Build Muscle from All Angles

Principle 1: Strengthen your body -- in every direction
This doesn't mean you need to do dozens of exercises that have you bending and twisting at every angle. No, what you really want is to train your core, shoulders, and hips to stay stable no matter what position you're in. Think of this in terms of Moving Guy: His body remained rigid while suspended horizontally from the lamppost, despite the force of gravity pulling him down. While that seems incredible, you've already trained your body to do this when you're standing. That's why you can walk erect instead of having to crawl on all fours like a baby.

Your strategy is to perform the classic exercises you're used to, but to change the position of the weight in relation to your body. Do lunges and squats while holding the dumbbells above your head, for example, and lift one dumbbell at a time when you're doing the bench press and shoulder press. This shifts your center of gravity, forcing the muscles of your core, shoulders, and hips to work harder to keep you from falling over (or off the bench). The end result: You're training your muscles to be strong from every direction.


Principle 2: Build your upper back
Here's a quiz: Which exercise can you handle the most total weight on?

1. Shrugs
2. Barbell curls
3. Dumbbell front raises


If you're like most men, you probably answered A, B, and C, in order. While these exercises target different muscle groups, the variation in poundage you can use is largely due to the location of the load. For example, in a shrug, the weight is right next to your body; in a curl, it's a forearm's length away.

Why does this matter? Basic physics. The farther the weight is from your body, the more effort it takes to lift and the more stress is applied to the muscles of your upper back. (Feel for yourself: Hold a 25-pound weight plate with both hands next to your chest, and then push it away by straightening your arms.) Your upper-back muscles help stabilize and protect the joints of your shoulders and spine. Once a weight is too heavy for them, you're putting your joints at risk.

Now let's apply this to your workout. Suppose you perform barbell curls, but you haven't been able to move beyond a certain weight no matter how hard you've worked at them. Most men would just assume that their biceps strength had peaked. After all, the barbell curl is a biceps exercise.

Trouble is, the real problem is almost always a weak upper back. Shore up the muscles there (with exercises like the YTWLI raises on the poster) and you'll eventually be able to curl more weight. I've found that strengthening your upper back will make you stronger in almost every upper-body lift. This is perhaps the best-kept secret in muscle building.


Principle 3: Stop cheating your muscles
There's one mistake I see over and over in the gym: It seems that for every 10 pounds a man adds to a particular exercise, he reduces the movement's range of motion -- typically by about 10 percent.

The squat is a prime example. In order to feel like he's becoming stronger, a man will often add weight to the bar before his muscles are ready for the challenge. (Sound familiar?) Then, instead of lowering his body until his thighs are at least parallel to the floor, he'll stop a couple of inches short. So he's given himself a false sense of progress while reducing the work that his muscles have to do from start to finish.

There's an even bigger problem with this scenario: His muscles can't reach their full potential. That's because there will always be a weak link in the part of the movement he's skipping.

Your best approach is to use a complete range of motion, even if it means lifting a lighter load. You may have to swallow your pride or lift without your buddies looking on. But think about it: If you have to use less weight, it's because you're working your muscles through the range of motion in which they're weakest. And as we've already established, eliminating your weak spots is the key to building your new body in a new way.