Muscle shaping - in your dreams!

[Patrick1968]

Got sent this mini-article today about shaping muscles. I get this a lot..."How do I make my biceps longer, my calves less bunchy, my pec/delt tie in better, my abs even" etc etc. Nothing wrong with wanting these things but my answer to these questions is almost always "you can't change the shape of your muscles - it's genetic."

Anyway, here's a good article about this very subject. Enjoy.

Shaping a Muscle

by Chad Waterbury
You can't change the shape of a muscle.
It will grow, shrink or stay the same. You could do curls with your elbows tucked to your sides and a wide hand position until the cows come home and it won't do jack shit for the inner head of your biceps.
The reason? Because you can't fire the inner head without the outer head. Furthermore, show me one bodybuilder who got visible results with such unorthodox curls. In other words, targeting certain areas of your biceps looks great on paper, but it never pans out in the real world.
I do get a kick out of hearing the proponents of the curling variations with different arm and hand positions, though. Usually it goes something like this, "Most people perform curls with poor form (flared elbows) and their inner head gets neglected." Therefore they recommend targeting that lagging inner head by curling with your elbows in and hands wide.

Here's an idea: why don't you just start curling with better form?
Can you reshape a muscle? No. Can you train key muscles in a group to grow? No, unless it's the quadriceps. Since the quads are such a massive muscle group with four primary heads, and since each head is favored at certain knee angles, a little tweaking is possible.
For example, hack squats will build up your lateral thigh (vastus lateralis) because the movement overloads the vastus lateralis at knee angles greater than 90 degrees. The full, ass-to-grass front squat will build up your medial thigh (vastus medialis) because it overloads the vastus medialis at knee angles less than 90 degrees. But this is limited to the quadriceps. Indeed, it's the only muscle group that has the capacity to be fine-tuned.

[timfortehwin]

i remember the funniest thing was with my YORK bar an instructional poster came with it, somehow claiming that '12-15 reps is best for shaping muscles'

Sigh..

[lameasswastaken]

i remember the funniest thing was with my YORK bar an instructional poster came with it, somehow claiming that '12-15 reps is best for shaping muscles'

Sigh..
thats not funny

[Fatman]

I believe this is a confusion in terms.

Instead of "shaping muscles", they probably meant "increased muscular definition", of which moderately high reps performed with strict form and continuous tension are an important part. But yes, changing the "shape" of a muscle in terms of making a long bicep head short and peaked or your pecs to "join" in the center is a load of bull. Chad knows his stuff...

[timfortehwin]

thats not funny

it's a figure of speech.

[Parth]

Lol. Fatman, this reminds me of our curling argument. Haha. I wish I had Waterbury on my side at the time.

I like a lot of what he talks about. Full body workouts, every single day. That's the way to do it.

[Dominator350]

full body workouts every single day... its a good way to giv'er.

[Fatman]

Lol. Fatman, this reminds me of our curling argument. Haha. I wish I had Waterbury on my side at the time.

I like a lot of what he talks about. Full body workouts, every single day. That's the way to do it.

Oh, I agree with Chad 100% (and yourself, for that matter). Beginners and intermediate trainees should focus on total-body workouts almost all the time. The fat dude in the gym doing wrist curls is one of the saddest sights you can see there :(

Don't know about every day, though... at least not going at appreciable intensity... I know it would have my results going downhill in a hurry.

[demarcoa]

Definitely. Gets you the best results, I think.

[Dave.cyco]

Don't know about every day, though... at least not going at appreciable intensity... I know it would have my results going downhill in a hurry.

True, that! You gotta mix up the intensity. A full body workout could easily include heavy leg work, heavy back work and recovery oriented lighter work for the rest.

I was doing more full body workouts a while back, but they always ended up taking a very long time, and took quite a bit of prep work (setting up the USA, getting out the vest, and kettlebells, loading the sandbag...)

Right now I am settling for push days, pull days and lots of GTG.

[onelasttime]

I know I hate it when people think they can shape a muscle or make it look long and lean etc.......That crap is phyco babble!!! It is for all the people that want to remain ignorant of how their bodies work! Pilates people are just the worst for this none sense. That and I hate the " I just want to tone up I do not want big muscles!"... It is usualy some toothpick thin ectormorph with a sunken chest and all kinds of muscle imballances from being a couch patato. What they really mean is "Hay I do not want to sweet or work hard!" How often do we walk down the street or go to Walmart or work for that matter and run into a huge number of people that are carring around way too much muscle mass?!?!?!?! Unless their are a lot of pro-bodybuilder in your town or a large population of football linemen chances are slim!

I have never understood why people would want to "Change the shape" of a muscle any ways? What the heck is wrong with the muscles you already have? What they should be saying is I wish I could lose some fat and gain some muscle! That is easily doable goal and a good one to have! That is my goal in fact.

In fact I hate our cultures way of looking at things. You could have plugged up arteries as long as you look good people will leave you alone. If you are fat at all it does not matter how strong you are, how far you can run or how healthy you are it does not matter. It does not matter if you are as weak as a kitten just as long as you look like a Greek Statue again all is good. What happened to training so you can do the things you want to do? What happened to training for health and fitness? What happened to training for strength? If you go to a modern gym in any major city I would bet that 99% of the people in the gym are not training for a sport. If they are honest they would admitt that the only reason they train is for cosmetic purpose's. I doubt most even truly care about the associated side benifits of better health! That to me is shallow and sad!

One has to change their mind set as much as anything else to truly be happy and healthy. Even when selecting exercise's ask yourself why you are doing that exercise???!!??

[Patrick1968]

Great rant - nice to meet a fellow ranter!!!

[onelasttime]

I hate those infomecial on late night TV when they start talking about creating a lean,sleek build like a dancers body! Then they start talking about elongateing the muscle etc........My B.S. metter goes into the red!!LOL I am just waiting for them to try to tell people that they can elongate their bones so that their leg's will look like that of a super model etc.....LOL If you want it to sell on late night use all the Buzz Words "toned,sleek,elongated,core,stability,muscle confusion and plyometrics" your material will fly off the shelf faster then you can press the DVD's out of plastic! I am convinced I could repackage the thigh master and witht he right spokesperson and commerical sell them like hot cakes. The stuff that pass's for fitness equipment is crazy like Red the chair, ab roller not the wheels either the machine for makeing crunch's easier. Then you have all these programs that try to make it sound like they have some super secret workout program and it is nothing that you could not read about in most bodybuilding books. I mean how secret and revolutionary is circuit training,time under tension and working out for 1 hour a day? Muscle COnfushion that is a Weider Princaple and has been around longer then I have been alive. If I had a penny for all the TV junk I see at the Salvation Army,GoodWill and yard sales I could buy a nice power rack and glute ham machine!!!LOL None of it does any good unless people get off their ass and train!

[Patrick1968]

Totally agree. 100%. Everyone is looking for the easy way to get in shape when the truth is it's HARD WORK! I get asked all the time things like "whats the best supplement to take for weight loss" and "what protein powedr is best" etc etc. This is almost always from people who don't train, eat crap and whose idea of consistant effort is 2 aerobic classes a wee for a month, which they quit because "it didn't work".


Best exercise for weight loss - the table push away!
Best supplement for weight gain - food that doesn't come in a box or packet
Best supplement for weight loss - see point 2
Best exercise routine - the one you are actually gonna do
Mike Mentzer (Love him or hate hime - he did make some sense from time to time) said it best when he compared many peoples attitude to training and diet to buying sun tan lotion. They will spend lots of time and money looking for the best lotion, comparing gels to oils, looking at different spfs, checking out the different packaging etc etc. When they finally get around to buying their sun lotion, they spend ages putting the stuff on and then, finally when they make it out the house, they go out at night! Forget the details, stop paralysis by annalysis and do some freakin' hard work and eat some freakin' fruit, vegetables and meat. They only reason it's got so complicated is because of commerce making it so.

Funnily enough, the more money spent on advertising something, the crapper it usually is. No one advertises apples do they but look at how much money is spent advertising Coke!

Guess some people will always miss the big picture!

I feel better for that. :lol:

[onelasttime]

I am glad someone got my rant! LOL !!! XD That is my point in a nut shell get off your duff and move! No replacement for just moveing sweeting and getting dirty! Technology can replace hard work!LOL So if you see a big super muscular guy selling thigh master on late night TV that's me! LOL

[Dominator350]

man one thing ive found since joining a gym is, not only do I not know what other people are doing, but i don't think they know what theyre doing!

[onelasttime]

I here ya!!! If you want to see some crazy must up form or made up exercise's that are not helping go to a gym!!!LOL The trainers are the funiset usualy! You got some pencil neck that is nothing great to look at and is not super strong trying totell people how to work out. I once told a trainer that when he could put up 450lbs on bench press he could come talk to me about my form but until then he had to get out of my face! He was preaching the bodybuilder elbow's flared bring the bar down to your throat nonsense!!! To make matters worse he was built like Lance Armstrong only smoother. Then he tried to teach someone how to deadlift and his form was the worst I had seen to date on the deadlift. The bar was so far away from his shins and his but was sticking up so high it was comical! The said part was that he was with a paying client. After he left I went over and showed the woman the proper and safe was to perform the deadlift! Book knoldge is dangerious as hell if you do not have the field experince and commonsense to apply it properly! I think they will liscense almost anyone ass a personel trainer today! In fact I have never run into a good one. I know their are good ones out their but they must be the exception and not the norm.

This is one of the reasons I do not believe in "busted up weightlifter syndrome"! I have lifted weights since I was in second grade and never have I gotten injured lifting weights! I have gooten injured playing foorball, kick boxing, running track, skateboarding,sleding, inline skateing,roller skateing, swiming, diveing and rideing a bike. I am a stikler though for proper form though. If my form breaks down I stop lifting. A lot of people will keep on lifting once fatigue has set in and that is usualy when they injured!!! That or they try to save a bad lift!

[demarcoa]

Best exercise for weight loss - the table push away!
Best supplement for weight gain - food that doesn't come in a box or packet
Best supplement for weight loss - see point 2
Best exercise routine - the one you are actually gonna do
Write an article on that Patrick. Or add it to your sig. It's great advice.

And yes all the big fitness industries are making everything WAY too complicated, with all the 'technical':roll: terms they throw around. Just get off your butt and train. Don't overcomplicate things, at first at least.

[onelasttime]

I like the table push-away exercise maybe you can package that and sell it on late night TV!!!LOL

[Patrick1968]

I like the table push-away exercise maybe you can package that and sell it on late night TV!!!LOL

A fine idea. Maybe as a bonus we can throw in the "scoffanator". This is a device of my own making which basically fits around your elbow and stops you bending your arm. It's a mircale of modern science! It actually stops you eating ANYTHING! So simple, it's got to make millions.

[Patrick1968]

man one thing ive found since joining a gym is, not only do I not know what other people are doing, but i don't think they know what theyre doing!

Man - I hear you. Nothing worse than someone doing something wrong and they don't even know it and then teaching others.

At the risk of promoting my own business, I make sure my students can squat, deadlift, and do bent over rows before we do any "cool" exercises. I nag, moan and bitch at them about their form constantly and will fail them in their assessments if they don't come up to scratch but in the end, when we do the cool stuff like cleans and snatches and plyos and stuff, they have a much better idea of what they should be doing because they have a foundation in the basics. Too many people want to do the advanced stuff before mastering the basics.

And I make sure they get to love burpees - even if it's only in small doses!

[onelasttime]

"scoffanator". ROFLMAO!!!!!XD:lol::lol:

[demarcoa]

A fine idea. Maybe as a bonus we can throw in the "scoffanator". This is a device of my own making which basically fits around your elbow and stops you bending your arm. It's a mircale of modern science! It actually stops you eating ANYTHING! So simple, it's got to make millions.

"Makes you lose weight faster than any other device and you don't even have to exercise!"

lol!:lol:

[onelasttime]

Like I said I know their are some great trainers out their but what pass's for a trainer to day is sad. I am glad you you teach your students right! Nothing willg et you hurt 20 years from today like 19 year's of bad lifting form!! All of sudden on day these people get hurt and do not understand that their injury started 19 years ago etc......

[cheesedog]

A fine idea. Maybe as a bonus we can throw in the "scoffanator". This is a device of my own making which basically fits around your elbow and stops you bending your arm. It's a mircale of modern science! It actually stops you eating ANYTHING! So simple, it's got to make millions.

Great idea but it wouldn't work. People would just shove their fat faces in their plates and scarf it down, no hands needed.

[Patrick1968]

Great idea but it wouldn't work. People would just shove their fat faces in their plates and scarf it down, no hands needed.

Darn it - foiled again! And I suppose the really committed could actually pair up and feed each other :lol:

[wesam]

I believe this is a confusion in terms.

Instead of "shaping muscles", they probably meant "increased muscular definition", of which moderately high reps performed with strict form and continuous tension are an important part. But yes, changing the "shape" of a muscle in terms of making a long bicep head short and peaked or your pecs to "join" in the center is a load of bull. Chad knows his stuff...
i'm not trying to be stupid but i know three of my friends have really done that ''pecs to join in the center'' i don't know how but they done it:-?

[Fatman]

Their pecs had that shape before, but were undeveloped. Then they got them growing and they took their natural shape, which is joined at the center. presto!

[demarcoa]

Great idea but it wouldn't work. People would just shove their fat faces in their plates and scarf it down, no hands needed.

Yep. Everyone would eat like Cheesedog. Perhaps a muzzle would work better....

[Patrick1968]

Yeah - a muzzle could work but the really determined ones would melt down candy bars and scarf them through a straw! They're a sneaky and inventive bunch those chronic over eaters!

[demarcoa]

Yeah - a muzzle could work but the really determined ones would melt down candy bars and scarf them through a straw! They're a sneaky and inventive bunch those chronic over eaters!

Well they beat me. We could try to confiscate the straws...

...or not. Let's just let them eat until they look like Fatman's avatar. :twisted:

[cheesedog]

Yep. Everyone would eat like Cheesedog. Perhaps a muzzle would work better....

Have you been spying on me? I wondered who that was lurking behind those bushes! ;)

[demarcoa]

Have you been spying on me? I wondered who that was lurking behind those bushes! ;)
I wouldn't have seen you if you weren't outside to eat! ;)

[cheesedog]

I wouldn't have seen you if you weren't outside to eat! ;)

My wife won't let me eat in the house. :(

[demarcoa]

My wife won't let me eat in the house. :(

Well if you used utensils like everyone else maybe she would ;)

[Fatman]

Well if you used utensils like everyone else maybe she would ;)

Utensils are for the WEAK!!!!

[Patrick1968]

Now that's taking the caveman diet to an extreme!!!

[onelasttime]

You know I am not real found of the French in general but I am glad they gave us all silverware and such for eating! I hate it when my hands have sticky stuff on them of when I grab a hot ear of corn with molten butter on it and get burned etc........My mouth can take more heat then my finger tips!

[demarcoa]

Now that's taking the caveman diet to an extreme!!!

Yup, eating like a dog!

which was the intended pun for cheesedog of course.

[cheesedog]

Yup, eating like a dog!

which was the intended pun for cheesedog of course.

And Cheesedog like!!! Demarcoa make funny. ;)

[onelasttime]

Today my oldest boy turns 10 so I will be eating like a dog....I am going to be haveing pizza,cake and ice cream yummmmmmmm!!! I am going to have a smile on my face as all those nasty non-organic foodstuff are courseing through my veins!!!LOL I will try to eat it all with my hands except the ice cream!!! It melts too fast if you use your hands!LOL

[cheesedog]

I will try to eat it all with my hands except the ice cream!!! It melts too fast if you use your hands!LOL

That's why they invented waffle cones! No utensils needed.

[demarcoa]

And Cheesedog like!!! Demarcoa make funny. ;)

Woof Woof!!!:roll::)

For my aunt's 50th birthday, she got this huge cake. But as it was her 50th, she said, apparently, forget the utensils. So she and her friends who were all about the same age ate the whole thing by using their hands and sticking their faces into it. I would have liked to have been there to see that!

[onelasttime]

TRUE!!!!LOL Waffle Cones???? What was I thinking???