Ronnie Ullram’s shoulder training: the superset method
At the Võsu training camp I met Roland Ullram, nicknamed Ronnie — a bodybuilder whose shoulders are among the most impressive I have seen. Ronnie has reached the world championship final in the men’s -90 kg category. In this article I take a closer look at how Ronnie trains shoulders with supersets.
Why are shoulders at the heart of Ronnie’s training philosophy?
One and the same idea runs through all of Ronnie’s workouts: supersets. Not just two exercises back to back, but 5–7 exercises in one set with no rest. The goal is to create maximum hypertrophy and work the muscle through to the last detail.
For shoulders, Ronnie does 3 different exercises in total: the first is a long superset (most of the exercises target the front delts), the second is the dumbbell press, and the third is a rear delt superset.
The weights are deliberately lighter than most gym-goers would use. The reason is simple: concentrating on the muscle and the quality of the movement matters more than the weight on the bar. Each component exercise is 10 reps. If fewer come, no big deal. If you have the strength for more, after the 10th rep you add quick pumping movements to exhaust the muscle completely — and move on to the next exercise without resting.
The golden rule in every exercise: when you feel you can’t do another rep, you can actually squeeze out 4–5 more. That is possible precisely because the weights aren’t so heavy that you couldn’t even do the first rep cleanly.
How to work the shoulders thoroughly: three exercise blocks
Block 1: seven-part superset
The first and longest block consists of seven exercises in a row, with no rest:
- Standing dumbbell front raises
- Standing lateral raises
- Dumbbell upright rows
- Cable front raises from between the legs
- Wide-grip cable upright rows with a peak contraction
- Narrow-grip cable upright rows with explosive speed
- Plate raises, holding the plate out in front and moving it up and down
The movements are mostly similar — a peak contraction is used and the negative phase is very controlled. In some exercises explosive speed is added for variety. 10 reps in each component exercise, 3–4 sets.
Block 2: seated dumbbell press
The second exercise is the seated dumbbell press — preferably on a Smith machine. Since the preceding superset is quite hard, tired muscles can make pressing with free weights a little dangerous: you can’t control the movement or hold the dumbbell properly. The Smith machine provides control. 2–3 sets, 10 reps.
Block 3: rear delt superset
The last block is once again a superset, this time for the rear delts. The first exercise uses controlled movements, the second explosive pumping sets and the third controlled movements again:
- Chest-supported dumbbell lateral raises on an incline bench — 3 × 10
- Bent-over dumbbell lateral raises on the end of a bench — 3 × 10
- Rear delt machine — 3 × 10
After every set, be sure to relax and stretch the muscle you are training so it is ready for the next hard set. A simple example: you finish your calf training, leave the calf in a stretched position and hold it for about 20 seconds. This is both a continuation of the exercise and a preparation of the muscle. If the set was solid, you instinctively look for somewhere to stretch the muscle, even briefly, after the exercise.
Warm-up and mental preparation
Like many other experienced bodybuilders, Ronnie doesn’t use cardio machines to warm up. Just simple gymnastic movements and muscle stretches. In many ways the goal isn’t really getting warm or stretching the muscles for a long time.
The bigger goal is to prepare yourself and the muscle you are training mentally for the workout. It’s like meditation before training: you stretch the shoulder, feel the muscles, and already see yourself doing the exercises in your mind’s eye — which exercises, how many reps, how heavy the weights. You communicate with your muscles.
Since bodybuilding is largely a mental sport, this kind of preparation is entirely in place and very necessary. It’s a level above walking into the gym, swinging your arms a couple of times and starting to move the bar up and down.
The same goes for breathing: at this intensity there’s no point thinking separately about correct breathing — it comes by itself. When there’s a burning pain in the muscles, you inevitably start to growl, and it comes from the heart. A poor lifter performs in the gym and acts instead of training. A good lifter growls quietly to themselves to endure the training load and suppress the muscle pain in order to push even harder.
What does this kind of training actually give you?
At the camp I did three workouts in this hyper-super-mega style: shoulders with Ronnie, biceps and triceps in alternation with his coach Mark, and on the last day legs under Mark’s guidance — the hardest workout of my life. So I can speak from at least a little experience.
During the workout it feels like you’re about to keel over at any moment, and that’s right after the first set. But afterwards, once it’s over, there’s a pleasant, relaxed feeling. The next day you feel the fatigue in your muscles and the sense that you’ve put in a hard workout — but there’s no pain as such.
What’s the advantage of this kind of workout? With long supersets you can always work the muscle thoroughly. In the past I’ve also noticed more than once that when I was tired or low on energy, a regular workout didn’t give my muscles a proper training load — and I tended to end the set too early.
The downside is a practical one: with so many exercises, it’s hard to keep hold of all the machines, bars and dumbbells. In Estonian gyms people often don’t understand that some lifters use supersets. It’s hard even to do two different exercises without another gym-goer taking your spot in between — let alone five or six different exercises.
FAQ: shoulders and supersets
Can anyone use this kind of training?
I asked coach Mark this as well. His answer was simple: supersets are fine for anyone to use — you don’t necessarily have to do that many sets or that many different exercises. The muscles just need to get a proper “kick” so that the nutrients you eat afterwards end up in the right place.
How often should you do this kind of intense training?
Because workouts like this are especially draining on the central nervous system, I recommend using the method in cycles — not every week and not in every workout. If your nerves are already fried, don’t set foot in the gym at all.
What happens if I eat a lot but my training is poor?
It’s a simple idea in itself, but one people don’t always think of: if you do a poor workout and then eat a lot afterwards “to recover”, you’re simply eating yourself fat. Most of the nutrients end up everywhere except in the muscles. For nutrients to do their job, the muscle has to be properly stimulated first.
Ronnie Ullram’s training plan
Monday
Chest, Abs
Tuesday
Back, Calves
Wednesday
Biceps, Triceps, Hamstrings
Thursday
Rest
Friday
Shoulders, Calves
Saturday
Quads
Sunday
Rest
Aerobic work only before competitions, ~3x per week, 40 min at an easy pace, e.g. ordinary walking.
The shoulder training program in detail
1a. Standing dumbbell front raises — 3–4 × 10
1b. Standing flyes — 3–4 × 10
1c. Dumbbell raises to the chin — 3–4 × 10
1d. Cable pulls up and forward from between the legs — 3–4 × 10
1e. Wide-grip cable rows to the chin with peak contraction — 3–4 × 10
1f. Close-grip, at explosive speed — 3–4 × 10
1g. Up-and-down movements holding a plate out in front — 3–4 × 10
2a. Seated overhead dumbbell presses (preferably on a Smith machine) — 2–3 × 10
3a. Dumbbell lateral raises lying face down on an incline bench — 3 × 10
3b. Bent-over dumbbell lateral raises on the end of a bench — 3 × 10
3c. Rear delt machine — 3 × 10
Author: Joker
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