V-Shape: Ultimate Guide to a Perfect Upper Body

by Marc Schmitt | Jun 18, 2019

The V-Shape is considered highly desirable for aesthetics and is a sure-fire way to stand out in the crowd. An impressive V-Shape comes with wide shoulders and a wide back tapering down to a slim midsection that features a visible six-pack.

While many sports out there do not focus on physical appearance, it is clear that many fitness enthusiasts today enter the gym because of one reason. Looks! And this is exactly where the V-Shape plays a significant role.

The V-Shape is probably the most sought-after look for males and definitely deserves a unique spot on your priority list.

While some people might disapprove, this is completely normal and nothing bad. Staying fit and working out is healthy by design and finding our personal “WHY” is necessary to stay focused and committed. So, whether you want to get stronger, feel more competent, or simply want to look better, all those reasons are valid and will help you to stay focused.

This article will tell you everything you need to know to develop this superior upper body appearance.

Let’s start.

Why is the V-Shape Awesome?

If somebody out there is trying to tell you that the V-Shape does not look good, simply do not listen. This is pure BS. Just look at Men’s Physique competitors as Jeff Seid or Jeremy Buendia.

Check out this video. A V-Shaped upper male body looks awesome. And since resistance training is quite exhausting in general, it is just fair if your investment of time and effort pays off in people out there noticing it.

Training purely for a V-Shape is by no means an unhealthy workout approach either. A well-developed V-Shape is generally associated with good health and fitness. It has exactly the same health benefits I have listed in this little eBook. It is completely free; just grab it.

“Why I Train & You Should Too: 10 Benefits of Strength Training”

For health and general functional purposes, a full-body program is the best. But for the pure satisfaction of getting an upper body photo shoot or being representable at the next pool party or beach holiday, specifically focusing on developing a V-Shape will probably end in more satisfaction. It will also help you to boost your confidence, make you more successful with the opposite sex or even help you get a promotion in your job.

I am not exaggerating. Not only will you receive different (positive) comments from females, but also your male friends and even complete stranger (depending on the extent of your V-taper) will look up to you and might approach you for training advice.

So, let’s not waste any more time by just talking about the V-Shape, but actually, dive right into the specifics on how to develop this impressive physique. The bad news is that you actually have to get off your lazy ass and hit the gym once in a while. But believe me, it’s worth it. So, let’s do this.

Attaining the V-Shape

A common argument from people carrying a wide waist and narrow shoulders is that the V-Shape is mainly based on genetics. While it is true that the skeletal structure has an impact on how easy it will be to build a V-Shape, it is a quite limiting viewpoint. If you use a targeted training program, it does not really matter what your initial body composition was.

The main purpose of bodybuilding has always been to shape the body according to our own beliefs. That’s why we call it “Bodybuilding”. We want to shape the body according to our perception of what looks best. And if you spot certain weak points, you need to focus specifically or even exclusively on those body parts for an extended period of time to overcome those weaknesses. The goal of bodybuilding is to reshape your current physique to match the one you aspire to have.

Everyone can get a well-developed V-Shaped upper body with a well-designed workout routine and a well-structured diet. Try to focus mainly on what you can achieve for yourself with the help of resistance training. Forget anything else. Becoming your best self is the only goal worth striving for.

Resistance training naturally develops the size of the upper body and reduces fat around the midsection. So, there will always be a natural transformation toward a more V-Shaped body. The effort required to gain size or lose fat depends on your personal body type, but the general logic doesn’t change. Focus on what is possible. And possible is – given enough time – almost anything.

Let’s be honest. The V-Shape is something every serious bodybuilder should strive for. If you do not have at least a slight V-Shape after months or let’s say years of training, nobody will take you seriously. So, take this information in, understand it, apply it, and look awesome.

V-Shape Muscle Groups

The most important muscle groups for creating a V-shape are the shoulders (all three deltoid heads), the back muscles (mainly latissimus dorsi, but also the trapezius) and the core muscles (abdominals).

Back (Latissimus, Trapezius): This is the biggest muscle in the back and creates a broad upper body if developed. I would like to stress that training your back is probably the most important part for a well-developed upper male body. It significantly supports your posture. The back helps to pull the shoulders back, which increases shoulder size and width naturally. This is extremely important for many people as we tend to sit for long hours in front of our laptops or computers, which weakens the upper back muscles and drives the shoulders forward. You see this false posture all the time. However, to get the full V-Shape, you need more than just a strong back.
Shoulders (The 3 Deltoid Heads): The second most important group comprises the shoulders, which should get serious attention during your training routine as well. Broader shoulders will help you to develop a truly broad look and let your midsection appear smaller.
Abdominals: The last on the list is a slim waist, which is mainly created in the kitchen, but you can improve the visible abs by doing a couple of abdominal exercises. Well, abs are usually always there and will be trained by doing heavy squats, deadlifts, etc. But in order to achieve maximum looks, it makes sense to additionally engage in pure abdominal training.

I personally always recommend training the trapezius, as it creates a truly herculean physique. It is visible under any T-Shirt and creates a sense of strength often without being able to tell what exactly it is that makes this physique superior.

To sum up, the V-Shape is made by a strong back, significant shoulder mass and width, and a slim waist. To improve the V-shape even further, a powerful chest and well-developed arms will help as well. Make sure to develop your back before you overtrain the chest, as the pectorals will pull your shoulders forward and create this weird posture where your arms and shoulders hang forward.

V-Shape Exercises

Using the recommended exercises below will help you develop an astonishing physique. If you are interested in a more comprehensive shoulder, back, or core routine and want additional exercise, have a look at the “Further Reading” suggestions. But believe me, getting consistently stronger and the foundation exercises below can catapult you easily towards an advanced level.

Shoulder Exercises

Shoulders respond very well to heavy load, so you should, from the beginning, start to train them with compound exercises.

Overhead Press: My personal favorite V-taper exercise. It will develop the shoulders, the triceps, and the core. If you clean it up in order to do the exercise, it will also train the trapezius. The overhead press is also seldom performed in most regular gyms, so you will stand out as somebody who knows what he is doing. You can also easily maintain your bench press weight while working on your 1RM for the overhead press. Almost anyone who is able to press significant weights overhead is doing well with the bench press. This is not true the other way around.
Lateral Raises: The lateral raise is the best exercise for targeting the middle head of your deltoids, which is mainly responsible for creating a wider appearance. It is an isolation exercise, but it is definitely worth it.
Upright Row: The upright row targets the trapezius as well as the deltoids. In case you want to develop a massive physique or a V-Taped body shape, the upward row is awesome. It is mentioned in “Strength Training Anatomy” that this exercise will seriously help you build a herculean appearance. You can do it early on in your routine as power exercise with heavy weights or at the end with less weight to finish off all the muscle fibers in your shoulder girdle.

Check out Bodybuilding.com for the 10 Best Shoulder Exercises.

Back Exercises

The back muscles cannot really be trained in isolation. The best exercises to train the Latissimus Doris, as well as the trapezius, usually involve several other muscle groups such as the arms (mainly biceps) and the core.

Bend-Over Row: My preferred back exercise. It is comprehensive and trains every muscle in your back. Latisimus Dorsi, trapezius, and also rear deltoids. It is essential to have a strong core, especially lower back in order to successfully do this exercise. If you keep lifting heavy, especially doing bent-over rows and deadlifts, your lower back will get seriously strong and will end up lasting longer than your upper back muscles during these exercises.
Pull-ups / Chin-ups: Another mandatory back exercise. It obviously also looks quite cool if performed correctly. If you are not able to do at least 3 (unweighted) chin-ups, start with a lat pull-down exercise to strengthen your back over a couple of weeks and proceed to do the chin-ups once you built a solid foundation in back strength.

Doing only those two exercises for your back has the potential to bring you to the pro level in bodybuilding. There is seriously not a lot more that is relevant for a strong and wide back. By changing grip width as well as grip methods it is possible to target the back muscle from different angles as well.

Check out Bodybuilding.com for the 10 Best Back Exercises.

Abs Exercises

The abs are an interesting muscle group. There are several articles mentioning that it is not necessary to train the abs in case you engage in heavy lifting. The idea is squats and deadlifts will sufficiently target your core muscles. While your core gets stronger and will be able to support more weight, it seems that the shape of the relevant abdominal muscles remains largely the same. Hence, it makes sense to do additional light abdominal exercises to improve the six-pack once we have reached the necessary low body-fat percentage.

Crunches: If you simply do those exercises three times a week, you will be able to see visible progress. There are several successful physique competitors who mention that the only exercise they do is crunches. Nothing else necessary, especially not using heavy additional weights to train your core. The goal is a slim waist and not a bulky one.

Exercises to Create Balance

The following exercise will help to create a more balanced physique. A pure V-Shape routine does not target the hip and the legs. Those exercises will help you to achieve a more balanced look, which is less relevant for the V-shape but very functional in nature:

Bench Press: The bench press, like the military press, is one of the best upper body exercises. If you want to do both of these exercises on the same day, make sure to start with the overhead press.
Squat: Legs do not contribute to the V-Taper, but the further you progress in your training, and your upper body gains size, the more it will start to look unnatural when you have tiny legs. How strong you train your legs over time depends on your personal preferences. I personally have quite big legs compared to my upper body, so even though I have been primarily focusing on my upper body, it does not seem to be overly developed compared to my hip and legs.
Deadlift: It is not required in order to get a V-taper, but the occasional deadlift will help you to stimulate some forgotten muscles within your body. It also helps to create a stronger trapezius and stable core.

The only exercise, which I would definitely recommend above is the bench press or some other chest exercise. I guess you will do this anyway, as most people out there like the chest exercise. It is definitely one of the more enjoyable routines. Since this article is obviously about developing a V-Shape, I will not tell you that squats are mandatory. Nothing is mandatory. Everything depends on your personal preferences. If you are happy with your legs and do not want to buy bigger jeans down the line, that is cool. Otherwise, simply go ahead and incorporate the squat into your workout. Overly developed legs do not good. Check out the video below. Arnold Schwarzenegger put also way more emphasis on his upper body than his legs. Most Mr. Olympia competitors today simply have too big legs.

Nutrition & Supplements

In order to develop your upper body, especially the huge back muscles, nutrition is key. You need to eat quite a lot of high-quality protein, carbs, and healthy fats to support the build-up or your muscles. You need to create an environment for growth; otherwise, your workout efforts will just vanish into thin air. While you are building up your back and shoulder muscles, you should not focus on losing weight. Focus instead on fueling your workout with the necessary ingredients. Use protein supplements to reach the need for sufficient protein intake. You can also use creatine – which has no side effects – and has been proven to be a helpful mass and strength builder.

V-Shape & Body Fat Percentage

One last and quite important thing would be your body fat percentage. Your V-Shape will look way more impressive if it is defined. Also, it should be clear that an obvious belly (20-25%+ body fat) will distract from your upper body muscle gain and prevent you from achieving the necessary width difference of your upper body compared to the waist.

Let us assume you have developed a strong muscular foundation. All your major V-Shape muscles are developed. Your midsection has become strong and robust but no abdominals are visible yet. Time to think about diet and nutrition.

Without a strict diet to shed your body fat to at least 10% or lower, you will not see your abs.

What you do not want to do is losing significant weight. This is definitely not what you want to achieve. You want to lose body fat; you want to lose that inches that cover up your muscle mass, especially around your midsection. Weight is simply a number and is not particularly helpful once you have gained a significant amount of lean muscle mass. You will actually end up being obese according to the BMI, even though you have a six-pack. Completely useless indicator.

It is better to focus on looks. Simply have a look at the mirror every morning and check your midsection. If you keep doing that, you will be able to see your abs slowly pop up. Also, your veins will gradually become more visible. You will see your V-Shape getting more defined on a daily basis. Your slimming waist creates the illusion of more upper body mass and broader shoulders. This process is quite cool to witness and will definitely motivate you to push further.

So if you are overweight, try to lose fat. Please check out the following articles on body composition and weight (fat) loss for concrete information and guidelines to achieve your goals.

V-Shape Workout Routine

There are limitless ways to apply the knowledge of exercise programming to design a workout routine. There is no perfect routine out there. If we have a closer look at all the major bodybuilders and physique competitors, you will realize that almost everyone has a different workout schedule. Many things influence our personalized routine. We are concerned with questions about our personal goal, how much time we have and how much of that time we want to put into working out at the gym. What about genetics? Do I have certain weak points that deserve more attention than another body part?

Consider the following routines as suggestions. Always feel free to adjust your workout routine according to your own goals, time, and conditioning.

Option 1: V-Shape Workout (3 Times a Week)

In general, the recommended frequency to visit the gym is 3 times a week if you are in the beginner stage. As a total beginner, it might be better to only go twice a week for 2-3 weeks, as muscle soreness (especially after the first 2 sessions) is extremely high. Your muscles need to adapt to the new exercise stimulus first. After this initial 2-3 weeks, depending on what your body tells you, it makes sense to go exactly 3 times a week doing the following routine:

“Train 3 Times a Week: Overhead Press, Bend-over Row, Upright Row, Pull-Downs / Pull-ups and crunches.”

This routine is simple, but you will be surprised about the results.

Monday: Overhead Press, Bend-over Row, Upright Row, Pull-Downs / Pull-ups, Crunches
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Overhead Press, Bend-over Row, Upright Row, Pull-Downs / Pull-ups, Crunches
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Overhead Press, Bend-over Row, Upright Row, Pull-Downs / Pull-ups, Crunches
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

The 3 days a week V-Shape routine can be maintained for quite long. Once it becomes difficult to give everything during the workout and you have already seen good progress, you can switch to a split routine like the following.

Option 2: V-Shape Workout (4 or 5 times a week)

You might find this split routine a little easier to carry out as you will have slightly fewer sets to do during your workout.

“Day 1 – Shoulders: Overhead Press, Lateral Raise, Upright Row, Crunches; Day 2 – Back: Bend-over Row, Chin-Ups, Pull-downs, Crunches”

This routine is really nice. It will bring you steadily toward your V-Shape goal while being flexible enough to throw in an additional workout day to focus on neglected body parts.

Monday: Overhead Press, Lateral Raise, Upright Row, Crunches
Tuesday: Bend-over Row, Chin-Ups, Pull-downs, Crunches
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Overhead Press, Lateral Raise, Upright Row, Crunches
Friday: Bend-over Row, Chin-Ups, Pull-downs, Crunches
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

It also gives you more room to throw in additional chest or leg exercises to maintain balance as you see fit. You can do those additional exercises during your workout days or add another day. In this case, you would have a 5-day split, which is heavily V-Shape focused, but will also maintain overall structure and strength.

You see, there are limitless possibilities out there on how to structure your training program. So get creative.

If you are interested in a comprehensive workout routine, do take a look at our “Ultimate Body Transformation Package”.

Summary

That’s it. I have to admit this article is quite long. Here a quick recap of the major points relevant to attain the V-Shape:

The V-Shape is the most sought after look for every physique competitor and will make sure heads are turned your way.
The V-Shape is defined by broad shoulders and a well-developed back, tapering down to a small mid-section that features a six-pack.
The primary muscle groups relevant for the V-Shape are the three Deltoid heads of the shoulder muscle, the Back (Latissimus and Trapezius), as well as the Abdominals.
The major V-Shape exercises include the following: Bend-Over Row, Chin-ups, Overhead Press, Lateral Raise, Upright Row, and Bend-over dumbbell flies (for rear delt).
Additional exercises to create more upper body volume and a little overall balance include the following: Bench Press, Deadlift, and Squat.
To develop the herculean upper body appearance, proper nutrition to create an environment for growth is mandatory.
Once the foundation has been developed, you can start to lean out by dropping your body fat percentage to slim down your midsection. This is necessary, for without it there will be no visible six-pack. In addition, this will help to create a more defined physique in general.

Now go implement those suggestions above and develop this astonishing physique. Working towards a V-Shape is a worthwhile goal to have. The final outcome will take time, but it is a gradual development and once you have achieved your first results, you will be proud of yourself.

Stay focused and do not give up too early. If you consistently show up and put in the work, you will be able to build an awesome V-Shape that will turn heads anywhere you go. Good luck, and keep up the motivation!

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V-Shape: Ultimate Guide to a Perfect Upper Body

Why is the V-Shape Awesome?

Attaining the V-Shape

V-Shape Muscle Groups