Chul Soon Hwang’s Exclusive Shoulder Workout for the X-Frame

Chul Soon Hwang uses a machine for lateral raises to broaden his shoulder and physique.

Have you heard of Chul Soon Hwang? This Korean bodybuilding star is a sensation known for his classic and balanced physique. People are amazed by his unique old-school body. Ultimately, building his physique revolves around a structured workout plan that targets multiple muscles and a healthy diet. If you want a well-rounded and aesthetic physique, take a page from Chul Soon Hwang’s book and follow the exclusive Generation Iron shoulder workout – which includes the lateral raise – we filmed of him in his private gym. 

Recently GI got an exclusive look at how Chul Soon Hwang builds his impressive lats. First, the fitness model and celebrity fitness trainer showed his machine lat pulldown and single-arm dumbbell row forms. This time, he shares with us some invaluable shoulder-building movements. 

Building your shoulders is essential because they’re crucial in all your upper body exercises. So to get those rock-solid biceps, wing-like lats, horseshoe triceps, and massive chest, you need strong shoulders. Plus, big shoulders signal a well-developed physique by broadening your body and improving the X-frame. 

Is it shoulder day, or are you planning to work on your shoulders so you can bench press heavier? Then you’ll benefit from this Chul Soon Hwang exclusive shoulder workout. Check out his takes on the dumbbell seated shoulder raise, machine lateral raise, and other shoulder workouts he recommends. 

 

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Chul Soon Hwang Shoulder Workout Routine

Chul Soon Hwang majorly uses compound exercises to target multiple muscles simultaneously and save time. However, when he needs to focus on specific muscles, he does some isolation exercises too. So even though these are shoulder movements, you’ll find that you can still build up your triceps since they help press the weight. Let’s investigate his shoulder routine below. 

Dumbbell Seated Shoulder Press

The dumbbell seated shoulder press is one routine that must be a part of your workout if you’re training for stronger shoulders. In addition, it majorly works your delts and triceps.

This exercise is carried out in a seated position. The benefit of pressing weight overhead in a seated position is that it’ll take your core out of the movement to engage more of your shoulders. In addition, since it’s a unilateral press, you can strengthen your weaker shoulder muscles. 

Machine Lateral Raise

Machine lateral raises are isolation exercises that focus on your lateral deltoids. If you want to build boulder shoulders, this will surely widen your upper body. Research shows that lateral raises are influential shoulder muscle builders (1).

You sit at a machine to isolate the deltoids to perform the lateral raise. The machine removes the use of momentum that can shift the focus of your exercise to other muscles. For example, with the machine, you can’t jerk your knees or swing your torso to cheat and make the movement easier. 

Chul Soon Hwang Other Shoulder Exercises

Chul Soon Hwang also credits his impressive shoulders to other shoulder workouts than the ones above. In a previous article, he added other movements to shoulder day for maximum growth. The “Korean Arnold” does about 10-12 reps in each set. Studies prove that doing 8-12 reps is adequate for optimum muscle hypertrophy (2).

Standing Overhead Press

The standing overhead press is a compound exercise that can add massive size to your shoulders. This exercise activates your abs and lower back to maintain balance and stability as you press the load overhead. In addition, it gets your whole body involved since you use your glutes and leg muscles to balance when standing. 

You can do a standing overhead press with barbells, kettlebells, or dumbbells. If you opt for a barbell, you can use heavier weights and gain impressive shoulder strength. In addition, the standing overhead press can improve performance in other pressing routines like the bench press. 

Dumbbell Alternating Front Raise

Dumbbell alternating front raises are isolation exercises that majorly target your anterior delts. As a result, this movement helps to build more definition in your shoulders. However, it also works on your traps.

To do this exercise, you hold a dumbbell in each hand and lift it until parallel to the ground while keeping your back straight. It’s essential to control the weight during this exercise and avoid swaying back and forth. Dumbbell alternating front raises are a remendous unilateral exercise. 2018 research shows that unilateral exercises offer more benefits than using both hands simultaneously (3). 

Reverse Pec Deck Machine

Doing a reverse pec deck, aka reverse fly machine, with a machine is a great way to isolate your rear delts, which are often hard to train. In addition, you can use this movement to build your upper back as it involves scapular adduction. 

The reverse pec deck machine is a great accessory shoulder exercise to add volume to your delts. Since you’re seated, you won’t have to use your stabilizing muscles, which can be distracting and less effective. In addition, this exercise will carry over to compound pressing movements like the overhead standing press. 

Dumbbell Rows

Dumbbell rows are another exercise Chul Soon Hwang performs to work the posterior delts. This exercise is a compound exercise, so it builds your lats, traps, rhomboids, and biceps. It even increases strength in your core since it’s required to stabilize the pull. 

Dumbbell rows are a common upper-body exercise with variations like the single-arm dumbbell and barbell rows. Ultimately, though, it’s a go-to exercise to sculpt a V-taper. 

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References

1. Coratella, G., Tornatore, G., Longo, S., Esposito, F., & Cè, E. (2020). An Electromyographic Analysis of Lateral Raise Variations and Frontal Raise in Competitive Bodybuilders. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(17), 6015. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176015
2.  Schoenfeld, B. J., Grgic, J., Van Every, D. W., & Plotkin, D. L. (2021). Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 9(2), 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9020032 
3. Núñez, F. J., Santalla, A., Carrasquila, I., Asian, J. A., Reina, J. I., & Suarez-Arrones, L. J. (2018). The effects of unilateral and bilateral eccentric overload training on hypertrophy, muscle power and COD performance, and its determinants, in team sport players. PloS one, 13(3), e0193841. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193841