Achieving The Look: Capped Delts

The look

When talking about getting the delts "capped" it refers to the shoulder being full and round. To achieve this look each of the three heads which make up the deltoids (anterior, posterior and lateral) need to be developed.

What is often found to be the case, is that guys will have a developed anterior and lateral delt but neglect the posterior head due to not being able to see it.

It is important to train each of the head and bring the deltoids up in proportion, not only if you're a hopeful for competition but also for strength and balance.




How is this look attained?

Anterior head: The anterior head of the deltoids is located at the front of the shoulder. This is usually the most developed head on the majority of men. This is because it comes into play with a lot of pressing movements, including the bench press.
One of the best exercises to develop this part of the deltoid is a seated front raise, as they isolate and keep tension on the muscle.

Lateral head: This head is located on the side of the shoulder and is responsible for the wide/broad look of your physique. When looking at a person from front on, this is one of the main heads to give you that round and full look. Seated lateral raises isolate and help bring this part of the delt up.

Posterior head: This is potentially the most underdeveloped head in many guy because it isn't visible to yourself. You will usually find people tend to neglect this or not realise that it needs to be stimulated. Although it can be activated in various back exercises, proper isolation is also required for further development. A reverse peck-dec machine or bent over lateral raises are the best options for this.

Extra tips

Pressing movements also stimulate the delts, shoulder press, military press and clean and press are all brilliant for building delts, but proper isolation movements insure they're balanced and developed properly.

Recap

make sure you add in both compound pressing movements and isolation movements to your shoulder routines to ensure the best development for your deltoids.

Achieving The Look: V-Taper

This post is the first in a new series called; Achieving The Look. In these posts, we will go into the various techniques it takes to attain a physique worthy of the stage. In this post we are looking at the classic V-taper.

The look

For those of you wondering what the V-taper looks like, here is a picture that represents the classic body structure. The top of the lats are wide and developed and diagonally descend down to the waist, in your classic V shape.

How is this look attained?

There are a couple of factors that need to be looked into;
Firstly, the lats themselves need to be developed to give you that wide look up top and secondly, your waist must be small. This means your obliques can't be over developed giving a look of a bulky waist.

Training your back; lats and spinal erectors

Exercises such as wide grip chins, wide grip pull downs and barbell rows are great mass builders for the lats. These movements recruit an array of muscles fibres in order to move the weight that you're handling, resulting in greater blood flow and nutrient uptake to the back muscles.

Your spinal erectors (located at the bottom of your back) also have a part to play in creating your V-taper. You don't want these to be too bulky and limitations from this vary from person to person. Movements such as the deadlift are a great mass builder for these, but remember you don't want a wide waist, so keep an eye on your waist line from deadlifting and overall spinal erector development. It is worth noting however, that a stable lower back is required when you have abs. Balancing your muscles are the most important factor to keep you from injury.

Keeping the waist small

The next step in creating your V-taper is targeting your waist line. Here we will talk about your obliques. Your obliques are located on the side of your stomach and are activated in a variety of exercises. They are important to have because they help with keeping a strong and stable core. However you don't want to over developing them by targeting them with heavy isolation exercises.

Exercises such as barbell/dumbell side bends or cable side crunches you want to stay away from because you are going to build (and expand) your waist line. Side twists with a light weight bar (un-loaded) or with a med ball are much better options to develop those obliques.

Extra tips

One great way to help you achieving a small waist is to wear a weight belt. These will stop your waist from being able to expand too far whilst doing movements such as the deadlift and heavy barbell rows. Some people prefer not to use them and it's really down to personal preference, they can help with form when used correctly and can be worn when training everything but abs. Give one a try and see if you feel they help in your training.

Recap

So to conclude, to attain the perfect V-taper, you need a mixture of wide developed lats, with a small and stable waist. Pay attention to your obliques and spinal erectors, but make sure they are balanced to keep your core stable.

Bulding a body for Men's Physique

The Men's Physique class has had its fair share of criticism. Being such a new class, it is still finding its feet within the industry and there will always be controversy between competitors in such a subjective sport. However, here are some guidelines to follow in order to attain an "idyllic" men's physique you can take to the stage.

Traps

For men's physique, you don't want over sized traps. Having large traps is one of the first signs of being "muscle bound" and in a category that states you shouldn't be overly muscly traps are something you need to keep an eye on. With that being said you still want your traps to be developed, having raised traps to suit your body proportion will do just fine, so long as you're not over muscular in the first place.

Shoulders

Shoulders are a large part of men's physique. Having fully caped delts allow a full look on your physique. They help to make you appear wider and often people pick up on developed traps before other parts of the physique. To create a full round delt, work on the anterior, side and posterior parts of your delts and you will soon create a good overall shape to them.

Back

The guidelines for back for men's physique are that it must be developed, but not overly wide. Your lats should be visible from the front and you should display a good v taper, but without looking too wide from the rear. A competitor should display the classic V shape from the top of their lats leading to their waist.

Arms

Arms really don't have any guidelines in this class, as long as they are in proportion with the rest of the body and not overly muscular or vascular, they won't be marked down.

Chest

The chest for men's physique should be full and both upper and lower parts should be developed. Other than this there are not specifics that have been realised. Again it's all about proportion with the rest of your body.

Calfs

Although legs are not judged in this category, you calfs will be on show, meaning there will be at least some emphasis on them. For this, follow the same guidelines as above. You want the calfs to be developed, show muscle and looking full whilst maintaining proportion to the rest of the body and not be overly built.

Overall

Men's physique is all about being in proportion and symmetrical. size isn't generally taken into consideration. What you want is an overall physique that displays "developed" size, without looking too muscle bound or too vascular but is well shaped in a classic men's physique style.

The examples above are of men's physique competitors in the IFBB. 1. Steve Cook, 2. Ryan Hughes, 3. Jerimiah Towery