Shoulders

[cbloom]

So, I'm really confused about the best way to train shoulders. I've read lots of contradictory stuff from the experts.

The last thing that made me think of this was the Question of Strength by CP -
http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1754646

aside from the dumb lateral raise bombing suggestion, he says people with lagging shoulders can train them up to 3 times a week, which is something that I've seen recommended elsewhere.


I've also read that you shouldn't really do a "shoulder day" at all, I've seen it on a lot of Physical Therapist sites and this "Shoulder Savers" article which is pretty good : http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1053531


"8 weeks to Monster Shoulders" is sort of in between, they do a mix of shoulder-specific and general upper body movements, mostly light weight and high rep. http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=818555



Then in the other extreme there are people who say shoulders are just like any other muscle and you should do big weights in the hypertrophy zone. These people would mainly advocate big lifts like military presses, chins and dips.

For example, "The Shoulder Training Bible" is basically a heavy-weight and high-volume shoulder bombing routine : http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1578184


I've got tons of physical therapy references, and they mainly advocate doing very light high volume shoulder work and doing it 3 times a week. On the other hand, part of the reason people recommend to avoid a shoulder day is because your primary routines like bench press and deadlift can be dangerous if your shoulder stabilizers are fatigued. It seems like there's a serious risk of overtraining them which would lead to injury.


What's going on with shoulders? I'm very confused. In particular, for someone whose shoulder strength is dangerously lagging, what should they do to get them strong?