your genetics?

Cheers man :) funny, coz that pic was the first time I've ever really seen my own back (in an upright and straight position) since I've been lifting hahaha...I was honestly quite surprised at the proportions, particularly the way my lats taper as you mention :) they aren't huge, but I really like the shape they give my back
 
I have really strong shoulders. Pound-for-pound, I can out-military press everyone at my gym. I also have strong lats, though they aren't all that thick yet.

My legs have always been a struggle, even though I train them as hard as the next guy. If I could get my squat up, I'd seriously start thinking about competing in powerlifting.

I was also cursed with small forearms and calves. This actually works to my advantage with pound-for-pound strength, but would be a weak point on a bodybuilding stage I'd think.
 
Chest/calves weak points. My shoulders out power my chest and just have crappy calves genetics. Everything else is gtg or I can bring up to the rest.
 
My back is a genetic strength. It thickened up very rapidly after starting to deadlift and the size of it makes me look larger than my weight.
 
My arm and shoulder genetics are legit. My arms put on probably 1.5 inches in 3 weeks when I first started working out.
My shoulders over power my chest, so it's still very flat, but improved in the last year.
Legs are thick, but will never be separated.
 
My shoulders overpower my chest a lot too. I have found that decline bench allows me to hit chest better than flat.
 
pre exhausting with isolation movements seems to help me a lot.

And doing super light weight reps. I lean against the counter in the lockerroom, and do push ups off of it. That's how I finish off my chest work out. Actually able to see it contract in the mirror helps my MMC
 
Animal Mother said:
pre exhausting with isolation movements seems to help me a lot.

And doing super light weight reps. I lean against the counter in the lockerroom, and do push ups off of it. That's how I finish off my chest work out. Actually able to see it contract in the mirror helps my MMC
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Pre exhausting is how I brought up my chest by doing pec decks before my presses to get those muscles engaged and ready. Also as you said it strengthens mmc. Learning good poses and practicing in front of the mirror really gets good mmc for me.
 
RedLeader said:
I have really strong shoulders. Pound-for-pound, I can out-military press everyone at my gym. I also have strong lats, though they aren't all that thick yet.

My legs have always been a struggle, even though I train them as hard as the next guy. If I could get my squat up, I'd seriously start thinking about competing in powerlifting.

I was also cursed with small forearms and calves. This actually works to my advantage with pound-for-pound strength, but would be a weak point on a bodybuilding stage I'd think.
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I'm the same. What's your BB press vs DB press? I'm embarrassed to say that my leg press is only 100lb more than my flat BB bench. *Lower back pain*

Naturally I can BB military 165lb vs DB 95lb....but on SD-10 those numbers jump 5-15lb
 
B_Contin said:
I'm the same. What's your BB press vs DB press? I'm embarrassed to say that my leg press is only 100lb more than my flat BB bench. *Lower back pain*

Naturally I can BB military 165lb vs DB 95lb....but on SD-10 those numbers jump 5-15lb
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I'm very short and small-framed, so I get really good at pound-for-pound strength. I can do about ten clean reps (all the way down to upper chest) of my bodyweight on seated bbell military. Half my bodyweight for dumbbells I can probably do 6-7 times if done early in the workout. I do higher-rep sets (12-20) for dumbbell shoulder press, though...going real heavy on that makes me nervous.

If your question was about bench, take what I can do on dumbbells, multiply it by two and then add maybe 20lbs.

My 1RM on military is about 2/3 of my 1RM on flat bench.
 
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Nice, dude. Your size probably helps eliminate any rotator problems, as well, I imagine. I have to switch it up or I have major problems.

I can out press anyone at my gym as well....but 95% of the people at my LA fitness location just want the emaciated look, so they aren't even trying. lulz
 
Wide frame, easy to strengthen/bulk legs and arms, and building mass in general is easy. Its hard to shed fat (with proper diet and cardio) and im usually weak for my size/weight excluding legs. I've embraced it tho, gotta be the viking blood.
 
Easy for me to lose fat

Hard for me to gain weight, good or bad.

My shoulders are so tight and painful from years of falling and blocking my falls improperly on skateboarding and snowboarding (age 8-16) I don't bench because of that as I can't lower the bar all the way and I got sick of hearing "cheating / doesn't count". And my left shoulder seems to have taken the brunt of the abuse as it can't nearly keep up with the right in strength or size even though I work it a little extra.

Left side of my chest is way pooofed out (I think from open heart surgery as a kid) so my left pec always looks considerably thicker though my right one is actually bigger.

I gain very fast the first 1-3 months after a long (6mos-2yr) break but plateau very quickly ... Part of that is I just can't eat enough... Terrible appetetie. And forcing it down is incredibly unpleasant.

Oh and I can't squat as I got in an accident that fucked my back years ago... Plus the shoulder thing doesn't help, honestly they are so tight (even with stretching) I can barely grasp the bar for squats.

So I do a lot of dumbbells and machines...
 
I put on weight and loss it very easily
All my muscles for the most part are portioned nicely. my chest legs and so do my caves

probably the worst quality i have is I have big joints
 
I'm short and have the bone structure of of a humming bird. The plus is I have good squat and deadlift leverage and any muscle I put on is more noticeable than someone that's thicker boned.
 
I also have a big head, and I'm gangly by nature, with a very long neck and overly long arms. It took me forever to fill out, and even now I feel slender when I compare myself to others with a more compact structure. The only plus is my shoulders are unusually broad which makes my wide pelvis look narrower.
 
nuttynutskin said:
I'm short and have the bone structure of of a humming bird. The plus is I have good squat and deadlift leverage and any muscle I put on is more noticeable than someone that's thicker boned.
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How tall are you?

I'm short and small-framed as well (and have a great DL). 5'5 and around 140 (I'm natty). Going to start an 8 month clean bulk on August 13th and try and put on 25lbs or so. Going to be extremely difficult as I am one of those kids who can eat anything and everything and still be thin. And taking 3-4 shits per day gets old real fast.
 
RedRum OG said:
Easy for me to lose fat

Hard for me to gain weight, good or bad.

My shoulders are so tight and painful from years of falling and blocking my falls improperly on skateboarding and snowboarding (age 8-16) I don't bench because of that as I can't lower the bar all the way and I got sick of hearing "cheating / doesn't count". And my left shoulder seems to have taken the brunt of the abuse as it can't nearly keep up with the right in strength or size even though I work it a little extra.

Left side of my chest is way pooofed out (I think from open heart surgery as a kid) so my left pec always looks considerably thicker though my right one is actually bigger.

I gain very fast the first 1-3 months after a long (6mos-2yr) break but plateau very quickly ... Part of that is I just can't eat enough... Terrible appetetie. And forcing it down is incredibly unpleasant.

Oh and I can't squat as I got in an accident that fucked my back years ago... Plus the shoulder thing doesn't help, honestly they are so tight (even with stretching) I can barely grasp the bar for squats.

So I do a lot of dumbbells and machines...
Click to expand...

Ahh man, you've got it tough hey :( feel ya on the eating bit. I'm not even eating a large volume right now by any measure, but I'm still not interested in eating it half the time. Though my stunted appetite is due to both a reduction in lifting consistency and increase in stress from work lol

Fuck what people say though, do it as best as you can and who cares whether someone wants to tell you you're 'cheating'. Though have you sought any professional advice in increasing the range of movement through massage etc?
 
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