WWE Superstar Ciampa is a valuable follow on social media if you’re looking for new workouts. The in-ring veteran regularly takes to Instagram to detail what he’s doing in the gym that day, along with thoughts and tips that could help your routine.
In his latest video, the former NXT champ shared a scorching shoulder workout that you can do with some basic equipment available at most commercial gyms. Check it out below:
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How to Do Ciampa’s Shoulder Workout
If you’re looking to follow along with Ciampa’s shoulder workout, here’s what to do:
- Cable Lateral Raise: 3 x 14
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 3 x 12 (drop set on last set)
- Behind-the-Neck Press + Belt Squat Upright Rows: 3 x 7, 3 x 15
Ciampa mentions that he begins his workout with a hip, glute, and back warm-up. He throws in some sets on a neck machine between his shoulder sets and finishes the day with triceps work. But the meat of the workout is all those shoulder movements — here’s a breakdown of what he did:
Cable Lateral Raise
Set a cable machine around knee-high with the handle attachments for the cable lateral raise. Grab the opposite handles (so grab the left one with your right hand) and stand upright, facing the machine with both hands in front of you.
From there, raise your arms to the side with a slight elbow bend and lower the weight back to the starting point. Ciampa puts a little more bend to his elbow here, but you can start with your arms straighter.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Stand upright with a pair of dumbbells held at your side. Bend your elbows slightly, raise your arms to the side until they are parallel to the ground, then lower to your side.
Ciampa has more of a bend in his elbows again and raises the weights in front of him more, rather than strictly to the side.
Smith Machine Behind-the-Neck Press
For this move, sit (or kneel) in a Smith machine, so the bar is behind your neck and across your shoulders. Remember to keep your hands wider on the bar than you would for a typical military press.
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Once comfortable with the setup and grip, sit straight up with your shoulders pinned back and drive the weight straight up. For this lift, start with a lighter weight than you would usually on presses.
Belt Squat Upright Rows
Ciampa performs this move on a belt squat machine, but you can also use a standard cable machine. First, use the pulldown bar and attach it to a cable set up in the bottom position. Then, with a shoulder-width grip, grab the bar overhand, stand with your hips slightly bent, and pull your elbows up, so the bar reaches your upper chest — Ciampa supersets his upright rows with behind-the-neck presses.
What Are Myo-Reps?
In his Instagram caption, Ciampa mentions that every set of this workout is performed using “the [myo-reps] borrowed from [Michael Israetel].”
Myo-reps take advantage of the fact that the last few reps of a given set are the hardest. If you do 12 to 15 reps of an exercise at 70 percent of your one-rep max, the theory is that only the last five reps achieve maximum stimulation. On an episode of the BarBend podcast, coach Eric Helms said, “most of the earlier reps are simply there to generate the fatigue to allow you to perform those ‘effective reps.’”
With Myo-reps, you start with an activation set of 15, resting for 15-20 seconds after. After the short rest, you perform a set of five (for example) to continue work on an already-taxed muscle. Then you repeat these “micro sets” three times to exhaust the muscle. In theory, this cuts down on “junk reps” and optimizes the work.
Typically, these “micro sets” have far fewer reps, but Ciampa’s rep numbers stay static throughout, going as high as 15 for three sets on the upright rows. The 37-year-old ring veteran‘s training is clearly working. Even in the land of WWE superstars, his shredded physique stands out.
Featured Image: @ciampawwe on Instagram
