How to bulk up upper body and thighs

Is my body proportional?

  • Yes, it looks great

  • Somewhat proportional

  • There is room for improvement

  • No, that booty is out of control


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trapmusik6

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I've been lifting seriously for the past couple of years again. My butt and shoulders have blown up but I want more overall upper body mass and bigger thighs to match my butt(at least proportional). Any good tips would be appreciated. I'm also on a high protein/carb diet currently. Please be honest, thanks

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[video=medium]1432090[/video]

Sorry, the video is the only thing I've got that shows my upper body
 
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DSF140

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IMHO, if you want your ass to look better, rather than focusing on your quads, focus more on your hamstrings.
You have an overall pretty damn good body, but there seems to be too much fat on it. The fat on your gut makes your legs look that much thinner. Get rid of the gut, and you will show a big drop from your formidable pecs and delts to a small waist, and then a huge flair out to your glutes and quads. Everyone with an appreciation for the male form will be pounding on your bedroom door, wanting to get in.
 

DSF140

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I'd go ahead and cut to see what muscle you have. Of course it's easy for me to say to cut because I'm only half your size. Even if you were to get shredded like a competitor ready for a show, you'd still be twice my size.
While it's totally true that you cannot put on any extra muscle when you have low body fat (low as in competition level), you don't need as much fat as you have to continue to gain muscle. The caveat is that you may feel a little weaker. But the trick is not so much how much you lift in pounds, but rather whether or not you reach the point where you feel that burn. So you might find that you have to drop your weight a little while you're cutting in order to get to the burning zone. As always, the burning zone is your goal.
As for the cardio, sure, it will burn calories, but you cannot use cardio as a replacement for any of your lifting. In fact, you will most likely need to increase your leg routine if your cardio involves running or stationary bike (most cardio routines do). The reason is because cardio does zero for muscle growth, and it usually results in a muscle loss that goes hand in hand with the fat loss. And since you're trying to increase your legs to go with your ass, you will need to monitor it closely.
 
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stuvix

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Hey guys - can I weigh in here? I’m a family physician and have been lifting for a long time (not to body builder standards...wife likes me lean and mean lol) and I reckon finally figured out something that works pretty well - for me anyways.

1. For cutting fat - the number one and almost only thing is diet. I’m certainly echoing others here. Intermittent fasting has been amazing. I wish I had done it sooner. Just google it. I reckon a 14 hour fast is enough for me but for others the full 16 may be better. I won’t get into the science of it here - it’s all online. My only “tweak” I would mention is that if you’re starving and need to get to the gym - have like half a banana or an apple. Your body will blast through the glucose during your workout and won’t wreck the effects of the fast. I started doing this without doing anything else differently and dropped about 5 lbs in 2-3 weeks. My lifting strengths were no different.

2. Exercises:
If you want your lateral thighs to “flare out” I would suggest back squats in a 5x5 fashion. They seem to hit the vastus lateralis muscles preferentially. I would also strongly suggest leg extensions after to help develop the VMO muscles. A) this creates a more aesthetically pleasing thigh b) it helps maintain the normal anatomical alignment of the knee to help prevent excess loading of the lateral tibial condyle. You definitely need to balance this with calf work or the legs will look very stumpy. Calves have a much higher proportion of fast twitch fibres so they respond better to high rep ranges (3x 12-15)

3) V shaped torso - weighted pull-ups. You’re welcome lol. Incline bench and weighted dips are also some of my favourites as you get a good stretch at the extreme of the ROM.

4) butt proportions
Funnily enough I had the same problem when I started squatting / deadlifts. My ass got huge lol. I just reduced the weight I was lifting on squats and cut the sets back to 3x5 from 5x5. It kinda deflated after that. I would also (if you want it to get bigger) suggest straight leg deadlifts. Those things are serious glute killers.

Hope that helps!

But yes - intermittent fasting with a 300 daily calorie deficit and you’ll be shredded in a month.