One of the keys to any eye-catching physique is an impressive shoulder-to-waist ratio. Not everyone is blessed with a 28-inch waist, so that leaves only one way to fix it – focus on making your shoulders wider to accentuate that v-taper.
“When you’re looking at a physique, you’re looking at the silhouette,” says Vince Andrich, author of the Physique Athletes Guide 1.0. “The shoulders are one of those pivot points that draws your eye in. What’s the outermost part of the physique? The outer head of your delt.”
Here, Andrich and IFBB Men’s Physique Pro Matt Christianer (2012 IFBB Governors Cup winner) add unconventional tweaks to three traditional shoulder exercises, all of which are geared towards building wider, fuller shoulders to help accentuate that sought-after v-taper in the first installment of the Myotropics Physique 2.0 Training Series.
Don’t miss out on the first-ever NPC Men’s and Women’s Physique Seminar presented by Myotropics, held on July 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Go here for more info!
DUMBBELL SIDE SWINGS
Focus Area: Lateral and anterior delt
Sets: 3-4
Reps: 8-12
Call it a “forgotten” exercise, dumbbell side swings can be traced back to the great Vince Gironda, owner of the legendary Vince’s gym and perhaps the original celebrity trainer. To perform side swings, the far arm moves in a traditional lateral raise motion while the near arm is swung up across the front of the body, tight to the torso, to keep continuous tension on the shoulder and help get a deeper contraction.
MODIFIED UPRIGHT ROW
Focus Area: Anterior, lateral and posterior delt
Sets: 3-4
Reps: 8-12
More of a high pull/lateral raise combo than the traditional front raise, the main differences in this modified version are (1) hand positioning, (2) breaking the wrists towards the top of the movement and (3) the amount of space between the bar and your body during the exercise. This modified version significantly reduces trap involvement, placing more tension on the three heads of the shoulder than a traditional upright row.
MODIFIED SEATED OVERHEAD PRESS
Focus Area: Anterior, lateral, posterior delt
Sets: 3-4
Reps: 8-12
This “no-lockout” version of the seated overhead press effectively overloads each shoulder head. By removing the slight “rest” that normally takes place at the top and bottom portion of the exercise you get continuous muscle tension, and the specific arc of the movement forces the lateral and posterior delt to work much harder each time the bar travels backwards overhead. When moving the bar from front to back and back to front, keep as close to the top of the head as possible.
ABOUT THE PHYSIQUE ATHLETES GUIDE 1.0
Vince Andrich has been a major voice in the field of nutrition, exercise and supplementation as it relates to building a better physique for over 24 years, Andrich brings a vast array of knowledge and practical experience from his work leading many of the most successful sports nutrition brands, as a writer for top fitness media outlets and authoring several classic industry books including, Sports Supplement Review 4th Issue, No Mistakes Nutrition Guide and Physique Athlete Guide 1.0. Andrich credits his success to being a former National Level NPC Bodybuilding Competitor from 1984 to 1988; with titles that include; Mr. Nevada, Mr. Las Vegas, and the Superbowl of Bodybuilding.
For more training info from Vince Andrich, check out the Physique Athletes Guide 1.0
