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FST-7 is taking over the bodybuilding world one lifter at a time. As evidenced by my previous two articles on training chest and back FST-7 style, I am now a believer.

If this training program is good enough for 3 time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler, 202 Mr. Olympia Kevin English among others, then it is definitely good enough for me. This article covers my FST-7 workout for the shoulders and traps. I am really excited about this one because I feel personally that this one is the best workout yet.

You Don't Know About FST-7 Yet?

In case you have been living under a rock and don't know what FST-7 is, here is a quick recap. FST-7 was designed and is endorsed by the "Pro Creator" Hany Rambod. Hany is one the most revered "gurus" in the game. In short, FST-7 means:

1. Fascia: pl. fas·ci·ae : Anatomy - A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue enveloping, separating, or binding together muscles, organs, and other soft structures of the body.
2. Stretch: v. stretched, stretching, stretches - To lengthen, widen, or enlarge
3. Training: the process of bringing a person to an agreed standard of proficiency by practice and instruction.

For more information, go to hanyrambod.com. Now onto my FST-7 shoulder experience.

Pre-Workout

I did the exact same this time before hitting the weights that I did before I performed my back workout. I consumed a protein shake with skim milk and two scoops of protein powder and had a small bowl of oatmeal. I also took 1000mg of Vitamin C.

A half hour before I went to the gym, I had a nitric oxide drink. I also made sure to have a bottle of water to take with me to the gym. You better stay hydrated if you want to make it through the training. Trust me.

I arrived at Greenbrier Valley Fitness at 5:45 a.m. I was excited to do this as I love training delts anyway. I chose to change things up and use a couple of different exercises I am not accustomed to. I will cover that a little later. After stretching a few minutes and warming up, I am ready to train!

F Portion Seated Dumbbell Press

Seeing as how I am already doing a program similar to Jay Cutler, I used one of Mr. O's lifts. Instead of using an upright seated bench, I lowered it one level to where it is the highest incline. This places less pressure on your back and I feel really isolates your delts.

I did two warm-ups before doing four work sets of 8-12 reps I rested 90 seconds in between and sipped water in between each set. In my log it looked like this.

• Set 1: 50 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 2: 60 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 3: 70 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 4: 80 lbs. for 11 reps

This is going to be great. Let's move on.

S Portion Front Plate Raise

This is one of those different exercises I said I would try. I normally do front raises with dumbbells so I changed it for this workout. I like doing these better and will probably keep them in my routine. I did 3 sets of 12 with 90 seconds rest and sipping water in between each set.

• Set 1: 25 lb. for 12 reps
• Set 2: 35 lb. for 12 reps
• Set 3: 45 lb. for 12 reps

T Portion Side Lateral Raise

My delts are already super pumped. I haven't even gotten halfway through this workout yet and I am more pumped than I am after my previous full workouts. I did traditional side raises with dumbbells for three sets of 12. Same rest and water as the previous exercises.

• Set 1: 20 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 2: 25 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 3: 30 lbs. for 12 reps

7 Portion Rear Lateral Cable Flyes

Now we are getting to the money portion of the workout. The sevens. The seven sets at the end flush more blood into the muscle to finish it off strong. I chose another different exercise.

Greenbrier Valley Fitness has a free motion chest machine that you can use for presses or flyes. I found if you stand facing the opposite way and grab the handles opposite your hands, you can do rear lateral cable flyes. They are like the cable flyes you can do at a cable crossover station, only the way the handles are positioned, it really hit the rear delts good.

I chose this as the seven set portion. 30 seconds rest in between each set made this more intense. I had to go low on the weight. 15 pounds was sufficient.

• 7 sets of 12 reps with 15 lbs 30 secs rest

Now normally I would begin with my post workout recovery at this point. However I decided to do something more today. I added traps to this workout. I found a sample workout from Hany's site that I gave a try and I am recommending you do the same if you want massive traps.

First Exercise Dumbbell Shrugs

I love these anyway, so I was more than pleased to do them today. Keep in mind my delts are already blasted, so I wasn't sure how strong I could be doing traps. I really wanted to feel the muscle working so I went lighter than usual. I did four sets of 12 reps with 90 seconds rest.

• Set 1: 70 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 2: 80 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 3: 90 lbs. for 12 reps
• Set 4: 100 lbs. for 12 reps

Second 7 Portion Machine Shoulder Shrug

On this one, I improvised again. The gym has a seated shoulder press machine that has both horizontal and vertical handles. It is fairly low to the ground. I placed a foot stool under the seat and stood on it. Grabbing the vertical handles, I found this to be a great movement.

I will tell you that this is the most difficult sevens I have done to date. Making it a point to squeeze every rep as Hany prescribes made it twice as tough. I was able to do all seven sets for 12 reps though. I was able to do it with the entire stack too. Awesome.

• Machine Shrugs: 7 sets of 12 reps with 260 lbs 30 secs rest

Done!

Post Workout And Conclusion

Once again, I did the same post workout routine I did for back. I got Vitargo and started drinking it as soon as I finished. Again, I drank it on the trip home from the gym. After that, I had a tuna salad and more water. I also took 1000 mg more of Vitamin C.

To recap, here is what I did for shoulders and traps today.

Next time, I am going to cover arms with FST-7. If you want more information about FST-7, check out my previous FST-7 articles or go to hanyrambod.com.

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