From Hulse's site articles on body building, some decent tips re: # of reps AND me precious shoulders

Weed through the nonsense about building "big backs" and stuff -- I am interested in tips on general building principle and rep #'s only:

• Remember, low volume plus high intensity is the exact formula needed to increase muscle mass rapidly.
• The most important thing you can do each and every single time you go to the gym if you want to build muscle is to try to set a PR (personal record) on every lift you do. What this means is that you should always be trying do either do more reps with the same weight (within reason, any sets above 12 on most upper body exercises and 15-20 reps on lower body exercises will do nothing to stimulate muscle growth) or more weight for the same number of reps.
• Even if you start your workout with big exercises like chin ups and military presses and set new eight rep PR’s on those, it doesn’t mean that when you get to the little exercises and the end like hammer curls and pushdowns that should forget the principle and just do whatever it takes to get a pump. On the contrary, you should still be trying to set a new eight, ten or twelve rep PR on both of those exercises as well.
• So how do we go about developing all of the muscles of the back? Firstly we have to address the traps which start at the neck and go all the way down to the mid back. These can be worked most effectively with dead lifts, shrugs and hang cleans. Deadlifts can be done for anywhere between one and twenty reps. Shrugs are best kept at 6-12 reps and cleans should usually be done for six reps or less.
• Lastly we have the erector spinae which is basically the lower back musculature. This area extends from the top of the glutes up to the traps. A well developed set of erector spinae really stands out and lets people know you are way more than all show and no go. There is no better lower back exercise than the deadlift and its variations. Some other great erector spinae builders are good mornings, back extensions and reverse hypers. These exercises should be done for 6-20 reps, while deadlifts can be done for 1-20 reps.
• Next on the list are the smaller muscles around the shoulder blade area which are the infraspinatus, rhomboids, teres major and minor and rear deltoids. These muscles work during all forms of rows. If you are really looking to get the most bang for you buck and to work as many muscles as possible then stick with big compound rowing exercises like dumbbell and barbell rows. These will work most muscles in your back. But if you are more advanced and want to isolate and directly target some of these smaller muscles you can do that with face pulls, bent over lateral raises, scare crows and external rotations. These smaller isolation type exercises are not necessary but can help prevent imbalances and can put the finishing touches on a well muscled back. Unlike other isolation exercises like leg extensions and concentration curls, these exercises actually do serve some purpose and are effective at building size and strength and preventing injury. When utilizing some of these smaller isolation exercises be sure to keep the reps in the 8-12 range as that is what seems to work best for these muscles.
  The lats are next and are the muscles that stick out under your armpits and give you the appearance of width. They make up a great deal of the total back musculature. To really increase the size of your lats and thus the width of your back, focus on all variations of chin ups and the occasional higher rep set of pulldowns.

A good conclusion to draw from all of this is to start trying to set PRs on 5-12 reps on many exercises (less on the bigger muscle groups, more reps on some of the smaller isolating lifts).

Start trying for 5 or 6 rep PRs for most big lifts where you want to actually *grow* muscle.

Start trying for 8 or 10 rep PRs on some of the smaller stuff.
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http://www.hulsestrength.com/gain-weight-build-huge/.html
http://www.hulsestrength.com/build-crazy-muscle-mind-blowing-rate/.html
http://www.hulsestrength.com/training-failure/.html

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SHOULDERS
http://www.hulsestrength.com/build-huge-powerful-shoulders/.html

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is, “how do I big build big powerful shoulders?” I usually answer this question by listing the following two exercises. Firstly, the best all around shoulder building exercise is the barbell hang clean and press. You perform this exercise by bending over with a barbell in your hands and a shoulder width grip. Start with the barbell just above your knees and be sure to maintain perfect posture with your head in line with your spine, chest up and back arched. Initiate the movement by driving your hips forward and shrugging your shoulders. Pull the bar to your upper chest and catch it there by dipping at the knees slightly. Immediately press the bar straight up overhead to lockout.

Do one or two heavy set of 5-8 reps, rest 90-120 seconds and then, if you really want to fry your shoulders, do a backoff set with a lighter weight for 10-20 reps. This will smoke your shoulders and build them up better than just about anything else.

The other best shoulder exercise you can do if you want to build cannon ball sized delts is a handstand pushup. This is as difficult as it sounds but can be modified for novice or intermediate lifters. The easiest way to work up to a handstand pushup is to start by simply holding the position for time while you keep your feet up against the wall. Work to increase your time each week and eventually you will be able to start doing partial reps. Allow your feet to slide up and down the wall and aim to increase the range of motion each week. Eventually you will be strong enough to do a single full range rep, going down until the top of your head lightly touches the floor. From there you will work up to doing a set of 5-8 reps.

After you can do that you will need to add greater range to increase the difficulty of the exercise. To increase your range of motion place your hands on two boxes and lower your head down between them. Once you can do a set of 5-8 reps like that, with your head going all the way down between the boxes, you will have powerful shoulders that would make the Hulk turn the other way if he saw you coming. Do 2-3 sets once per week with 90-120 seconds rest on a different workout day than the one in which you do the hang clean and press.

Train hard,

Jason Ferruggia

UPDATE (2/23): Find a rear delt/fly machine to use to clean up the rear delts if ever actual shoulder isolation workouts follow clean and press day...