Ah’ll-Be-Back Delt Attack

Do start by sitting on the end of a bench with the dumbbells at your shoulders in a finish-curl position. Do rotate your palms forward as you press the dumbbells overhead.

Do keep your torso perpendicular to the ground’no leaning back.

Do exhale as you raise the dumbbells and inhale as you lower them.

Do use a two-seconds-up/two-seconds-down cadence.

Don’t lean back as you do the exercise; back support may help at first, but try to eliminate it after a few workouts so you don’t use it to cheat.

Don’t clank the dumbbells together at the top, and try to keep them directly over your shoulders.

Don’t pause at the top or bottom of the movement.

Don’t lock your elbows at the top; you want to keep tension on your delts.

NEVER count out loud with a heavy Austrian accent as you do the exercise’Vun, tow, thee’unless you’re trying to trick Maria Shriver. IM

How Arnold Did It

Clean a pair of heavy dumbbells to your chest. Turn your palms toward each other and then rotate them forward as you press the weight three-quarters of the way to lockout position. This keeps continuous tension on the delts. Lower the dumbbells to the starting position’palms facing eath other’and repeat. Once you complete six tough reps, grab a lighter set of dumbbells and do another six reps. Continue to do descending sets without rest. I keep going until I complete five sets, and I like to end this giant set with a set of bent-over laterals, eight to 10 reps. I repeat this entire procedure five times.

—Arnold Schwarzenegger, IRONMAN’s Ultimate Bodybuilding Encyclopedia