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If you’re reading this site you probably already know that your body weight can be divided into lean (mostly muscle) mass and fat mass.  This is known as your body composition.

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You’re also probably well aware that the body’s ability to store fat is virtually without limits as evidenced by the number of people who are able to achieve body weights as high as 800, 900, or even 1000 pounds.  However, what you’re probably not aware of (or at least willing to admit to yourself) is that the amount of muscle mass than can be added to your frame is defined within a tight set of limits set by your genetics.

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The good news is that during the first couple years of training you can easily expect to make great strides towards this number.  Some people can gain 20 or even 30 pounds of lean mass over this time.  But as the years go by you’ll find yourself gaining less and less muscle mass as you gradually approach your genetic ceiling.

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Granted, there are great exercise programs, nutrition plans, and maybe some supplements that can help stave off the inevitable, but eventually you’ll be gaining muscle at a snail’s pace and hitting the gym can be increasingly frustrating.

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Now Don’t Get Me Wrong
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It is possible to get bigger.  You could always eat more.  But it will probably be fat and you’ll look like shit.  Or you could use copious amounts of drugs so you can reach your ultimate level of hugeness.  After all, who doesn’t want to turn into one of the monsters that grace the covers of most newsstand bodybuilding magazines?  You know – the ones all of the women you know are fawning over.  (Note the obvious sarcasm)

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A New Perspective
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In the end, you need to face the reality that muscle mass is limited and that continued pursuit of this goal is going to leave you disappointed.  On the other hand, you can take solace in the fact that being at this point in your lifting career means you have done something right.  You’ve gained most of the muscle mass you’re probably ever going to get.  Nice work!
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Now you’re left with an incredible opportunity to maximize your potential by focusing more on your body shape than your size.  In fact, you’ll be happy to note that you don’t need to add more size because most women really aren’t attracted to muscle bound freaks in the first place.  What they are attracted to is a well-muscled, aesthetically pleasing physique.
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Hell…half of the time you don’t even have to be big at all.  Next time you’re watching TV take a look at the guys your girlfriend, wife, of BFF is drooling over.  It all comes down to having the right proportions and creating a physique that is pleasing to the eye.  It is as simple as that.

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Assess Your Physique
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Creating an aesthetically pleasing physique is just as methodical as any training program you’ve ever created.  Just like you’d get a baseline for your big 3 when creating a strength program or evaluate your tight or stiff muscles before creating a corrective exercise program, you need to assess your physique to determine your course of action for your body reshaping program.  Over the next few posts I’ll cover and outline of how to do just that using the exact method I use with my own clients.

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Get Some Photos

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The first step in a physique assessment is obtaining photos from which you can make an objective decision about what needs work and what doesn’t.  These will also serve as markers of progress so you can determine if your plan of action is working.  I suggest taking full length photos wearing only a pair of shorts so you can do a complete evaluation of your physique.  Ask your girlfriend, wife, or random homeless guy to take a total of 9 photos of you in the following poses.

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Front Double Bicep
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Start with feet hip width apart with the knees slightly bent, and pretend that you are pulling the floor apart with your feet to engage your quads.  Raise your arms to shoulder height and flex the elbow to contract the bicep. Make sure your chest is tall and shoulder blades are flared out. When flexing the arm, make sure you rotate the palm inward as though you’re trying to touch your baby finger to your ear. Also, tuck the thumb inside your palms when showing us your guns!
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Back Double Bicep
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Take a small step back with your dominant leg and making sure to be on the toe of the back leg so that you can see your calf development.  With a slight bend in both knees, thrust your hips forward and contract the glutes and hamstrings.

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For the upper body, perform almost the same movement for the upper body as the front double bicep pose.   The only difference is that you’ll pull the elbows back to get a stronger contraction in all of your back muscles.  However, it is important that you do not simply pinch your shoulder blades together.  Instead, you want to flare them away from each other and then drive the elbows back.
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Front Lat Spread
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This one is tricky and takes practice..LOTS of practice.
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Start with feet hip width apart with the knees slightly bent, and pretend that you are pulling the floor apart with your feet to engage your quads.  For the upper body, begin with your fists punched into your sides between your ribcage and pelvis. As you begin to add pressure into your sides, push your shoulder blades away from each other.
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At this point your shoulder blades are flared but your shoulders are rolled forward. Simply, puff your chest up as if I really hot woman was about to walk by (yeah…we know you do this). When doing so make sure the lats are flared out still and the shoulders are not shrugged up towards your ears.  Now, flex your arms while holding this pose to really maximize your shoulder/lat/arm ratio.
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See…I told you.  Tricky. 
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Rear Lat Spread
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Take a small step back with your dominant leg and making sure to be on the toe of the back leg so that you can see your calf development.  With a slight bend in both knees, thrust your hips forward and contract the glutes and hamstrings. 
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For the upper body, perform the same movement for the rear lat spread as you would for the front lat spread with some minor changes.  Instead of drawing your fists into your sides, use your thumbs. Holding a fist with both hands, take your thumbs and stick them into the back of the love handles.  As you begin to flare the shoulders out, slide your thumbs forward and into your sides.
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Once you are in full lat spread, instead of puffing the chest up just remain tight and flared and lean back slightly. This will activate your erectors and show your back thickness. 
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Side Chest
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Place the ball of the left foot (the foot closest to the camera) in the middle of the right (rear) foot.  Keeping both knees slightly bent, flex your left calf and make sure the hamstring is being pushed out by the right leg.
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Now place your right hand on the wrist of the left hand.  Begin by pulling your left shoulder blade back as though you are performing a row. While you are pulling the shoulder back, rotate your upper body slightly so your shoulders are almost square with the camera. Make sure to add pressure to the left wrist so you are flexing your bicep.  To show chest development on the right side, squeeze your chest over and keep your right arm tight to your body.
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Repeat on the other side.
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Side Tricep

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Place the ball of the left foot (the foot closest to the camera) in the middle of the right (rear) foot.  Keeping both knees slightly bent, flex your left calf and make sure the hamstring is being push out by the right leg.
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Place your fingertips together behind your back.  Make sure the hand/fingers of the left hand (closest to the camera) are facing up and the other hand’s fingers are facing down.  Lock the left elbow out to flex the tricep. To really show your tricep and shoulder musculature, try pulling your fingers together.
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Repeat on the other side.
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Abdominals & Thigh
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Start by having your feet hip width apart. Place your dominant leg slightly out in front with your toes pushed into the ground.  Slightly turn your foot out in this pose to show more of your inner calf development. To really make this pose “click”, slightly bend both knees and spread the floor with both legs. It is a bit difficult to do with the foot out front but if you can stick it, you will show off the full quadricep.
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Close both hands into fists and place them behind your head.  Take a breath in and as you release your breath squeeze your abs as hard as you can.  At the same time, flex your biceps and push your hands into your head.  When breathing out, made sure not to sink your chest and end up like the hunchback of Notre Dame.
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A Final Note on Photos and Posing

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In bodybuilding these compulsory poses (or mandatory poses as they are sometimes called) might primarily be used to showcase our strongest body parts.  However, you are also taking them to capture your weaknesses.  As such, make sure you take all of the photos not only those that make you look your best.
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Of course, since we’re not trying to hide imperfections or delude ourselves into thinking progress is greater than it really is, I’d urge you not to use the common “before and after” tactics like leaving your chest hairy or forgetting to shave in the “before” photos or tanning for the “after” photos.  The key here is to assess your physique as it is and to measure real improvements so that you can adjust your plan accordingly.
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And that’s it for today.  I’ll be back on Wednesday to discuss how to use those photos for an objective physique assessment and later this week I’ll talk about how to program your training once you’ve done this.

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PS: I’d like to say a HUGE thanks to my good friend Eric Daye for posing for these photos and contributing the excellent posing descriptions.  You can check out his site at www.TruBodyFitness.com.

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PPS:  This is a lengthy series and it took a lot of work.  If you find it useful, please share it with others.

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Note – Part 2 can now be found HERE and Part 3 can be found HERE.