How to build a proportioned physique

Ok, so you have started going to the gym or working out at home and everything is going well. A few months into your training and you're looking good but there is something missing. You just don't look great. In fact, from some angles you look bad! What's going on? This may well be caused by your own training! Read on…

Training with weights is not about just going into the gym and working out. If you want an outstanding physique, you have to plan it. This is why people have training diaries and write down what they plan to do as well as what they have done.

You need to make sure you work every muscle from every angle and you work it in a systematic way for it to grow. If you just do one set of exercises and you don't aim to lift heavier every time, you will end up with an average body. Let's have a close look at shoulders as an example…

In very simple terms, the shoulder is made up of 3 heads (sides). Decent shoulders are not only dependant on developing these 3 heads effectively and equally but on developing the trapezius muscles too. A decent set of shoulders that look awesome from every angle will mean an intelligent training plan that maps out how you are going to train each of the heads regularly and more importantly, how you are aiming to lift higher weights to signal growth.

The body will not grow new muscle tissue unless it feels that it needs to. It will only feel it needs to if you lift heavier than the last session, thereby triggering the body to try and "protect" itself against this onslaught by building more muscle tissue so it is better prepared to deal with the extra stress.

For full shoulder development and when you are a little more advanced in your training, you will need to incorporate a number of shoulder exercises to hit all 3 heads as well as the trapezius muscles (traps). These will include side raises, overhead presses (including varying your grip with a barbell and changing your hand position with a dumbbell to hit different parts of your shoulders), shrugs and upright rows.

This principle applies pretty much to all your body parts.

Doing regular bench pressing will surely build you a decent chest but it won't be a complete chest and it won't be an outstanding physique. Again, after a while you will need to incorporate inclined bench press for building the upper chest, cable cross-overs for that tight, strong, defined look and you will need to vary your grip inwards and outwards to build the inner and outer chest.

Try not to be a sheep. i.e. don't just follow what others are doing in the gym. Follow your own routine and your own plan. Other people's bodies have nothing to do with yours! Many times you will go to a gym and you will see people doing the same weight, the same exercise for reps after reps after reps. This will not build a nice, strong, growing muscular frame.

In order to build a nice amount of muscle tissue, you will need to lift more every time you are in the gym. If you have been eating and resting well, this will be possible. On all the exercises that you do, your aim should be to increase the weight in every session, even if by 1%. Soon (and time flies) you will see that you are lifting 60% more and then 100% more and so on. When you are lifting more in every exercise, you will have a much bigger and more muscular body. This is a guarantee, especially if you are eating well and taking in good amounts of protein.

It's all in the planning. If you think you can't lift any more, take Norateen Heavyweight II to increase strength. If you want to see quick muscles as a way of encouragement that you are getting somewhere, take Norateen Heavyweight II or Explosive Creatine.
Always make sure you are taking in a good quality protein like LA Whey 2.2 kg. Even if this is once a day, it is imperative that you take it as insurance against muscle breakdown and a guarantee to ensure maximum muscle development.

Aim to build a physique that is admired and looks great from every angle. This means not neglecting big body parts like legs and not neglecting the different angles and variations. Even if you don't like an exercise, you need to do it. The rewards will show in your physique and you will be very pleased with yourself. Nothing worth anything comes easy. Remember that!