widening upper body

[eric0102]

Hi,

I'm 20 years old. I did some weight lifting in high school but nothing really serious since then. I don't consider myself scrawny but I have a pretty unique problem...my body thins significantly above my waste, so that even wearing normal clothes can be uncomfortable. For example, I can always see in mirrors or even shadows that my upper body is thinner than any other guys I'm hanging around with. Is there any way to widen my upper body without significantly widening my lower body, even if my upper body does have some muscle? If I do a creatine/protein program, what exercises would be best to just aim to widen/largen upper body without really affecting the lower body? Thanks a bunch, any advice is greatly appreciated.

[eric0102]

OP here - by the way I'm a very small dude, 5'7'', 140 lb, eat healthy, run a lot.

You need to work your back and shoulders to create the appearance of more size and width. Stick with the basics: Chins, rows, clean & press. Make it heavy so you work your muscles well.

And don't mistake simple for easy........

[robhimself]

i'm in your exact same boat eric. i hate seeing pictures when i'm with my friends and having my big head and scrawny body stick out. but yes ironman has got it right. i've been getting back into lifting for the past month and have been hitting the upper body hard. there has been a definite increase in size and width so it's been well worth the effort.

[CF-OC_gal]

I think you'd be pretty safe following an all over development program. Your muscles on your lower body don't really "widen" your body the way your back, shoulders and chest muscles will.

When you are at the point that your legs are looking wide, you've put in some serious development time.

[standAPART]

Eric,
When you say you want to get wider...you are basically telling me that you want more mass. If you want more "mass", you just need to train hard, eat smart, and take the best supplement out on the market...it called PATIENCE.

Originally Posted by standAPART

and take the best supplement out on the market...it called PATIENCE.

I'd love to be able to buy some, lol........

[standAPART]

We all do....

[Titus]

Cough.. Max .. cough OT.. cough.

I don't quite understand, is your lower body..wide? Or..

[Vas85]

Originally Posted by standAPART

Eric,
When you say you want to get wider...you are basically telling me that you want more mass. If you want more "mass", you just need to train hard, eat smart, and take the best supplement out on the market...it called PATIENCE.

Along with what all others have said and standAPART, I went from a very very scrawny physique shoulders back width wise to being pretty wide. Takes time, took me 2yrs to get to a pretty good stage, and its all about the Side Delts and Upperback. Side Laterals are a favourite of mine for the medial head, and chinups / lat pulldowns for the lats along with deadlifts to really bring out the stucture in the back with densely packed muscle.

[Blaze]

And don't forgot those deadlifts.

And PULL HEAVY!