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In this video
This is a real gym shoulder session with the WarriorBabe coaches, filmed as it happened. It opens with tempo push presses for five sets of six, moves into light lateral raises, then two shoulder supersets: face pulls with plate front raises, and single-arm standing Arnold presses with cable upright rows.
The plan was to keep it light. Instead, the coaches turned the volume up to the max, and it shows. They still checked their loads, saying they could always go heavier, and they pushed each other to lift more, which is the whole point of lifting with friends.
It finishes with a short conditioning round: 15 seconds on the assault bike straight into five burpees, three rounds, resting until your turn comes back around. Use it as a template for your own shoulder day: a heavy compound press first, lighter isolation work next, then a quick finisher.
Key takeaways
- Start with a heavy compound press: the coaches did push presses for five sets of six reps, with about 30 seconds of rest.
- Run the push press at a tempo: drive it up, take two seconds to lower it, then explode straight into the next push press.
- If your starting weight feels light, you can always increase it, and if you want to get heavy, you have to actually go heavy.
- Follow the press with side lateral raises, four sets of 12 reps, using a super light weight.
- Superset face pulls with plate front raises for three sets of 15 reps, which the coaches called sneaky because it catches up with you.
- Superset single-arm standing Arnold presses with cable upright rows, 10 reps each, for four sets.
- Finish with 15 seconds on the assault bike straight into five burpees for three rounds, resting until it's your turn again.
- Lift with friends, because they will challenge you to do more than you would on your own.
Questions answered
What exercises are in this shoulder workout?
It starts with tempo push presses, then side lateral raises, a superset of face pulls with plate front raises, and a superset of single-arm standing Arnold presses with cable upright rows. It ends with an assault bike and burpee finisher.
How do you do a tempo push press?
Push press the weight up, take two seconds to lower it, then explode back up into the next push press. The coaches did five sets of six reps.
How many sets and reps are used for the shoulder accessory work?
Lateral raises were four sets of 12 with a super light weight. Face pulls with plate front raises were three sets of 15, and the Arnold press with cable upright row superset was four sets of 10 reps each.
What is the finisher at the end of the workout?
Fifteen seconds on the assault bike, straight into five burpees, for three rounds. You rest until it's your turn again.
How do you convert kilograms to pounds at the gym?
The coaches' rule of thumb is to double the number and add a little, since kilograms are a bit more than double in pounds.
Why lift weights with friends?
In the video, the coaches say friends will challenge you to do more. One coach went heavier on the cable machine after seeing what her friend had loaded.
Full transcript
Coach: I blacked out. I have no idea what we just did. Totally blacked out. Gone. Let's do it one more time.
Coach: I have like 14 layers in the car.
Coach: You know I do too. I've got my hoodie, my jean jacket, a parka and a vest in there.
Coach: I brought my down coat.
Coach: You did? Where are you guys going?
Coach: She brought her Theragun. Are you bringing that in?
Coach: That's my obsession. Rest period. Optimize your recovery.
Coach: 30-second rest period over here. All right, so we'll start off with what? Five sets of ten here?
Coach: Ten.
Coach: Eight.
Coach: You've got that. Ten. Remember what happened yesterday?
Coach: Yeah, she dies at five.
Coach: Here we go. Kilos.
Coach: Kilos. Pretty much double the weight. Double the number, that's what kilograms is. It's a little bit past double. This would be 23 pounds on each side. That's pretty light.
Coach: All right, we'll give it a try. We can always increase.
Coach: Yeah. But if you want to get heavy, we've got to get heavy. Because this is light.
Coach: All right, so we're going to do teams of three. There are going to be three back here, three up front. We're doing five sets of six reps at a tempo. It's going to be a push press up, two seconds down, and exploding back up into the push press again, for six reps. Ready?
Coach: All right, y'all have been resting. Let's go.
Coach: Yeah, everybody that waits too long has to add on an extra two reps.
Coach: Oh, be quiet.
Coach: All right, I've got creepy crawlies.
Coach: Some lateral raises, side laterals. We're going to do four sets, 12 reps. Super light, super light.
Coach: Okay, so what we've got on deck now is three sets of 15 reps: face pulls superset with plate front raises. It's sneaky. That'll get you.
Coach: One more. One more. One more. One more. You can do anything one more time.
Coach: Carbs. French fries. Potatoes, hash browns, sweet potatoes, candy, popcorn. Carbs. Carbs.
Coach: Pump coming out to play. Heather's pump is hot to the touch. That means you're getting that blood up in there.
Coach: All right, so we came into this workout saying we were going to keep it totally light, like light shoulders. We just turned the volume up to the max. So right now we're doing how many sets?
Coach: Three.
Coach: Three, yeah.
Coach: Four.
Coach: Three.
Coach: Four.
Coach: Heather called it: four sets, superset. So we're doing single-arm Arnold presses, standing, superset with cable upright rows. 10 reps each.
Coach: Who's over here doing 150 pounds? Okay, Sarah Keith. She just went there.
Coach: Is she really doing 150? You ain't doing 150. You put that on there because you knew I was coming next. All right, I'll do 110. See, this is why you lift with friends. Because they will challenge you to do more.
Coach: I did 50 pounds.
Coach: We did 50 pounds the first day and then 100, so you can always lift more.
Coach: So it's 15 seconds on the assault bike, right into five burpees, and then we're all going to line up. You're resting until it's your turn again. Okay. All right, let's go.
Coach: Are we doing like two rounds?
Coach: Two or three. Two rounds, probably.
Coach: Okay, yeah.
Coach: Whose idea was this?
Coach: Three rounds.
Coach: Three rounds. General consensus is in.
Coach: Yeah. We have 15. It's a long 15.
Coach: Is it 15 calories or 15 seconds?
Coach: 15 seconds. Yeah, girls.
Coach: All right, Heather. Finish strong. Finish strong. Yes.
Coach: I blacked out. I have no idea what we just did. Totally blacked out. Gone. Fifteen seconds of assault bike and then five burpees. Three rounds.
Coach: Can't breathe. I feel great. Let's do it one more time.
Coaches: One, two, three, WarriorBabe.
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