Strength and Physique

Q:  "How many sets per body part is recommended if you are doing a total body workout? I usually do compound movements (e.g. I do a total of 18 to 20 sets of chest exercises for the week)." - W. Williams   My Answer: It depends on a number of things. For one thing, how many other body parts are you including in these full body workouts? If you go with the bodybuilding standard, then you have 8-9 body parts in which to hit:  Chest  Back  Shoulders  Biceps  Triceps  Quadriceps  Hamstrings  Calves  Abs  That doesn't leave you with very many sets per body part. Two to three sets per muscle group is really all you can do. This is perfectly fine for beginners and older lifters. But for those who've been in the Iron Game for awhile, 2-3 straight sets doesn't do much.  There is a way to get around the low set total and add some needed volume. I go over this in my article "Supercharging H.I.T." an excerpt from Neo-Classical Bodybuilding . But if you'r

Q:  I've read your article about shoulder workouts as well as many others, and I have a question. I really appreciate if you can spare some time to answer it. I heard from almost everywhere that you can get wider shoulders by working out. I have a very slim body (56 kg, 172 cm tall, 24 year old male) and very narrow shoulders. The width of my shoulders is only two times of the width of my head (1/2). I checked this ratio by measuring photos of a man with broad shoulders, and this ratio is usually 1/3. I know it has a lot to do with genetics, but how much exactly can you add to your shoulder size by workout? Someone told me that you can add 2 centimeters to each side at a total of 4 cm maximum. Even if that's true, by working out my deltoids I will also work my trapezius muscles as well, even if I don't want to. And the growth of the trapezius makes your shoulders look narrow, because it gives your shoulders an angle to the ground rather than being nearly parallel to