Exercises that Broaden CHEST and SHOULDERS

[johnfern8]

Hello there,
I have just started going to the gym, because I feel that my chest and shoulders haven't developed well enough. I have very narrow shoulders and this makes me took smaller that guys my height and weight. I am 20 years old, and this is probably past the age when bones grow. But I really need to expand my chest and broaden my shoulders to get a better look. Could anyone suggest some exercises or a diet that might work.

Thanks

[holvoetn]

Stronglifts 5x5 perhaps

Otherwise, I think plain ol' push-ups already can get you a long way.

[rere]

Hello there,
I have just started going to the gym, because I feel that my chest and shoulders haven't developed well enough. I have very narrow shoulders and this makes me took smaller that guys my height and weight. I am 20 years old, and this is probably past the age when bones grow. But I really need to expand my chest and broaden my shoulders to get a better look. Could anyone suggest some exercises or a diet that might work.
Thanks

Bench press?
Overhead Press?
Compound movements are the best since they build an overall proportioned physique.
Eating well is a good thing also. This will add bulk to your frame.
I think you know where I am going with my response.

5x5 will do all of this for you, building a good upper body and lower body.
Be concerned with eating vasts amounts and doing alot of compound movements will help to achieve a broad shoulders chest look.
It's worked for me and its worked for many people here.
Try it johnfern8

[GeofT]

Bench press and pull ups spring to mind, but remember to train your whole body with the big compound exercises like squats and deadlifts.

Eat lots of clean food with plenty of protein (cut down junk), and get plenty of sleep (8-9 hours a night).

Oh, and try the 5x5 beginner programme

[tommysmith]

yea, any workouts that work on your shoulders, pecs, lats, and traps would help broaden your upper body. Pull ups, push ups, rows, and many exercises with dumbells could help with this

[ken20008]

bench press, over head press, push ups, all will broaden your chest and shoulders while developing other muscles like the triceps. go try 5x5, you wont regret it.

[JohnP]

I think that you should train your back, it makes a man look big. Do pull ups and bent-over rows. Broad back is the most visible sign of strong person, because you rarely walk around without shirt, which covers your chest. Back and shoulders for big strong figure.

[Bubonic]

Aren't dumbell flies better to broaden the chest then flat bench is?

[tkxii]

I think that you should train your back, it makes a man look big. Do pull ups and bent-over rows. Broad back is the most visible sign of strong person, because you rarely walk around without shirt, which covers your chest. Back and shoulders for big strong figure.

yea you can work out ur chest and make it huge, and still look skinny, if you haven't worked those delts. I think that's what they're called, oh i mean Lats as well, the muscles involved in the pull up, those will make you look broader. Try the lat pull downs, along with chest exercises, and if you're doing inclined dumbell presses or whatver, at the end of ur last rep, take the weight, and put it on the ground, which would be behind ur back, which is resting ont he bench, this creates a huge stretch in ur pecs, and gets them HUGE. arnold schwarzenegger did that. http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do; ... ?id=459410
read that if interested

[holvoetn]

I always understood lat pulldowns are to be avoided.
Real chin-ups/pull-ups are always better. When not able to do even one, start with slow negatives.

[nf80]

I think that you should train your back, it makes a man look big. Do pull ups and bent-over rows. Broad back is the most visible sign of strong person, because you rarely walk around without shirt, which covers your chest. Back and shoulders for big strong figure.

There's a guy at the gym who I always see doing chest exercises - at the bench, machines and cables - and I've never seen him do anything else, despite seeing him multiple times per week (I think we have similar workout schedules).

His chest is huge and defined, but he has no shoulders, no back and skinny arms. The proportions just look really weird. He's always wearing pants, but i'm pretty sure his legs are skinny too.

Which is why I agree that broad back/shoulders trumps big chest if you want to look strong. Being all chest and nothing else looks... weird.

[overdrive23]

Dont forget to eat more too.

You won't grow if you don't eat more.

[rere]

Dont forget to eat more too.

You won't grow if you don't eat more.

Amen to that, nothing better than eating like a pig and squatting.

[pandapower]

I always understood lat pulldowns are to be avoided.
Real chin-ups/pull-ups are always better. When not able to do even one, start with slow negatives.

Is lat pulldown ineffective in helping you do more pull-ups? or is it different muscles?

[holvoetn]

I am not saying it is ineffective at all, just saying that it does not do the same thing for all required muscles.
I am not sure anymore where I read it and how it was put but basically what it boils down to is to get better at an exercise, you simply have to do it. Period. All the rest is to assist you to reach that goal, but at the end you need to do the exercise.

I did lat pull downs when I started going to the gym, it was only when I really started doing pulls/chins that I could do more of them after some time. In July I could only do 2 chins in a row. I decided to make a pull-up bar in the basement and started doing more. I just do some pulls/chins whenever I can (started with sets of 2, now using sets of 8, sometimes over 10 sets per day). "Grease The Groove" the method is called. I could do 10 chins in a row last time I tested.
See here for more info on Grease The Groove: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/69/
The lat pull downs improved as a result of that. Now I don't do them anymore at all since quite some weeks (they got too easy and I moved completely to the SL5x5 program which does not use lat pulldowns)
Recently I started doing weighted chin-ups with a backpack and some sandbags inside.
Still need to work more on the pulls before going weighted there as well (chins are easier then pulls).