DESIGNING DELTS BY CAREY ROSSI WALKER IMPROVE YOUR V-TAPER WITH JAMO NEZZAR’S 4 KEYS TO COMPLETE SHOULDER DEVELOPMENT ONLY A SHORT DISTANCE from the noisy, massive mecca of bodybuilding — Gold’s Gym Venice in California — you’ll find a smaller, slightly more pristine alternative. Tucked away in a light industrial section of Marina del Rey, a few blocks from the beach, Angel City Fitness is the quieter, gentler substitute for the infamous Venice scene. You certainly wouldn’t expect to find an IFBB pro here, far from the hype and competitive camaraderie that’s abundant just down the street. But it’s in this unexpected locale that Jamo Nezzar sat down with muscle & fitness to share his insights into creating the dramatic, elusive V-taper that can help the average guy fill out a shirt with confidence. The surroundings may be toned down, but these four tactics, along with the accompanying workout, celebrate the heavy-metal iron techniques Gold’s personifies, all in a way that places perfect proportion above all else. Lean in — Jamo is about to help you change your delt training for the better. TACTIC 1: OPPOSING FORCES “On stage I’m known as the guy with the symmetrical physique,” says Jamo as the lunchtime workout crowd streams by. “Everything looks good. That’s what bodybuilding is all about. You can’t have one bodypart standing out. For about six months I didn’t train my chest whatsoever. I just focused on my shoulders, to increase that V-taper: small waist, wide shoulders. The wider you are, the smaller your waist looks.” For people who want to improve their width, Jamo suggests working back and shoulders together. “I never do a push-push movement, like chest and shoulders,” he explains. “You can’t do shoulders after chest because after all the push movements, your triceps give out because they’re overworked. I would do a push-pull workout, like back and shoulders, or back and triceps. I personally saw my best results training back and shoulders together.” When working those two muscle groups together, try alternating between the two by super-setting them, he suggests. “Never move the blood from the upper body to the lower body, like if you did back and legs. If you’re trying to improve your upper body, it’s best to keep the blood in the same area.” TACTIC 2: BUILD ON THE BASICS “I truly believe that I’ve got more out of working with free weights than machines,” states Jamo. “When you use free weights, you use more muscle fibres — it’s harder on the tissue. You look harder on stage and achieve that granite look [judges reward].” The man speaks from experience. In 1999, when Jamo earned his pro card, he switched to free weights almost exclusively and put on 10 pounds of muscle between January and October. “I was doing all the exercises people hate, like squats and deadlifts,” he says, nodding toward the weight room. “But trust me, if you stick to free weights, you will get the best physique you can.” For instance, to work shoulders, Jamo suggests using the exercises shown on these pages, solid moves like overhead dumbbell presses, lateral raises and upright rows. “I don’t like to do [upright rows] with a close grip. I like a wide grip because it targets the shoulders better,” he continues. “If your trapezius tends to grow easily, it’s going to give you that boxy look. So I do them wide. It’s all about the look.” And take, for example, the leaning lateral dumbbell raise. “The reason I do this exercise is because I have more focus when I work one delt at a time,” notes Jamo, his words accompanied by the distant clang of a weight stack dropping and reverberating off the high ceiling. “Holding onto the bench will give you more support and allow you to give more focus to the delts.” TACTIC 3: FOCUS ON FORM Jamo found that his shoulders really improved when he trained them twice a week — Mondays and Fridays. He explains: “On Mondays I’d do four exercises and would work really heavy. On Friday, I’d do two exercises, medium to heavy. I was getting to the point where I was doing the one-arm dumbbell raise with 90 pounds because I was using more momentum [than I should have]. But those were crazy days.” Now, a wiser Jamo recommends focusing on form rather than the amount of weight you’re lifting. “I find that some of the people I train with for contests brag about the weight they lift, but once they try using good form they can’t do it. You have to use strict form all the way through. “I was very fortunate coming from England to have as a friend and a coach former Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates,” Jamo says. “He taught me a hell of a lot about concentrated training and focus — the ability to focus on training your muscles to the fullest, squeezing and holding them on each rep. If you [choose] a weight heavy enough to reach failure by eight reps, you’re doing pretty well. If you’re reaching failure at the second or third rep, however, you’re wasting your time.” Jamo recommends working delts twice a week, with at least 3–4 days in between. For the first workout, pick four exercises. On the second, do two of them, five sets each and no more. “Your energy levels are all based on your recovery the night before to two days before,” he points out. “Get your sleep. Eat healthy. Do your cardio. Drink a lot of water. Just try to recover. It takes at least 72 hours for a bodypart to recover. In bodybuilding, there are no shortcuts.” TACTIC 4: TRUST YOUR INSTINCT Finally, Jamo stresses this point: you need to trust your gut instinct once you learn the ins and outs of training. “I truly believe in instinctive training,” says Jamo. “You need to keep your body guessing all the time. There is no law out there that says you have to start with lateral raises, or with shrugs — just mix them up. Some days I’ll come in and do raises, the next day start with shrugs, the next day I might start with a dumbbell press. Every six weeks I might bring another exercise into the routine and start from there.” And with that, the personable IFBB pro is off to train another client, absorbed seamlessly into the Angel City backdrop. Finding Jamo at Angel City, quiet and serene, the ideal blend of bodybuilding symmetry personified, away from the size kings and hard-edged freaks of Gold’s, does make perfect sense after all. LEANING ONE-ARM LATERAL RAISE “Holding onto the bench will give you more support, so you can focus more on the delt you’re working,” says Jamo. SET-UP: Set an incline bench at about a 60-degree angle. Holding a dumbbell by your right side, stand behind and perpendicular to the bench with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place your left foot next to the foot of the bench. Grasp the top of the bench with your left hand and lean away from the bench, keeping your shoulders, hips, knees and feet in a straight line. MOVEMENT: Focusing on your right deltoid, raise the dumbbell in a wide arc out to your side to just above shoulder height. Lower in a controlled manner back to the start. Repeat for reps, then switch arms. SEATED DUMBBELL PRESS The heaviest weight Jamo has ever used with this exercise is 120 pounds. Normally he lifts a more mortal poundage, with a strict emphasis on form. SET-UP: Straddle a flat bench so that both feet are securely planted on each side. Sit with your back straight, abs pulled in. Using a palms-forward grip, hold the dumbbells so that they’re parallel to your ears and your elbows form 90-degree angles. MOVEMENT: Press the dumbbells straight up. Don’t lock out your elbows. Lower in a controlled manner back to the start position. Repeat for reps. DUMBBELL SHRUG “The delts get worked when training your back,” Jamo explains. “So some weeks I’ll do shrugs with my shoulders and some weeks I’ll do them with my back. I used to do shrugs wrong; I rolled my shoulders. That’s the worst thing you can do, but now I just move my shoulders straight up and down.” SET-UP: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold the dumbbells in front of your legs with a grip halfway between neutral and palms-down. MOVEMENT: Under full control, lift your shoulders up and down, focusing your efforts squarely on full flexion in your trapezius muscle. BENT-OVER DUMBBELL RAISE (ON INCLINE BENCH) Jamo may superset this exercise with the seated overhead dumbbell press for variety or when time’s short. SET-UP: Lie face-down on an incline bench set at a 30–45-degree angle. Hold two dumbbells so they’re hanging straight down from your shoulders, elbows slightly bent to protect them from undue stress. Roll your shoulders slightly back, flexing your shoulder blades together. Hold that position for the duration of the move to keep your back from taking over. MOVEMENT: While maintaining a slight bend in your elbows, raise both dumbbells in an arc out to your sides to shoulder level, feeling the contraction in the back of your delts. Hold momentarily at the top and lower slowly to the start. M&F

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