The classic ‘upside down triangle’ is the ideal shape for any man. With wide shoulder and lats that come in at the waist, a man can strike an impressive silhouette and display a both strength and fitness. In many surveys women have named a striking v-shape as the most attractive feature of a man and on a subconscious level it indicates good genetic material. Bruce Lee was famous for his amazing v-shape and single-handedly demonstrated why lats are sometimes called ‘wings’ – and we all know how powerful he was. One of his tricks was to put his thumb in his mouth then blow on it and flex his lats as though they he was inflating them. Lats and shoulders are also key in generating a powerful punch and useful in many other activities (both swimmers, rowers, swimmers and gymnasts have impressive lats and shoulders). So in conclusion: v-shape = good.

So let’s break this down. First you need wide shoulders. To achieve this you need to work your deltoids, which you can do with shoulder presses (where you push a barbell or two dumbbells directly up over your shoulders while standing or seated upright), shrugs (where you hold a dumbbell in either hand down by your sides and literally just shrug to use them) and with incline press ups (where you do press ups with your legs on something high behind you – the higher they are the more the work will be focussed on your shoulders).

To work the lats you can do lat pull downs (where you sit up and pull a bar connected to a cable down towards your lap), bent over rows (where you kneel on one leg and rest on one arm while lifting a dumbbell up by your side on the other side), pull ups (where you hold a bar with your hands facing away from your face and lift your bodyweight up so your chin touches the bar) or seated rows (where you sit down and pull a bar towards you that’s connected to a cable).

Growing your pecs and traps can also add to the overall ‘bulky up top look’. Both these can fortunately be trained by doing bench press and press ups. Then to capitalise on this hard work you should eat a diet high in lean protein such as chicken, tuna or whey protein.

At the same time, steer away from carbs and fats and make sure you do lots of CV such as running, boxing and swimming. You can also tone up your stomach area by doing sit ups and crunches.

Like I said, a good v shape is also common in climbers, swimmers, gymnasts and rowers (as lats are so useful for upward pulling); and this works both ways. Your muscle reflects your lifestyle and so by regularly taking up swimming, climbing, rowing or gymnastics, you’ll find that your body shape will adapt accordingly.

So train these muscles specifically and incidentally through those other activities and at the same time cut your calories and do lots of CV. Essentially a v-shape reflects a healthy and active lifestyle so get off your ass and start improving your health!

Mack LeMouse

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