the Poliquin Raise?
The Poliquin Raise is an innovative shoulder exercise named after it’s inventor, Charles Poliquin.
Charles Poliquin, known by many as the Strength Sensei, is the premier strength and conditioning coach for World-Class athletes.
He earned his nickname unmatched knowledge of athletic performance training and his breakthrough training techniques.
The Poliquin Raise is one of many lifting techniques invented by the Strength Sensei, but one of the few that has his name.
The man put his name on it – that should tell you something.
As a practitioner, I can tell you confidently that it works.
It works really, really well.
(Poliquin is also the man behind the Meat and Nuts Breakfast. A meal eaten by elite performers to get physically strong and mentally sharp to compete at the highest levels.)
How Does the Poliquin Raise Work?
The Poliquin Raise is effective for three reasons:
- Engages shoulder muscles with special mechanics and a unique range of motion.
- Provides static tension directly to shoulders.
- Targets the middle deltoids and the elusive rear deltoids.
Superior Shoulder Muscle Engagement
Regular lateral raises make it too easy to cheat.
Your traps and upper arms get most of the workout if you’re not careful.
The Poliquin Raise motion make it easy to directly target the shoulders with maximum focus.
This exercise makes it possible to chisel in that nice separation line between your shoulder and upper arm.
(Cannon ball delts, or shoulder caps, where it looks like big round shoulder caps where placed on the arms.)
Static Tension on Whole Shoulder
The Poliquin Raise requires you to pause and hold the weight at two points during each repetition.
Each ‘pause and hold’ creates static tension causing your shoulder muscles to work hard to suspend dumbbells in mid-air.
Static tension creates muscles density by ensuring shoulder muscle fibers are completely engaged and exhausted.
The first phase of new growth.
The static hold also increases intensity, thus pushing the shoulder muscles to grow.
Targets Middle and Rear Deltoid
Each repetition full-on targets the middle delts while simultaneously training the rear deltoid.
This is worth diving into. Like I said before, shoulders need a lot of work or they remain flat.
Your middle delts are the #1 way to build an aesthetic physique.
Wide shoulders make your waist appear thinner, and your frame look stronger.
Read delts are notoriously underdeveloped.
What a shame.
Rear felt development makes you look solid and strong if done correctly.
How to Perform the Poliquin Raise [with Video]
This is an old video of me performing the Poliquin Raise. Enjoy.
To start, grab a light dumbbell in each hand.
8-12 pounds should be enough for most people. It dines’t take a lot of weight to feel these.
You want to make sure your shoulders can lift the weight. If it’s too heavy your traps will take over and ruin the set.
Now, stand up straight with your arms to your sides.
Keep your upper arm straight against your rib cage and bend your elbows to 90 degrees, like you’re halfway through a bicep curl.
Rotate your wrists so your palms face each other.
Now you are in the starting position.
The Poliquin Raise has three phases:
- Lateral Raise
- Arm extension
- Lowering phase
How to Perform the Poliquin Raise: Lateral Raise Phase
From starting position, use your shoulders to lift your elbows up and straight out from your side.
Your upper arm and forearm should be perfectly parallel with the ground. If you put a level on your arm, the bubble would be centered.
Your upper arms should also be straight out to your sides and in perfect alignment with each other. Not forward or backward at all. Your elbows should inline with your arm pits.
You also want 90-degree angles at your shoulder and elbow joint.
There should be a 90-degree angle between your torso and upper arm.
You also want your elbow bent 90-degrees throughout the entire lateral raise phase.
Hold this position for a second or two flexing your shoulders as hard as you can. While holding up your arms, imagine reaching your elbows toward the walls at either side, extending outward as far as you can. You should notice increased tension in your shoulder muscle while doing this.
The Poliquin Raise: Arm Extension Phase
Keep your upper arm in position while you straighten your arm completely.
As you extend your forearm, keep your hands facing the ground the entire time.
Imagine reaching your arms out like you’re trying to touch the walls. Try to stretch out your hands out as far apart from each other as possible. Make your wingspan as wide as possible. Doing this keeps tension on the shoulders and off the traps.
Rotate your wrist so your thumb is angled toward the floor. You should feel this engage the middle and rear delts to a greater degree. It may help to imagine the dumbbells you’re holding are pitchers and you are tilting them forward to pour our water.
Pull your shoulders back slightly to engage the rear delts further.
At this point you should feel your entire shoulder working hard to hold the weight.
Hold this position for 2-3 seconds and really squeeze your delts.
You may want to use very light weight and hold the positions longer until you get the hang of it.
Be sure to stand up nice and tall. Do not slouch as it takes tension off the shoulders. Keep your head up and chest out to maintain good posture.
Poliquin Raise: Lowering Phase
Keep your arms straight and palms facing down. As you lower your arms twist your arms so your thumb points toward the floor.
This slight twist keeps tension on the middle and rear delts. Right where we want it.
Use your shoulder muscles to slowly lower your arms to your sides.
Once your arms are straight by your side and bells touching your thighs, return to starting position. Repeat the process for 9 more reps!
There’s a lot of nuance with the Poliquin Raise. It will take practice to execute correctly.
Build ‘3D Delts’ with the Poliquin Raise
Poliquin raises are great for building ‘3D Delts’.
3D delts are shoulder muscles that POP. They look good from all angles and have obvious definition where shoulders connect into the upper arm.
This is a fun exercise that I enjoy doing near the end of my workout. After my shoulders are good and pumped and I’ve established mind-muscle connection.
Mind-muscle connection built through the coarse of the workout will give me more control of the Poliquin Raise.
Do three sets of Poliquin Raises at the end of your shoulder workout and you’re golden.
Final Points on the Poliquin Raise
- Shoulders require dynamic training to grow large and look complete. They are a complex muscle group that require enormous amounts of stimulation. That’s where Poliquin Raises come in.
- The Poliquin raise is a lateral raise, isometric and dynamic movement wrapped into one repetition. The unique movement combination is perfect for building big, round shoulder muscles.
- Take each rep slow and really feel your shoulders working.
- Practice, practice, practice!
The Poliquin Raise takes time to master, but once you get the hang of it you can expect some serious shoulder gains in record time.
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