How To Build The Perfect Male Body

Muscle Specific Exercise: Back & Biceps
Every man knows about biceps, and has tried doing some type of curl to get guns that women go crazy over. The back is probably the most understated muscle group for the male body, but I believe it is the most powerful. We don’t see our back, but everyone else does, and nothing says you’re a powerful man like a huge back.

The back is also useful in creating one of the things that women find most attractive about men; a V-shaped torso, which is only achieved when the lats are trained properly.

The reason I grouped these two muscles together is because they are both activated through a pulling movement. Whenever you pull your hands closer to your body with any form of tension, you are working both these muscles. It is wise to work out both these muscles on the same day, as they work in conjunction with each other and it is very hard to work the back without working the biceps as well.

Below I list some of my favorite exercises for training the back and the biceps, with a description of each. These are not the only exercises and I greatly encourage that you do your own research on all the different types of exercises and choose one that works for you.

• Pull-Ups. Pull-ups are one of the best exercises for the back and the biceps because of the huge range of motion involved, and they require maximum contraction of both muscles in order to successfully complete. For better results, use an under-hand grip with this exercise, as an over-hand puts the body at an angle where the shoulders come into play. Once you are able to do over 15 of these it is time to start adding weight by using a weight-lifting belt with a chain that you can wrap around a plate.

• Bent-Over Rows. The bent-over row is a great exercise for the back and the biceps because it’s easier to increase weight with this exercise than it is with pull-ups, and it includes the same range of motion. The negative to this exercise is that your biceps never fully contract like they do in the pull-ups. A tip for these is to allow for your arms to go nearly all the way locked out, but not quite locked, at the bottom of the movement, and then pull the barbell or dumbbells up to your sternum.

Muscle Specific Exercise: Chest and Triceps
Nothing says manly like a full, muscular chest. The other half to your arms is the triceps, and these add a lot of mass to the arms and proper training is needed to have complete guns to hang out the car window. These are grouped together because they include the same motion; this time, instead of pulling, these muscle groups are worked when something is pushed.

Again, as with the back and the biceps, I encourage you to work these out on the same day to maximize efficiency, though it is easier to isolate the chest than it is the back. Some of the best exercises for the chest involve triceps work, and working them together just makes more sense than making a complicated program that is less efficient.

Here’s a list of some great exercises for the chest and the triceps.

• Bench Press. The bench press is the ultimate exercise for chest and triceps. The ability to lift a lot of weight doesn’t hurt your reputation in the gym either. Ensure that you use proper form when bench pressing, and include a partner to make sure the weight doesn’t fall on you if you can’t re-rack it. Include an incline bench press to work the upper head of the chest to ensure full-chest development. Don’t be afraid to switch things up with dumbbells instead of the barbell.

• Dips. Dips clean up where the bench press cannot. The triceps don’t get full work in the bench press, as they really only come into play in the top half of the range of motion. In order to get a full stretch and tear of the triceps, dips help to give the triceps nowhere to hide; the exercise works them out very nicely, additionally involving some chest work if you lean forward a little bit and incorporate the chest muscles.

Muscle Specific Exercise: Shoulders
Great shoulders (aka deltoids) are the finishing touch to any upper body work, and they help to create a uniform look as well as allowing for the broad shoulders that are a common definition of manliness.

The problem with shoulders is that they are indirectly worked whenever the arms are involved in exercise. So this means that whenever you are doing triceps or biceps work, the shoulders are going to be involved. This is where strict form is necessary to prevent the shoulders from being overworked, and it also means that shoulders should either be worked after adequate recovery from an arm workout or in addition to an arm workout.

There are three heads to the shoulders: the front deltoid, the side deltoid, and the rear deltoid. They each serve purpose in lifting the arm at certain angles, and it is important to work all the heads in order to get complete shoulder development.

Here are a few exercises that can be used for the shoulders:

• Front Raises, Side Raises, and Rear Raises. Each head can be isolated by raising the arm either forward, to the side, or leaning over and lifting the arm to your side. These are fairly straight-forward, but keep in mind that you won’t be able to lift heavy with these isolation movements, so start out with a weight you can manage to complete the full range of motion with.

• Shoulder Presses. Shoulder presses are great for the lateral (side) head of the shoulders, which don’t receive much extra work during most movements that the biceps and triceps are involved in. Again, start out light, as shoulder presses can be dangerous as the shoulders tend to be a tricky muscle and are very easy to tweak and hurt.

• Upright Row. The upright row lowers the chance of getting an injury while still working out the lateral head of the deltoids, and it also involves some trapezoid action which is worked during other rowing motions such as the bent over row. It makes for a great combination with a back and biceps day because of this.