V Deficiency

Diagnosis

The ideal bodybuilding torso is shaped like a V. It angles outward from the waist to the shoulders. A lack of such a taper is caused by one or more of the following: short clavicles, wide hips and waist, lagging side deltoids, underdeveloped latissimus dorsi. There is nothing you can do to alter your clavicles or hip bones, so you need to focus on widening your delts and upper alts.

Remedies

• Prioritize side deltoids in your shoulder routine, training them first with greater volume.
• Upright rows with a shoulder-width or wider grip, shifts much of the stress from your trapezius to your side delts.
• In your back routine, place more emphasis on pulldowns and chins than rows in order to widen your upper outer lats. Pullovers are another lift that hits this area.
• To reduce your hip and waist width, see “Problem 6: Congenital Wide Waist”.

Shoulder Widening Routine

Back Widening Routine

Professional's Advice

To compensate for somewhat narrow clavicles, Lee Priest has consciously underdeveloped his upper trapezius muscles, thus making the distance between his neck and deltoids appear greater.