The Romano Factor

Almost every day I see someone doing something in the gym that I think looks really stupid. I’m sure everyone has experienced this. There are even websites dedicated to gym idiots where clandestine iPhone videos show people doing the most ludicrous things. It’s normal these days for trainers to try to outdo each other with crazy exercises employing Bosu balls, kettlebells, and bands that none of their clients can seem to ever do. Then there are people who watch workout videos on YouTube and try to replicate the moves in the gym to no avail. While such a phenomenon has been going on for decades, it’s gotten a lot worse since functional training came along.

Be that as it may, every now and then I see someone doing something that I might initially think looks stupid but, upon further investigation, realize it might be something worth trying. Then there are what I call “acts of life” that lead to aha! moments of enlightenment that lead to a new exercise added to the arsenal. In the exercise depicted here, it’s a case of both. I had seen guys holding up a plate and “steering” with it, but thought it was just a silly, useless thing to do. Then, one day, I returned home after a two-day bout of suspension tuning in my old race car and noticed severe soreness in my front delts. What had caused a well-trained bodybuilder to become so sore? The suspension tuning had required two days of flogging my car around a bumpy nine-turn track. Could that be it?

I stuck my arms out in front of me and mimicked the motion of steering. Feeling my front delts ball up, I realized in two seconds that they were sore from steering! Starting with my very next shoulder workout, I included doing some steering.

Back in the gym, I grabbed a 10-pound plate, held it out in front of me at the 9 and 3 positions and slowly “steered” back and forth. Twenty-five reps later, my front delts felt like I was doing warm-up laps in my car. I started including these in my regular shoulder workouts and eventually worked up to doing “steering wheels” with a 45-pound plate for lots of reps. I really don’t think any kind of front raise with any other piece of equipment will hit your front delts quite like these will. All you have to do is try it and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m not saying I invented this exercise. I certainly had seen guys doing them before but thought they were a waste of time. Now I realized they were on to something.

The exercise:

Beginning:
Stand in front of the mirror with your feet shoulder width apart. Grab a plate. I’d start with a 10 and see what happens; you can always grab a 25 or more on your next set.

Midpoint:
Peer through the hole in the plate and fixate on a spot in the mirror. This keeps the plate up and out in front of you. “Steer” the plate all the way in one direction. When you can’t move any farther, squeeze the front delt connected to the arm that is higher than the other one. Rotate the plate all the way in the opposite direction and squeeze that front delt. Repeat.

Finish:
Keep doing slow, controlled reps until you can’t do any more. Rest for a minute and then steer some more. You can always pick up a heavier plate if you’re getting too many reps or don’t feel a pump.

Check out this video of IFBB Pro Brad Rowe training shoulders pre-contest! It'll give you some great ideas for exercises to add to your routine!